Top 5 Design Trends for 2013

The world online is transitioning, moving to newer devices and leveraging newer technologies to become more and more, an integral part of our lives. Consequently, web design too is witnessing a sea change. Let’s take a quick look at the design trends for 2013 – primarily driven by the devices we now use for accessing the web.

1) Responsive Design

No prizes for guessing this one! With the number of devices that we use for accessing the internet, responsive design has become ‘the way’ for designing for the web.

Useful links
Responsive Design Toolkit

2) Parallax Scrolling

Parallax scrolling has been around for some time and used significantly in video games but off late, web designers are increasingly using this style as well. Simply defined, parallax scrolling is the effect created when between the background and the foreground, one moves and the other remains static, creating depth and interactivity in design.

Parallax scrolling should be used with caution: if not used well it may lead to a poor and confusing user experience.

Useful links
Concept of parallax navigation
40 Great Examples Of Parallax Scrolling Websites

3) Bigger CTA Buttons

Again driven by the ‘other devices’ in our life – big buttons make touch and tap easy – hence the popularity. I also feel it seems to be driven by attention deficit syndrome that we suffer from especially while on the web.

Useful links
38 “Call to Action” Button Templates That Really Stand Out

4) Vertical Scrolling

Horizontal scrolling can be difficult on smart phones, tablets and other devices making vertical scrolling the navigation. For a better user experience – when using vertical scrolling keep the menu at the left side of the page instead of the top.

Useful links
33 Creative Uses of Vertical Scrolling in Web Design

5) HTML5 or The End of Flash

The head strong , bug bearer, non-search engine friendly Flash has lost its crown to HTML 5. Ok…I’m going overboard here. Flash is a lot of good things too but the growing popularity of mobile and other devices is pushing flash to the corner and all device friendly HTML5 & CSS3 are making inroads into web design. Expect to see more of them this year.

Useful links
HTML5 Website Showcase: 48 Potential Flash-Killing Demos