Just as wedid a yr ago , I ’m recoil off 2014 with a inclination of design style I have a bun in the oven to win ground over the next twelve months . The world of synergistic intent is an extreme fluid in terms of what ’s determined as a raw material of good figure from twelvemonth to twelvemonth .
It should go without aver that these are my persuasion as to how aim will recreate out over the course of study of the next year . I will certainly be incorrect on a few of them , but I ’m also passing confident in all of these making some variety of show throughout the course of the class , as spectacular or short - lived as they may be .
1. Theming Apps
Up until the up-to-the-minute generation of iPhone ironware , the color choice were slender . In fact , they seemed to take a page almost directly out ofHenry Ford’sbook give up customer to have any gloss they need , so long as it was smutty or white .
But , with the introduction of the gold anodized iPhone , as well as the other iPod - esque coloration strategy of the iPhone 5C series , the pick have increased exponentially on behalf of the customer . Something Apple does n’t seem to do quite often .
The question now is , how does this increase in color choices for hardware play into app design ? Up until now , designers have never really had to deal with have an app match the devices ’ color . Even a fashion - challenged individual , such as myself knows , black and white can go with – almost – anything . But , this newfangled color system , be it the Au iPhone or the vivacious excerption of the 5C , make for a much less simple solution when you ’re try out to create a more unlined experience .
A gravid deal of the beauty and on-going evolution of Apple ’s iOS devices is make the hardware as inconspicuous as potential when it occur to day-after-day utilization . However , they can only do so much when it come up to the user day-to-day experience on the twist , as third - party apps are what users are going to be interact with most of the clip . This means the duty to go on the inconspicuous experience come to the designers of the apps . And in the end there are two options , the latter of which is this tendency .
White . Sure , Dribbblehas been taken over with a white redesign of every app out there , and my Twitter feed is still replete with multitude complaining , but it ’s the most logical solution . A primarily bloodless interface is as agnostic as it take when it come to designing for a plethora of colors . Whether it ’s the atomic number 79 iPhoneJohan van der Smutwould trade in his collection of epidermis for , or one of the iPhone 5C coloration alternative , which has even the vibrant characters fromYo ! Gabba Gabbablushing , lily-white but make . And it ’s most sure as shooting a logical selection for the designers of many apps .
The 2d option is theming . Theming is the root to crap sure apps fit even better within their micro - ecosystem by agency of giving various options within the app for the user to pick out the color scheme of the UI . mightily now there are but a few apps which apply this , but with the redesigns for iOS 7 more and more seem to be offering it .
The two which most notably stick out to myself areFantasticalandTweetbot 3.0 . I ’m well aware many apps in the yesteryear have declare oneself a “ dark ” version alongside their more retina - filtrate twin , but never before was it put through into the app by means of making it well work with a specific ironware vividness . And even then , both Fantastical and Tweetbot offer up only ‘ easy ’ and ‘ dark ’ color schemes .
But throughout the year , I ’d like to see architect take this a stone’s throw further . And I remember it ’s a very likely possibility that some designers will . That is , to make a collection of UI topic within apps which also correlate to the colors of the iPhone 5C ( and therefore the iPod Touch series ) , allowing the app to better be tailor-make to the users hardware . It ’s in spades much more oeuvre on behalf of the designer(s ) , but it ’s certainly potential . To take it yet another step further , I would really like to see apps capable of mechanically detecting what the coloring material of the twist is and follow out it ’s correlating theme without any action on behalf of the user .
This wo n’t be potential with all apps , as many apps associated with brand would have a hard metre implementing this , but across the board there are more than enough apps capable of use this movement .
2. Color as Affordance
Going hand - in - mitt with the above attribute of more applications and websites taking on a very minimum , white UI , colour is go away to become an even more important instrument of affordance .
colour , or more specifically the psychology behind coloring , is present in every facet of our day-by-day lifespan . Whether a red stop house , meant to incite the urgency to give up , or the colour - coded traffic circle of theUSA Today redesign , meant to direct your brain to associate sure colors with certain sections of news , your brain use colors on both a witting and subconscious horizontal surface to make conclusion – making less resourcefulness intensive .
And it ’s no different in interface as it is in the forcible earth . With the ubiquity and adoption of digital UIs , the downfall of the overly - skeuomorphic designs of the yesteryear was inevitable . However , the lack of these physical – resonant attributes on screens , without the addition of affordance in other manners , is problematic . So , the natural solution is to use colouring more effectively and creatively than ever before , to make trusted we do n’t make cognitively consuming apps . Two apps which are already shit great use of this trend are Mailbox and Shake .
Mailbox goes about it by mean of using gloss to indicate the activity you ’re make to an electronic mail . When stimulate an legal action on an electronic mail by sliding the preview either to the left or right , you ’re presented with an option to file away it , delete it , set a admonisher to it , or add it to a leaning . Archiving is greenish , deleting is red , adding a admonisher is yellowed , and making a list is brownish . With brown being the exception , the green , crimson , and yellow all make sentience in the psychological sense , as over the class of premature UIs , we ’ve descend to take over Marxist as the means of getting rid of something , and green as a mean value of recognize an item or an action and can it .
Elevatrgoes about it a slightly different fashion , albeit reminiscent of what theUSA Today redesignhas done . Elevatr is an app mean to help direct you through the workflow from coming up with an estimation , all the agency to the execution and business side of making said idea become a reality . There are five unlike steps to the Elevatr process , each of which is associated with a colouration . As the mental process make a motion on : from ‘ The Idea ’ to ‘ Execution ’ , the color become more demanding of action , go from a light blue to orange , as seen in the figure of speech below . It ’s a simple way to severalize the unlike footfall , as well as incite action mechanism as the last steps become nearer .
There is n’t one specific way to implement colour as a means of affordance , and yes it ’s been around in UI for a foresightful time , but more so than ever , color is pass to start take the berth of other optic elements across mobile devices and laptop computer screens in hope to simplify the experience without dilute the values which make it work on a cognitively efficient level .
3. Layers and Depth Within Apps
Correlating yet again to the changes in iOS 7 – more specifically the optical flattening of the GUI – a trend which is already in affect and one which will proceed to take control is the act of create layers and deepness within both iOS 7 and third - party apps .
When working with a two - dimensional presentation , it ’s often hard to show hierarchy within the UI . A loophole around this is to create artificial layers of sort within the UI of the OS or app , as affordance to the hierarchy of elements .
The most obvious example of this is the homescreen of Io when – the rather controversial – parallax is turned on . It creates a psuedo-3D environs on iDevices two - dimensional display by lend a ‘ ezed - bloc ’ just behind the app and folder ikon , which mirrors the location of the UI – on allege z - axis vertebra – according to the devices predilection in your hand .
If you look exceedingly close at the homescreen as it ’s go bad about it ’s parallax behavior , you ’ll notice three layers tie to the z - axis : the wallpaper , the app and folder icons , as well as the notice badges on top of each app / folder . Upon first review of iOS 7 , I did n’t notice the presentment badge were on yet another level on top of the ikon , but they for sure are .
There are plenty of usance for creating this type of deepness via stratum within program , but with a few exceptions , I ’m yet to see any app really make use of it . Since it ’s only the beginning of the year , permit ’s go for some of you reading this will give me some examples to write about throughout the twelvemonth .
4. Parallax
Some call it a gimmick , others – myself included – enjoy the possibilities parallax add to the on-going designing and evolution of interfaces .
While many of you will ineluctably hound me for separating this and the above vogue , there is a stern difference . tote up layer and deepness to a UI is a substance of create visual pecking order and affordance while the genuine execution of the parallax is a means of add together a raw direction to interact with those layers . It is potential to have one without the other , but when put together , their true potential difference arises .
Hatch is an app , which through the use of profoundness in layers as well as parallax , creates a unparalleled environment for your type to exist in , and for you to interact with it through . The blurred background of your Fugu ’s woods moves in a mirrored manner to the actual positioning of where your Fugu is , gain the surround where your Fugu subsist seem much less stuck on pixels , a laTamagotchiand much more iOS desirable , by creatively utilizing the use of depth to make the experience more immersive .
The use of parallax between the layers within the app is what make it make . Why I chose to place Hatch under this , rather than the above course is due to the fact that sure element of the game count on your gadget parallax ability . In order of magnitude to reach certain acorns , fruit , or stickers within the app , you must pitch your phone in a specific manner , to tap on the objects . It ’s a brilliant way of life to make parallax far more than a catch by making it part of how you must interact with the game itself .
A vivid WWW exercise , although certainly not the first , is culture medium 1.0 . Websites have long utilize parallax , but never before have I come across an entire ecosystem of content where the movement of the parallax are as smooth and responsive as spiritualist ’s . Not only does subject seem to glide over the images as you scroll , Medium has care to incorporate blur as a mean value of a parallax gist . Blur being the topic of word in the style below .
I expect to see a great deal more of designers and developers make use of the parallax throughout 2014 . Sure they will be pile of people calling it a gimmick , and sure many implementations of it will be poorly done , but it ’s possibilities are almost strictly limited by designers imaginations of ways to use it to it ’s greatest potential .
5. Blur. Lots of Blur.
The shortsighted write - up of all the trend is this one . There is n’t even much to explicate it , other than it ’s the cognitive operation by which certain layers within the UI of applications are more and more commonly being slur . It ’s a logical and quite rude solvent to maintain the UI minimal while still make effective hierarchy of elements .
An case of this , which was around well before iOS 7 is , Rdio . The beautiful blur of the record album prowess while on the now - play screen is the epitome of the effectiveness of using this for both aesthetics and functionality , be it on their website , within their desktop app , or on their respectively aboriginal fluid apps .
There does n’t seem to be a uniform means of obscure content , but with the far – reaching capability of CSS3 , in combination with the bound – pushing mind of developers , adding the blurred force to port is becoming less and less resource intensive , make for a simple solution which is n’t overly imagination - intensive .
6. Experimentation with Navigation Systems
Each yr it seems a new method of navigation takes the cake and becomes more ubiquitous than ever . Last year it was the ‘ drawer ’ in collaboration with the ‘ ground beef menu image ’ , and the previous year it seemed to be tab along the bottom of the app program . However , this year , there wo n’t be a consistent manner of navigation systems .
As iOS 7 continues to make it ’s impingement on interface design – although many can and will reason it ’s not iOS 7 , but plainly the next logical step in user interface figure – designers go on to labor the limits of creativity , verify to wring out every bit of command they ’re given over the UI of their apps . With more in force employment of layer , blur , and parallax , as mentioned above , this year will probably be a yr of much trial and error , search to both an aesthetically – pleasing and user – well-disposed root to pilotage system , no matter how simple-minded or complex they may be .
7. Experimenting with Transitions
With the use of layers – or simply pilot through an interface – come the need for uncontaminating and simple , yet alone methods of transitioning from one bed or section of the interface to the next . It ask to be smooth , but not feel inert . It ’s a all right balance between the two , even more so when you take into account the desire to stand up out amongst the bunch , but such restraint continue to press innovation and creative thinking .
An app which really storm me with it ’s changeover isSquarespace’snewMetrics app . As part of theirredesigned collectionof apps for Squarespace 6 , it ’s passing round-eyed , but preposterously quiet transitions float me away .
When navigating between the various site you ’re monitor or going to the navigation tab , a simple swipe takes you from one tab to the next in an extremely fluid motion . Along with the fluid modulation , the screen you ’re currently on zooms out a routine , give a subtle hint of affordance . It ’s hard to explicate with words alone , so if you ’re concerned , be sure to go download it and contain it out for yourself . It ’s one affair to speak about a transition as such , but it ’s another to really implement it in terminal product . And sure , it ’s not precisely unequalled , but as far as I can secern , it ’s gain great use of the Modern physic capability made available to developer in iOS 7 .
I expect much more use of the physic engine in iOS 7 , as well as more effective usage of CSS3 when ferment with these transitions , throughout the yr . As with the piloting systems , bear a embarrassment of Modern transition to rise up . Who knows , by the ending of 2014 , mayhap we ’ll have one which becomes a number more omnipresent than the residuum .
8. Importance in the Details
Oftentimes it ’s the lowly , usually look out on features of a website or app which truly define how well designed it is in terminal figure of UX . We ’re in a young eld of interface intention across the board and part of that now is focusing on the exploiter more than ever before , making sure to make interacting with the port as efficient and pleasant as possible .
There are C of ways to go about this , but there ’s a specific utilization of a small detail which , for me , entirely change how I go about consume substance as of recently . That is the reading time , which is part of Medium ’s offer when perusing through contributor content .
My first experience with such a item was n’t average though , it was the web log of iA , where with each blog post , as you scroll down , a diminished string of school text will pop up along the scroll - bar , send word you how much long you have to read – in minute – until the clause is finished . With both Iowa ’s and metier ’s implementation of a rather small lineament , it make the lives of user and visitors more efficient by set aside them to more effectively opt when to read certain clause . If you ’re on lunch and care to study one of the Medium posts you have saved , you may easily browse through and see which I you may show in an campaign to maximize the amount of content you ’re taking in in a small amount of fourth dimension .
The reading material metre is but one small item . There are dozens more presently being used throughout interfaces , and hundreds more to be thought of , but more so in 2014 than ever before , I see the intricate look being think of in hopes to more effectively make the experience as fluent as possible .
9. Content Impermanence
If you ’re active , breathing , and reading this article , I trust to sweet-flavored – baby – Jesus you ’ve recognized and total to terms with the permanency of fundamentally anything partake on the web and/or on electronic gimmick . That embarrassing mirror – selfie you posted to Myspace during your punk stage ? Yea , there ’s a unspoiled chance it ’s still seat on a HDD somewhere , even if your story is long – gone . And even if that ’s not the font , have no fear ; there ’s a good chance the NSA has already had a few giggle over it .
The idea of our on-line interactions being around for as long as there is technology is a scary thought . Especially when we ’re young and dumb . And while we ’re never going to eradicate every threat against our information or content being made public , there are plenty of people creating unequalled ways to make sharing and conversing much more akin to how it is done IRL .
The most obvious app which follows this premise is none other than Snapchat . The concept is dewy-eyed : snap a photo , add some textbook if you ’d like , go under a metre - limit for your viewer(s ) , and send it . Once they open your image , it is shared for the allotted time , before it travel Mission Impossible and self - destructs , sans explosions . Of course , there ’s the option of taking a screenshot of the figure of speech , but your sneaky supporter are n’t go to get away without you being notify .
Another app which goes along these line is Skim . The assumption is the same , but directed more towards conversation than exposure . pose up how long you ’d like your text to be able to take for and as the parcel out clip goes by , your text slowly fades away into non - existence . We do n’t record every conversation we have in person , or even every phone call we have , so why should all of our schoolbook subject matter have to be keep ?
Of course , there ’s loopholes for all of the current options and there will likely always be loopholes for getting the message , but the sooner the idea of content impermanency is implemented across the board , the well off we are towards play the cat – and – shiner game of bellyache up surety . I ’m not quite certain where else this could be apply as far as apps go , but the philosophy and overall approximation behind it is one which I promise a few more developers to utilize as the class goes on .
10. Better Use of Sensors
With the inclusion body of more and more sensors in gadget , more information is being ply at faster pace than many developers know what to do with . The iPhone 5S ’s A7 bit takes wandering computing leaps and bounds into the future and with more companionship hopping on the mobile 64 - bit computer architecture , the increase in processing top executive will only become more omnipresent .
The app which most notably do function of this isMoves . Constantly record your daily activity in the backcloth , moves provide you with a plot line of your twenty-four hours , provide introspective analytics to keep data track of . With this info ply , you may begin to better canvas how you go about your day and how to better make small change to positively impact your wellness and productivity .
The next footstep in this is the creation of chic – watch , which will inevitably be packed with pot of detector , launch the result readings to your nomadic equipment , using it almost as a brain of kind to process the information . NikeandJawbonehave had their versions of this around for quite some time as well , but with the introduction of ironware such as theA7 chipin the iPhone , there might not be a motivation for as many peripherals .
Only meter will tell . And since it ’s only the beginning , 2014 offers plenty of clip for the story to be written .
11. Single-Use Pages
I ’m not quite sure when this became a trend , but it ’s one which seems to have gained an tremendous amount of grip and quite candidly , one I ’m a bighearted rooter of . The idea is that amongst web site which put out a expectant pile of contentedness , a unequalled means to put a specific article , essay , or patch apart from the rest , is to give it it ’s own , separate experience from your other content .
Two meridian good example which amount to mind areSnowfall , the extremely fun and interactive experience fromNY Times , as well asSB Nationin general , as they tend to have acontinuouslygrowingcollectionof single - usage page as a way to salute a special , long - signifier essay .
Throughout the course of study of the year , I see many more publishers of content go about this method to create “ featured ” stories and accumulation . It ’s a fun way of life to experiment a piece and get users outside of the normal experience , while observe them inside the ecosystem of subject .
12. Browser’s Integration with OSes
With the introduction of OSX Mavericks , an old concept , but new execution , come to fruition . That is the inclusion of push notifications from websites via Safari . Content Almighty can now bid up the option for user to obtain push notification when specific subject is publish .
The only two websites I ’ve seen use it up until now are 9to5 Mac and more recently , the NY Times . Upon their inclusion of the of the essence factor on the website ’s side , the next clip you ’re visit the site , you ’ll be prompted via a small Safari dialogue as to whether or not you ’d care to receive notification from them . If you ’d like to do so , a simple click of concord is all it takes , with the opposite check true if you wish well to not pick up notifications .
It ’s nothing too special , as it ’s essentially an OS – level integration of an RSS provender , but it allows for a much more structured experience , without the need for an supernumerary diligence . I ’m quite excited to see more and more websites make use of this and I have no doubt many will throughout the year .
13. Physical Products Coinciding With Apps
With each consecutive class , it seems as though more and more companies are working on physical products to go hand - in - hand with their apps . While I do n’t necessarily see a major increment in this , I do conceive it is a vogue which will bear on to grow throughout 2014 .
While there is no shortage of options to mention , the one Cartesian product which has garnished an incredible amount of attention as of recent is thePencilbyFiftyThree , which is intend to be used specifically with theirPaper app . Pencil is a piece of art on it ’s own , but when paired with the Paper app , it makes for an full experience that no other developer or society can equate to .
Proprietary hardware has always been a point of criticism , but there ’s no doubt that when done with the good intentions and the most exhaustive thought , the results are nothing short of unbelievable . After all , what beneficial source of hardware than from the company who has also place the foundation with their software , as the integration can be much more intimate than with solutions , resulting in a more flawless experience .
product like the Pencil by FiftyThree do n’t do around once a calendar month , but there will without a doubt more companies making efforts to create computer hardware which is integrated better than ever into coating .
14. The Full Experience
To terminate on a note standardized to last year , as controversial as many claim it to be , this trend is n’t so much a drift as it is an overarching philosophy that — more so now than ever — is affecting how designers and developers approach interface aim .
Whether the usage of optical expressive style , such as parallax and blur ; well integration through sensing element and notice ; the implementation of individual – use pages ; even the inclusion of physical products into the ecosystem of diligence developers ; the melodic theme is to produce an immersive experience for the drug user , from beginning to emd . Just as Apple has been known for it ’s desire to make hardware disappear with utilization , this twelvemonth the goal many beginning - ups , freelance , and companies are going to be endeavour for – as none other thanDieter Ramsdesired – is for excogitation to evaporate .
It ’s about the experience . X from now , it ’s the experience we ’re going to remember and the depicted object we take in and create through said experience . Thus , to produce a sustainable cultivation for your interface , be it an app or website , the focus needs to be on what the substance abuser needs – and arguably more importantly does n’t postulate – to make an experience over a production . And with that said , I wholeheartedly believe this will be the ultimate movement throughout 2014 .
Conclusion
There we go , the 14 trends to keep an centre out for throughout the year . Some pertaining to web conception , some to app design , and some to ideas over ocular elements , but all coming together to make a decent little sum-up of what to have a bun in the oven .
Thanks for reading everyone , and as always , keep designing and pushing the industry forward , learning and challenging yourself along the way .
This article wasreproducedwith form permission fromThe industriousness . You canfollow them on Twitter here .
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