The beginning of any new year gives each & every website developer super powers. Yes, super powers. Come January, website developers everywhere can tell you exactly which website design trends will appear in the next 12 months. After these super visions settle, we like to take a look back on the year & see exactly which website design trends flourished and kick to the curb the ones that flopped.
The beginning of 2014 did not experience much innovation. Still riding on the coat tails of 2013, we saw bloggers write about simple designs, special typography & responsive websites.
Been there, done that.
Luckily, around April 2014, ideas began to surface & we saw 3 new trends:
- Simple parallax scrolling
- Large background images
- The return of videos
Simple Parallax Scrolling
Whether you realize it or not, you have probably already experienced simple parallax scrolling. Apple introduced parallax wallpapers with their iOS 7 update, so if you’ve used an iPhone in the past six months, you might know what I’m talking about. This parallax wallpaper makes it seem as though the icons on your home screen are floating (the new bend feature on the iPhone 6 undoubtedly helps that effect, too).
For those of us who are still browsing on a good old fashioned computer, you might have noticed parallax scrolling on popular websites such as Sony, Spotify, and on Nintendo’s page for their 3DS. This trend is also amazingly popular with car companies and can be seen on the websites for Volkswagen, Range Rover, the Lexus LS, and the Honda CR-V.
Large Images
For everyone who redesigned their website in 2013 to capitalize on the “simple website” trend, do not worry… you do not have to change much. Turns out simple got too boring, so to mix it up a little bit, website developers are changing the background.
Instead of 1 solid color, a large picture now helps to fill the background on some websites. After serious A/B testing, companies large & small are showing that customers view their website more favorably when they display a nice, large background picture. How so? More form completions, lower bounce rate, & increased sales.
Large images are not a magical cure all for a poorly performing site, but if you want to give a boost to an already successful website, give the large image trend a try. You can also A/B test your website with the before & after to make sure this website design trend is beneficial for you.
Videos
Videos? Yes, videos. Although they were originally almost completely blacklisted from the website developing community, videos are becoming popular once again. Take a look at the latest version of PayPal’s website, and you can easily see why! With cellular networks & Wi-Fi that can keep up, the idea that videos are more powerful than pictures & words combined is resurfacing.
Unlike large images, the effectiveness of a video does not have any astounding A/B tests to accompany it. A/B Tests aside, the statistics on videos & YouTube are abounding. It has been shown that people who watch videos are more likely to understand the content you are presenting & then (more importantly) do something about it.
Conclusion
There you have it: the top three website design trends that actually happened in 2014. The list is short & sweet, but the knowledge is invaluable. Have any other website design trends that you have noticed this year? Let us know below!
Resources
- 8 Design Trends for 2014 [webmarketingtoday.com/articles/112064-8-Design-Trends-for-2014] 03 June 2014. Retrieved 02 September 2014.
- Parallax Scrolling Websites and SEO: A Collection of Solutions and Examples 01 April 2014. Retrieved 02 September 2014.
- Oversized Hero & Background Images: Unfounded Fad or Conversion Booster? 20 May 2014. Retrieved 02 September 2014.
- 15 Can’t Miss Resources on Video Marketing & Video SEO 02 January 2014. Retrieved 02 September 2014.
