Trends in Web Design for 2018

Mobile Functionality for Optimized Performance

In its infancy, mobile design held few promises due to limited viewports and bandwidth. Now developers have ingenious tools for mobile design, and we see advancements in progressive web apps, intelligent conversational bots, and natural language processing, among others. In this two-part series, we will give an overview of the major trends for the upcoming year.

Progressive Web Apps

Mobile apps account for nearly 90 percent of total mobile media time. With the increasing popularity of mobile apps, developers have begun blending conventional app behaviors with web page behaviors. This hybrid is called Progressive Web App.

The Progressive Web App development will significantly enhance the performance of websites to include functions such as splash screens, push notifications, animated page transitions, and offline mode. Websites such as the Washington Post, Twitter, and Medium have already adopted progressive web apps that are easily accessible with one click.

As Progressive Web Apps increase in usage, the market will see introductions in highly refined cognitive capabilities like automation and natural language processing (NLP). Apps will learn and respond to your specific preferences. For instance, Facebook has already embraced this technology, and the site learns your interests and filters in response. This capability will quickly become commonplace.

Intelligent Conversational Bots

As developers continue to blend conventional apps and web pages, websites will have greater capabilities to support advanced functionality of apps. Again, this will be in the form of voice search, NLP, and heuristic search. The shift towards mobile browsing and feature rich platforms makes this possible.

Creative web developers will implement intelligent conversational bots in many ways. For instance, they could be integrated with a FAQ page, which would allow users to ask questions verbally rather than scrolling through a static list. In the future, websites will not simply list store hours or have a store locator. They will have virtual assistants who will have a natural conversation with you and answer your questions.

NLP – Natural Language Processing

Natural language processing complements voice search. Rather than identifying keywords and phrases the way search engines do now, an intelligent conversational bot with NLP technology will let the computer understand what the user is saying in natural language.

In our next blog post, we will take a look at more trends for 2018 such as greater use of negative space, microinteractions, meaningful scroll triggered animations, and more.

For the most innovative, highly functional web designs, contact NOYO Web Development today at 619.929.0381.