Publications devoted to the field of design often discuss promising new directions for web design each year. Clear out the unnecessary old stuff from your digital products before you add new features and trends. These five fads and styles have long since run their course.
With the introduction of new design trends, the web undergoes subtle but noticeable transformations annually. The one catch is that it might make websites feel hoarding if they hold on to new features and design trends too tightly.
Get rid of the cookie consent icon. In 2018, these notification bars were all over the place because of the General Data Protection Regulation and all the news about it. But these cookie notices at the bottom of the screen have become less common over the past few years. However, a considerable number are left.
Web designers who focus more on current trends than they do on older ones risk creating ineffective designs or features for their clients’ websites. If we don’t want that to happen, we should work to eliminate some fads so that fresh ones can take their place.
top-tier calgary website design companies that can enhance your online presence, look no further than MavericksMedia. We’re here to help. Stunning, user-centric websites that connect with your audience and elevate your brand’s digital footprint are what we specialize in as a top team of committed web designers in calgary .
5 Obsolete Website Elements and Design Trends
To make way for fresh, practical web design trends that improve the internet, we need to get rid of the outdated features and designs.
1. The Limitless Scroll
I was going to call it “infinite scroll,” but thankfully that style isn’t as popular now as it was a few years ago. However, this in no way implies that its use is no longer prevalent among web design and developers.
If you are interested in learning more about the Google router, you have come to the right place. That is also what appears at the very top of the page. But as they continue to scroll down the page, they will find five more posts to read.
The goal of this strategy used by TechCrunch and Engadget isn’t to enhance the user experience, let’s be honest. Their goals are to improve their own bounce rate, boost time-on-page, and increase advertising and affiliate revenue.
Websites like these, and social media apps that use the infinite scroll, have become extremely addictive, despite its original purpose of solving a pagination problem. Sites like these provide addicting endless scrolling and rabbit holes because, as this post explains, users adjust their “appetites” depending on the perception of how much stuff is coming their way.
In light of the damage that infinite scrolling can do to users, there is no longer any justification for including it in web page design. For instance, consider Lifehacker:
Their business model is similar to Engadget’s, and they’ve achieved success independently. The content doesn’t, however, drag on and on, begging readers to either continue or look elsewhere. To further reduce page length, even the comments section has been condensed.
2. Pop-Up Notifications
Poorly placed pop-ups on websites, particularly those that solicit newsletter subscriptions, have long annoyed me. I was under the impression that this practice would come to a close once Google implemented its penalty on intrusive mobile popups.
But this fad seems to be very much alive and kicking. For example, this full-screen interstitial popup appears when a user opens a post on the Problogger blog, but only for a short while.
You ask people to subscribe to your blog before they’ve even had a chance to read it and determine whether it’s worth their time. Even worse, unlike other pop-ups, this one asking for a newsletter subscription cannot be dismissed.
You won’t see a “X” in the upper right corner. Alternatively, they can scroll down, click the green down arrow, or use the grayed-out “No Thanks” button. On purpose, none of these things make sense.
3. Icons for Headers That Aren’t Common
When designing a website, the header should be among the first and foremost considerations. Users, particularly those without a high level of technical expertise, rely on familiar header layouts and content to navigate websites, so any departure from the norm can lead to frustration.
In instance, non-standard header icons should be phased out.
When a web design goes overboard with their use of custom imagery and iconography, the result is a highly stylized website. While that may help you stand out visually, you should think about how it impacts usability as well.
Perhaps this isn’t such a huge issue for smaller sites that primarily target younger audiences. But less popular icon designs might cause problems for popular sites like BBC.
At the very end of the list of navigation links, we can see three horizontal dots.
You won’t often see this symbol in web design, but it’s quite common in mobile app design. Younger, more tech-savvy users will likely see the icon and know right away that it leads to additional settings or information. On the other hand, some users might not.
Use the icon that most users will recognize without any problem if you’re going to hide more navigation links or settings under an icon (or the entire navigation altogether): The burger symbol.
4. Widgets for Accessibility
A web designer I met with not long ago informed me that he incorporates an accessiBe widget into each and every one of his clients’ websites. He said he was afraid his clients would sue him for having an inaccessible website, which would lead to more lawsuits for him. I asked him why.
Since it does not constitute genuine web accessibility, it is not a valid justification for adding one of those widgets to a website. Designing and developing in an accessible manner is essential.
If you’re still looking for a way to enhance your accessibility efforts in design, code, and content, accessibility widgets from companies like accessiBe and UserWay could be a solid option. But they have made some websites inaccessible in certain instances.
The matter has escalated to a critical mass, with numerous groups demanding that companies remove these automated accessibility plugins from their websites.
You should remove these accessibility plugins immediately from any website you’ve worked on in the past or that you come across with a new client that uses them. Producing a product with built-in accessibility may be more labor-intensive, but the end result is more genuine accessibility and a better defense for businesses afraid of lawsuits.
5. SEO Footers
There ought to be some sort of function for the website footer. The nature and quantity of your website’s content dictate its intended function.
The most typical things kept in footers are:
- Additional routes
- Information regarding copyrights
- Connections to social media
- Disclaimers, conditions, and privacy policies
- Reliability signs
However, they shouldn’t be used as a platform to cram in an excessive amount of SEO text. In addition to hurting your website’s search engine rankings, this dishonest SEO practice will probably lead to a terrible user experience.
The design of this footer immediately gives away its intended purpose—search engine optimization—rather than user experience. The absence of links in the footer that are horizontally aligned is intentional. With this layout, text size, and lighter font color, sorting through all the options is simply too much of a pain.
Another thing is that not all of the “Use Cases” links lead to SurveyMonkey components. Some of them, for instance, direct readers to tutorials and blog entries. Seems like someone was trying to tell a story about SurveyMonkey in this section of the footer. Additionally, this “story” will link to each page when search engines index and rank the site, as the footer is present on all pages.
In 2023, when we have a good idea of what good SEO is and how to apply it, there is no reason to use black hat SEO practices.
Following Target’s lead is a good strategy to employ when designing a website footer.
Wrapping up
Even though these features and trends on websites have obviously outlived their usefulness, they are far from alone. It is wise to take stock of a website’s current state before introducing new design elements or trends.
Is there anything that harkens back to an earlier period in design? Alternatively, one that seems to be overused online. Alternatively, is it useless and actually hindering progress?
When creating new websites or modifying old ones, be vigilant. No matter how popular something was in the past, it doesn’t guarantee it will remain so in the future. In addition, you’ll make more space for fresh, creative trends if you can get rid of the old.
