Interface changes, multi-layered animation and structured visual chaos: a review of web trends for 2019

The Internet is a multilateral phenomenon. The dynamics of its development expands the usual boundaries in all directions. Proven approaches and elements are gradually giving way to new, more effective forms of communication of people with brands and technologies.

1 / Technology

1.1. Machine learning

Today, all on the lips of artificial intelligence, and in the first place - machine learning. The reason for this demand for this class of methods is that with this approach, the solution can be obtained not directly, but through training on a variety of specific problems.


Without machine learning, success will be very difficult.

With the help of machine learning, you can increase the efficiency of websites and applications. Next year, it will be much easier to use speech recognition, faces and images, process diagnostic data and predict results, analyze and sort large amounts of data.

Machine learning will also be one of the most popular marketing tools, because it allows you to improve communication between users and brands, select content that best meets the interests of users, analyze behavior and predict future actions.

Transferred to Alconost

1.2. Chat bots

In 2019, alternative interfaces will be distributed, and the user's communication with technologies and brands will become more personalized. Chat bots will provide different types of interaction, which will allow to cover all layers of consumers with a variety of physical and material capabilities .

Users will be able to receive information, ask questions and make purchases through a single chat bot, which will replace a whole range of different services. Machine learning bots will expand the opportunities offered to users, simplify and speed up the work with the interface .


User interaction simulating communication with a consultant

Using the emotional component of communication offers tremendous benefits. Users increasingly prefer not to press the buttons, but ask the bot, who speaks with the voice of their favorite character, to ask questions. The way applications interact with will change, and consumers will begin to prefer just such updated interfaces.

1.3. Loading pages

In recent years, the consumption of content from mobile devices has increased, so the quick and adaptive loading of websites on phones has become an obvious task, and 2019 will bring us new solutions in this area.

For example, today the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) technology promoted by Google is quite relevant. It allows you to increase the conversion of the site almost doubled  - due to faster loading. AMP is based on open source code, and the pages themselves are cached in the Google cloud, which speeds up their loading. This technology is used by companies such as The Washington Post, Tesla, eBay, and others.

There are other ways to speed up page loading: delayed loading ( four types), content and code optimization, as well as distributed server systems.


An example of a deferred download: Pinterest.

2 / Interfaces

2.1. Interaction

Visual feedback will become an even more important part of the interface - thanks to technology and high-speed Internet :). In 2019, the interaction will acquire a multi-layered structure and move on to new levels of dynamics, color and sound.

To better understand how to convey maximum information using multi-level animation, let's analyze the Shazam example.



1. Micro-interaction: the application listens to music that sounds next to the device.
2. Micromini-interaction: the ability to enable and disable the recognition of the composition by pressing the Shazam button.
3. Nanointeraction:the size of the Shazam button changes in response to a click, simulating a real interaction; the animation of the inner circles reacts to the sounds of the bass frequencies, the outer ones to the higher timbre.
4. Pick interaction: the Shazam button increases by a few pixels, “emitting” waves, and the icon slightly changes its size according to the level of the low frequencies.

The animation will be embedded even in the user interface and actions. It will become a distinctive part of the brand and will fit perfectly into the layout of the website, acting as a visual guide. For example, on the Family Garden website, the cursor is part of the logo and actively interacts with other user interface elements.


As you can see, the multi-layer cursor animation implemented on the site helps to effectively inform the user.

2.2. Voice interface

We constantly strive for simplicity and efficiency. In the field of digital technology, the usual graphical navigation is not always enough, and one of the most affordable alternatives is voice control, which, however, will not be a complete replacement for the familiar interface, but only an intermediary between the user and the main functions of the site. To clarify why this is so, here are a few basic arguments.

Advantages:

1. Simplicity and speed. Voice control can work very quickly: the user does not need to learn the graphical interface and learn to use it as intended. People can speak almost from birth - we have developed this ability very well.

2. Convenience.If you cook dinner, drive a car, draw a picture or take a shower, you do not always have the opportunity to pick up the phone. Voice commands in such cases is a great solution.

3. Information capacity. A voice can convey much more information than typed text. The sound extends the emotional side of the message due to the expressive possibilities of intonation, tempo and characteristic features of the voice.


Pattern of extracting files from the Dropbox for Brain.ai. Image by Gleb Kuznetsov .

Disadvantages:

1. Low confidentiality.Few people want to share personal information with everyone who is nearby, so it’s still very inconvenient to use voice interfaces in crowded places. For several years now, devices that have excellent sound blockers have been on the market , but they are not very popular yet.

2. Noise Haruki Murakami in his book "Wonderland without brakes and the end of the world" vividly described the reality in which people learned to turn off the noise - in the name of the safety of eardrums. Today, of course, it is impossible, so dozens of people who give voice commands would turn the streets into buzzing swarms of two-legged bees.

3. Irreversibility.The saying "the word is not a sparrow: it will fly out - you will not catch it" remains relevant. There is no “Cancel” button for a voice; here you will not press CTRL + Z - therefore, voice interfaces are still far from ideal in terms of implementing more universal functionality.

2.3. Gestures

Another alternative to the graphical interface is gestures. More and more standard navigation elements will be replaced by actions using the capabilities of touch screens, which will allow the user to focus on content.

The area occupied by the content will gradually shift to the top of the screen, and the main interface elements to the very bottom, since this is the most convenient place for the thumb. Gestures will help diversify possible actions. Along with the new interface solutions, they will gradually replace the usual menu icon, arrows and other boring details.


The idea of ​​an application for a social network in which navigation is partially carried out with gestures.

The use of gestures will be a sign of a high-level product, since it requires an organic, uniform implementation, which means deeply thought-out user interaction.

3 / Content

3.1. Instead of text - video

Next year, the changes will affect not only the ways of content delivery, but also the types of the content itself. The main hero of these changes will be video content: he will confidently step on the usual positions of text and photoblocks , and the availability of relevant technologies will make it easy and fast to create. Video has a much wider and deeper information potential than regular text.



In many cases, preference is given in the form of video stories  - such as, for example, in the  New York Public Library . Even on the design platform, Dribbble has finally mastered the video download :). This format with confidence finds all new niches and is not going to stop.

3.2. 3D graphics

The amount of 3D content will also increase: volumetric shapes are more natural, and people perceive them more easily.

Perhaps in the future the line between reality and the digital environment will gradually fade, and the online world will also become voluminous. For example, today 3D-content is a catalyst for a very fast-growing e-commerce segment using augmented reality, A-Commerce , where actions in the virtual world completely replace the buying process in reality.


Augmented reality is becoming one of the most successful marketing tools.

3.3. Personalization

The amount of universal content will decrease. Publications and news will become more personalized , and the way they will be shown will be determined by new algorithms.
To stand out, companies will have to devote more resources to planning content and making it viral, as well as making the products advertised more attractive in order to engage users in communication with brands.


Bon appetit, sir.

3 / Visual component

3.1. Colour

Natural pastel shades associated with environmental friendliness will remain popular thanks to the trend for responsible consumption (for more details, see the subsection below). Particular attention should be paid to the semitones : the quality of display matrices is growing rapidly, and this makes it possible to enrich the visual component of the content.



Another fashionable trend will be bright, energetic colors in the most unimaginable combinations that will help to express a wide range of emotions and impressions.

3.2. Illustrations

According to statistics, an illustrative image is seven times more effective than a regular photo. The illustrations allow you to convey a more abstract message, an allegory, exaggerate some details and give them a new meaning - so they will replace most of the photos. In addition, this content allows you to entertain the user and simplifies the perception of the material. Illustrations help to dilute the boring and too complicated information with various positive emotions.


Illustrations in Google Assistant.

Another advantage of illustrative graphics is that companies can add individuality to their content and express themselves even in small details. In the illustration it is much easier to weave elements of the corporate style - it attracts the user's attention and makes them think .

3.3. Chaos

In general, a characteristic feature of the graphic style will be an accident . The usual elements will be replaced by unpredictable, asymmetric, experimental ones. A variety of graphic techniques and forms will only grow. Styles, fonts and shades will become much more dynamic, but in this dynamic there will be consistency .

The combination of the incompatible will become even more relevant. Our perception is limited by the neurosensory capabilities of the human body, so it is impossible to invent a new color, sound or taste - however, with the help of bold non-trivial combinations of already existing elements, we can offer the user something new.


You can find out more about the increasingly popular “brutalism” style, for example, here or here .

4 / Psychology

4.1. Responsible consumption

This trend concerns a reasonable approach to the consumption of resources and an awareness of the direct impact of our actions on the future of the entire planet. Such a world view also extends to  making decisions on a household scale and makes it necessary to take into account every step in the consumption chain .



Consumers will more often choose products and services that have a positive social or environmental value. In the case of websites, the corresponding effect can be obtained using the presentation style, color gamut and font design, as well as high-quality presentation of the content.

Hand in hand with conscious consumption, there is a measured, thoughtful lifestyle, which will also become very popular: people are becoming more and more aware that todayin conditions of complete abundance, it is important not only to find time for everything - you need to be able to avoid stress and maintain internal balance. Therefore, in response to social and environmental problems, services and products that will be associated with the “measured” lifestyle will become relevant.

Consider: how often can you afford to stop and truly enjoy the moment?

4.2. Straightness (action separation)

Oh, how many beautiful and interesting things I want to place on the huge screens of smartphones! But of course I will not do this. The easiest route is without turning to unknown corners, without exits from the main road and difficult interchanges. In the world of the Internet, this is called linear navigation.


The less options a user has, the higher the likelihood that he will take the necessary step.

On each screen there should be only one main action - this will avoid doubts. In 2019, the user's path will become more simple and short, because the pace of life is steadily increasing, and it begins to seem that even time runs faster. Well, let's not fall behind! :)

4.3. Involvement and ease of return

How often do you try new websites, services and applications? And how often do you return to the already known, time-tested?

Getting started with the product should be as simple and fast as possible. Long and boring registration is extremely tiring for the user, because the basic information about him is easily obtained from the sources in which he left it.

Every day a huge amount of products comes to the market, and to stop using some old solution is a common thing. It is therefore very important to allow the user to return easily. You can not blame the prodigal son for a long absence - you need to let him know that they have always waited for him, and to meet him with something interesting.


The return should be as quick and simple as possible - as if nothing had happened at all.

Both cases can be complemented by another feature - a sense of freedom. Questions to the user about nationality, gender and age will become almost rude. The choice of suitable content delivery algorithms will be based on the actual actions and interests of the user, and not on stereotypes and prejudices.

Additional Information

Winning the hearts of users will help another trick - sudden moments of joy.

A compliment to a person when he does not expect this, a surprise or praise is an unobtrusive but effective tool for attracting and retaining customers. Any reward is perceived as an achievement, a trophy and brings joy.

Give joy, practicality and beauty - and stay in trend!



About the translator

. The article is translated in Alconost.

Alconost is engaged in the localization of games , applications and websites in 70 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any string resource formats.

We also doadvertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.

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