Alex Thompson
March 28, 2023
9 min read
The world of UI design is constantly evolving, with new trends emerging at a rapid pace. While staying current is important, blindly following trends can sometimes compromise usability. This article explores how designers can embrace innovation while ensuring their interfaces remain intuitive and accessible to users.
Design trends emerge for various reasons—technological advancements, cultural shifts, or simply the desire for visual freshness. While trends can push the field forward and create novel experiences, they sometimes conflict with established usability principles.
This tension creates a fundamental challenge for UI designers: How do you create interfaces that feel contemporary and exciting without sacrificing the clarity and ease-of-use that users expect?
As Don Norman, author of "The Design of Everyday Things," puts it: "Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible."
Before discussing how to balance trends with usability, let's examine some of the dominant UI design trends of recent years and their implications:
Characterized by translucent, frosted-glass effects, glassmorphism creates a sense of depth and hierarchy through semi-transparent layers. This trend gained popularity with Apple's introduction of it in iOS and macOS.
Usability considerations: While visually appealing, glassmorphism can reduce contrast and make text less readable, particularly for users with visual impairments. The transparency effects may also increase cognitive load as users process overlapping elements.
Once a niche preference, dark mode has become a standard feature across operating systems and applications. Beyond aesthetic appeal, dark interfaces can reduce eye strain in low-light conditions and potentially save battery life on OLED screens.
Usability considerations: Dark interfaces require careful attention to contrast ratios to ensure readability. They also necessitate thoughtful color choices, as some colors that work well on light backgrounds may be problematic on dark ones.
These small, contextual animations respond to user actions and provide feedback. From button states to loading indicators, microinteractions add personality and improve usability by communicating system status.
Usability considerations: When overused or poorly implemented, animations can become distracting or delay user interactions. They must also respect user preferences for reduced motion to accommodate those with vestibular disorders.
Advances in browser capabilities have made it easier to incorporate 3D elements into web interfaces. From subtle depth effects to fully manipulable 3D models, this trend adds dimensionality to the traditionally flat web.
Usability considerations: 3D elements can increase cognitive load and may perform poorly on less powerful devices. They should enhance rather than obstruct the core functionality of the interface.
The trend toward simplification continues with interfaces that emphasize whitespace, limited color palettes, and reduced visual complexity. This approach aims to reduce cognitive load and focus attention on key content.
Usability considerations: Extreme minimalism can sometimes remove important visual cues or hide functionality behind ambiguous icons, creating "mystery meat" navigation that users struggle to understand.
So how can designers embrace current trends while ensuring their interfaces remain usable? Here are some strategies:
Always begin the design process by understanding user needs, goals, and pain points. Trends should be applied only when they serve these needs, not as a starting point.
Ask yourself:
Usability testing is essential when implementing trendy design elements. Observe how users interact with your interface and be prepared to modify or abandon trends that create confusion or frustration.
Even simple testing with 5-7 users can reveal major usability issues that might not be apparent to the design team.
Not every trend needs to be applied throughout an entire interface. Consider using trendy elements for specific components or sections while keeping critical functionality more conventional.
For example:
Trends should never compromise accessibility. Ensure that your interface works for all users, including those with disabilities or those using assistive technologies.
Key accessibility considerations include:
Many visual trends can impact performance, particularly on lower-end devices or slower connections. Heavy animations, 3D elements, or complex visual effects might look great in demos but can create frustrating experiences for real users.
Always test your designs across different devices and connection speeds to ensure they remain usable in various conditions.
Dramatic redesigns based on the latest trends can disorient existing users. Consider evolving your interface gradually, introducing trendy elements incrementally while maintaining familiar patterns.
This approach allows users to adapt to changes over time and provides opportunities to gather feedback before committing to major shifts.
Let's examine some examples of products that have successfully balanced trendy design with usability:
When Apple introduced system-wide dark mode in iOS 13 and macOS Mojave, they didn't simply invert colors. They carefully redesigned each interface element to maintain readability and visual hierarchy in both light and dark environments.
Key success factors:
Google's Material Design has evolved from its initial rigid implementation to a more flexible system that accommodates brand expression while maintaining usability principles. Material You, introduced with Android 12, embraces personalization while preserving the system's underlying usability.
Key success factors:
Stripe's website incorporates numerous cutting-edge design elements—including animations, 3D graphics, and unusual layouts—while maintaining excellent usability. They achieve this balance by keeping core functionality straightforward while using innovative design to communicate their brand values.
Key success factors:
While this article emphasizes balancing trends with usability, there are occasions when deliberately breaking conventions can be appropriate:
Websites or applications that are primarily artistic or experimental in nature can prioritize novel experiences over conventional usability. Portfolio sites, promotional microsites, or artistic projects often fall into this category.
In gaming and entertainment contexts, unusual interfaces can be part of the experience. Users often expect and enjoy discovering novel interaction patterns in these environments.
Products targeting tech-savvy early adopters can sometimes push boundaries more aggressively, as these users often enjoy learning new interaction patterns and are more tolerant of unconventional designs.
As we look to the future, several emerging technologies and approaches are likely to influence UI design trends:
Artificial intelligence will enable more sophisticated personalization of interfaces based on individual user behavior, preferences, and needs. This could help resolve the tension between innovation and usability by tailoring experiences to each user's comfort level.
As AR and VR technologies mature, spatial interfaces will become more common, requiring new design patterns that balance innovation with intuitive interaction in three-dimensional space.
The growing importance of voice interfaces, often combined with visual elements in multimodal experiences, will create new challenges for balancing novel interactions with usable, accessible designs.
The tension between following design trends and maintaining usability is not a problem to be solved but a polarity to be managed. The most successful digital products find ways to incorporate fresh, contemporary design elements while ensuring that the core experience remains intuitive and accessible.
By starting with user needs, testing rigorously, applying trends selectively, ensuring accessibility, considering performance, and evolving gradually, designers can create interfaces that feel current without sacrificing usability.
Remember that trends come and go, but the fundamental principles of good user experience endure. The best designs are those that users barely notice because they work so seamlessly—even when they incorporate the latest visual styles.
As designer Dieter Rams famously said, "Good design is as little design as possible." This principle remains true even as we explore new visual territories and interaction patterns in the ever-evolving landscape of UI design.
