6 Outdated Web Design Trends to Leave Behind in 2016
It’s good to be aware of all the newest trends in web design. But it’s equally important to know which web features are no trends anymore and just leave them behind.
Having outdated design is bad. If you run a company website, it’s even worse because it’s not only annoying but it costs you money and you lose clients.
To help you figure out whether your design is outdated or not, we’ve gathered this lists of 6 web design features that were very popular a few years ago but you shouldn’t use them anymore
(Read also: Top 5 Web Design Trends for 2016)
Non-Mobile-Friendly Websites
You’ve created a website for your company and it looks stunning on your computer. But then one day you try to open it on your 5-inch smartphone and you just can’t see anything or go anywhere because your site isn’t mobile-friendly. Oops…huge mistakes!
A big chunk of the internet traffic these days comes from mobile devices. In the same time, smartphone users that come across a website that isn’t mobile-friendly will most probably leave it immediately. You’ve probably figured it out all by yourself but let’s say it anyways – this means losing potential clients.
Auto-playing music or videos
No one likes entering a website and seeing auto-playing music or videos. The reason is that users like to feel that they have full control over what they do on the web and they like to do it on their own terms.
So, leave the auto-playing thing behinds. It may sound cool at first, but there are plenty of better ways to make your visitors watch something.
Unrealistic stock photos
People like visuals. Although this statement is totally true, it could be a little bit deceiving. The truth is that people like realistic visuals. Instead of using a stock image that looks totally fake on your website, you better take a picture of your team members while working. You may think that it doesn’t look as good as the image from the net, but your visitors will appreciate it.
Crowded content
You’ve probably heard the phrase “Less is more” that refers to minimalistic design. If you are trying to show too much information on a single page, your design will look cluttered and unorganized. The right way to deal with this problem is by getting familiar with the concept of negative space. Negative space (or also white space) is the blank space that surrounds your design elements. Its purpose is to make your website look tidy and unorganized.
Skeuomorphic design
Skeuomorphic design became very popular a few years ago when Apple designed its mobile operating system iOS around this concept. Skeuomorphic design features elements that look like they were taken from the real world. One characteristic of skeuomorphic design is that it uses gradient and drop shadows. This trend is now pretty outdated and people are moving towards more minimalistic and flat designs.
Sidebars
A few years ago all websites looked basically the same and one element they all shared were sidebars. But now web design has become extremely focused on user experience and focus on the core content. Because of that more and more web designers have stopped adding sidebars.
There is one more problem with sidebars. They don’t really fit at all on mobile devices and this is one more reason to leave them behind.
