With every new year, new design trends and principles are rolled out, predicting the flows of user behavior and how our devices and sites should accommodate them. Today we’re going to discuss our favorite UX trends and the best ways to incorporate them.

The Decline of Pop-Ups

Everyone loves a pop-up disrupting their browsing and forcing them to lose focus on the task at hand... Not! Sure, pop-ups are common practice but are they actually doing you any good or just frustrating your customers? In a study conducted by Learning Hub, 82.2% of users declared they hated email pop-ups. So let's be real here, users hate to be interrupted. Whether it’s reading an article or online shopping, pop-ups often disrupt the user's flow and their train of thought. They often take away from the task at hand and can decrease conversions.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. In the same study, 28.6% of users stated they disliked pop-ups because they appear as soon as they land on the website. So instead of axing the whole idea of pop-ups, we need to rethink our strategy and better present this data at the right time. A great way to do this would be to delay pop-ups after x-amount of time or triggering them as they are going to leave the site (exit-intent). For WisePops, their conversion rates almost doubled when delaying their pop-ups to displaying after two pages rather than one.

Testing these methods and monitoring your conversion rates is a great way to see what pop-up strategy will work best for your business.

Using AI for Accessibility

Designing for accessibility is no joke and if you haven’t started updating your website to include ADA standards, you need to pick up the pace. Lucky for you, 2020 is the year of AI, and there are new learning tools and services that can scan sites for compliance.

Tools like accessiBe use artificial intelligence and machine learning to basically go through the site and test for a variety of features that users with disabilities use to tailor the website to their specific needs. This includes screen readers, keyboard navigations for users with Parkinson’s and motor impairments, and color and type adjustments for the visually impaired.

There is a hefty price to pay for implementing this type of in-depth learning, but if you do not have access to an on-hand developer to implement Google’s Accessibility Guide, or if you just have no clue where to start, it may be a good fit for you. No matter the cost, every user should be able to access and enjoy your website.

Higher Quality Microcopy

Microcopy is tiny snippets of text that help guide users through an interface. Microcopy can be the label on your CTA, the placeholder text in forms, or error messages when they land on a 404. Microcopy is great because it can be used to push users in the right direction of user flows or provide clear instructions for what to do next.

Microcopy allows you to sound friendly and relaxed, and it also allows you to incorporate everyday language that is easy to understand. There are a variety of creative ways to incorporate microcopy into your design. LinkedIn utilizes microcopy when asking users for their card information for a free trial of premium. They do a great job of explaining why they ask for the card information and reassure the user they won’t be charged until the trial ends.

Airbnb also utilizes microcopy within its search feature. Instead of utilizing just a general search phrase, they use the copy “Try [Rome]” suggesting to the user to look for new and exciting locations.

Uninterrupted UX

In a digital world built around instant gratification, users no longer want to click through five different pages and fill out 10 text boxes to get to the end result. If they can’t find what they are looking for within a minute, they are likely going to bounce. Our UX needs to complement a user's wants and provide them with a seamless interaction for making online purchases. A great way to decrease the length of this process is by implementing uninterrupted UX.

In our recent project, ZRO Delta, we incorporated uninterrupted UX into their navigation element. This allows users to go through the process of selecting which series of handguns, rifles, and optics they would like to view without clicking through a series of parent pages.

There are a variety of creative and unique ways you can incorporate these UX trends into your website. Visit our recent work to view our latest projects or contact us today to get started with improving your UX strategy.

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