Trends in Web Development (UI/UX) 2021

It is essential to remember that trends cannot be viewed in isolation, and they should be coherent with your website's needs and purposes. Understanding business-specific needs and accommodating them has a higher priority than following fashion for the sake of it. However, it is good to understand what they are and how to navigate in the fast-changing world of web development.

We started with uncoordinated numbers and letters on a page over 30 years ago when the internet was still a prototype. We continued into the average person having the ability to create a web page after reading a few books with the advent of the world wide web and HTML in the 90s, then going into the creation of programs like Adobe Dreamweaver to allow even the most novice users to create a professional-looking web page in the 2000s.

Now let’s see where we are now and look at the top web development trends of 2021 and evaluate them to understand how they contribute to the end user’s experience with eCommerce.

Single-Page Apps (SPAs)

Single-Page Apps (SPAs) are what they sound like – just one page. There is no need to reload the page when following links and no transition to other pages; rather, the page itself is rewritten based on what you click.

A single-page app is like having one piece of paper where the writing changes based on what you would like to see instead of a classic website that would be like a book with a contents page, directing you to a different page every time you want to see something new.

All the content is downloaded when the website is entered, whether from a mobile device or browser. They can take different formats – both Gmail and Google map being SPAs, with Gmail having extra content pop up and Google Maps being able to zoom in and out. Yet, the page never reloads.

All of the updates happen due to JavaScript functionality, mainly JS Frameworks such as Angular, React, and Ember. Each framework has its advantages and disadvantages, a couple of examples being Angular not requiring server interaction to change a page and React allowing for incredibly complex design.

This flexibility allows a site to cater to its developers’ and consumers’ needs.

Why use SPAs?

User experience: The User Interface (UI) is typically intuitive and simple to navigate. It takes no time between switching through different functions, and this speed increase is crucial for increasing conversion rates.
Mobile-friendliness: SPA frameworks allow developers to adjust the code to create mobile apps without re-developing the entire website.
Mobile familiarity: with more and more consumers using mobile apps, these websites feel much more like a mobile app than a typical bulky website.
Memorability: being a relatively new trend, SPAs impress many users and make the brand look extremely contemporary compared to big heavy websites of competitors.
Speed: SPAs are generally considered much faster than regular web pages, especially once the webpage is loaded.

Less coding

Websites can be built by people who are much less familiar with coding than ever before.

Wix and Bubble Services can help the most inexperienced IT users express their creativity and tailor a website to their design needs. These services can be used by developers with coding experience too, as they often lay a foundation a programmer can build upon later.

Using a low code service allows much more hands-on contributions from people who wouldn’t usually have the time to do all the research required. The choice of which service to use is certainly a difficult decision, but development can start once the decision is made.

Why use a low-code service?

Design: Allowing input from more people with lower knowledge of programming.
Speed: Streamlining development, giving a programming department extra time to work on different projects that may be more useful.
Reliability: Having a design that is already tried and tested.
Safety: Having accountability from a larger agency in the case of errors with your webpage.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

A PWA is a web application running from a browser that feels like a more traditional app. They’re intended to be widely accessible on various browsers, boasting safety, freshness, and above all, speed.

Consider Facebook or Twitter, who are two of the most prominent PWA utilisers in the modern world. If you visit their websites on your phone, tablet, or PC, you will be given an app-like experience without ever using the app store.

Tapping the web-app notification will update it for you on multiple devices simultaneously, and with each, you will know your way around. You may be wondering what the point if the app is already available - and the answers can range from the apps running slowly or being incompatible with a certain device to simply not wanting to fill your device’s storage.

The PWA will often imitate a native app very closely while generally being more lightweight. You can still save the web app to your home screen and be notified about it when required. The PWA concept was introduced around 5 years ago and has been steadily growing ever since. They are ideal for people with poor networks or people who dislike mobile sites in general.

Within the next few years, PWAs could replace native mobile apps completely, often faster and easier to use. There are considerations to be made in terms of development priorities and the scope of adopting the new tech to adopt a PWA.

Why use a PWA?

Speed: PWAs load times are 8 times faster than loading a traditional mobile website.
Compatibility issues: Say you have an old phone that you are using because your current one is being repaired, you navigate to the app store and find Facebook is incompatible with your phone’s OS, and the newer OS is incompatible with your old phone. By navigating to Facebook’s website, you can now have an app experience that you are familiar with.
Performance: Sometimes, a web app can be faster and easier to use than a native app.
Storage: You may want an app experience but not want to download apps for each website you frequently use. This prevents cluttered storage and home screens.
Security: You can see the security certificate of the app in the browser. HTTPS, a more conventional app, does not require this.
Notifications: PWAs can utilize push notifications, unlike a mobile web page.
Lack of updates: The web app doesn’t need updates as a native app would.

Tailored experiences

Cookies allow for personalization to each customer, based on their previous searches and behavior. Cookies collect customer data every time they enter the web, and they collect everything you can imagine – frequency, top searches, categories, history, timing, and more.

Each customer gets a unique experience and gets accurate and relevant recommendations. You will often see a website notify you that they are storing cookies to tailor your experience. These cookies are pieces of information about you that let a website know small things about you.

If you frequent a fishing website, the cookies will tell a web advertising agency such as Google to show you fishing adverts. If you once ticked a box saying you do not wish to be shown a text box for accessibility options, cookies can remind a website you did that.

Cookies have been used for a long time, since 1994. The reason many people have taken such notice with regards to cookies recently is legislature ensuring users are notified about the storage of these cookies.

Directive/2009/136/EC, or the ‘cookie law,’ was passed by the EU in 2009 that made websites inform the end consumer about cookies. Many customers are enjoying this new level of transparency.

Why tailor user experience?

Relevance to consumers: Advertisements not only benefit the advertiser but the consumer too, should they find and buy a product they enjoy.
Ease of use: A website using cookies to allow options to be remembered saves a consumer from having to reselect all of their personal changes that make the website more enjoyable.
Familiarity: Consumers can enjoy being remembered and treated personally by an e-commerce platform.

Accessibility and adoption of AI

If you were asked, ‘Who owns a phone?’, an instinctive answer may include ‘Well, everyone!’. The information age has introduced technology to many more people, and with the 2020s now beginning, more and more companies are ensuring technology can actually be utilized by everyone.

Many phones now come with a voice to speech, screen magnifiers, color-blind modes, and more. The utilization of AI has been key to all of this, with AI systems like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri being familiar voices to most people.

People unable to walk or talk due to severe health conditions can operate complex web pages, video games and even achieve degrees through AI interpreting eye movements.

There are many different ways websites can utilize accessibility options should they decide to. The technology already exists and is widely used. It can, however, be difficult to decide which technologies to adopt and why.

Some of the advantages of increased accessibility and the utilization of AI include:

Ease of use: Even the average person capable of using a keyboard will find accessing the internet by voice a convenient experience.
Technology to a broader audience: People who would never have dreamed of operating a computer now can, thanks to eye trackers, voice controls an array of other things.
Novelty: It’s exciting to many to just be able to shout ‘Hey Alexa, what deals do you have on vacuum cleaners?’ and to be told the best prices.

The website landscape is constantly transforming, and the changes that should be adopted are greatly special to the website’s needs. The hardest choices to be made are often at the very beginning, navigating which trend would work out the best in the long term for a business.

Here at WiserBrand, we’d be glad to help you explore the variety of trends applicable to your business, come up with the best option out there, and set you on course for smooth sailing.