WEBFLOW UI & UX FOR MODERN WEB DESIGNS AND TRENDS
CMS (Content Management System) websites have gotten even more popular over the years. Their popularity stems from the fact allow designers and other people with little to no coding skill to be able to build fully functional websites. Portfolio websites, cooperate websites, eCommerce websites, and other types of websites can be built easily using these CMS website builders. There are many very popular website builders such as WIX, Shopify, Squarespace, and Joomla, with the most popular being WordPress (WordPress.org). However, while Webflow is less popular than some of the other website builders that were mentioned earlier it makes up for it by providing a beautiful and easy-to-use no-code web building canvas.
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are the building blocks of the website (the frontend part of the website). Webflow allows the user to experience the full power of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript without writing a single line of code. With Webflow, web designers, developers, and other users can build, design, and launch professional and responsive websites in a virtual canvas. One big advantage of using Webflow is that it generates clean code (i.e., code that is short and concise). Clean code helps to increase site speed which thereby makes for a good user experience when visitors use your website.
The interesting constant in every tech field is that things continuously change or evolve. Styles and/or methods used in 2014 or 2015 might be considered outdated if they are used in 2021. As such it is important to ensure that you are up to date with the latest practices, styles, and methods in any tech field. Webflow’s UI and UX designs and trends are also changing. As a designer, developer, or regular user, it is important to keep up with the latest trends and designs, so that your website looks appealing to your users and they have a better user experience. For readers who do not know the meaning of UI and UX, UI is simply the shortened form of User Interface and is the graphical interface users can interact with. UX on the other hand stands for user experience and like the name implies it is simply how much the user enjoyed using the website. Therefore, it is important to keep up with the latest designs and trends so that your website can stand out from the crowd. In this article, we will look at the UI and UX design designs that are currently trending on Webflow.
- Use of a responsive design
I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a mobile-friendly web application. It fac it is better to have a design that works well on all screen sizes than to have complex animations. These days, people use phones even more than laptops, so it is important users are able to get the same/ similar user experience or feel when using the website on desktop and phone. It is also important to note that smartphones have different screen sizes. The screen size of iPhone X is different from that of an iPhone 8 which is different from that of a Samsung Galaxy S5. Regardless of the what screen size your website visitor is using, your website must comfortably accommodate the user and ensure they have a terrific user experience. Luckily, Webflow makes it easy for you to design your website for four custom-made screen size ratios, with all of them being adjustable.
Webflow also includes three additional screen size ratios (for larger screens) bringing the total to seven. This makes it easy to design websites that can accommodate virtually all screen sizes.
- Parallax scroll animations
Parallax scroll animation is not a new concept. It has been used in websites for many years; however, it is getting more attention in 2021. The concept behind the parallax scroll animation is quite simple. It requires the background image to move at a different speed from the foreground content while scrolling through the website. The use of parallax scroll animations adds action and illusion to your website, thus giving it a different and unique feel. They are used not only to add flashy effects to the website but to also highlight important parts of the website. However, it is important not to use too many parallax effects on your website as they are known to cause dizziness and are harmful to people with vestibular disorders. We will now look at some websites that use parallax scrolling.
- In this website designed by Jerome Bergamaschi, parallax scroll animation is used to make both the sun and the sky move, thus creating a beautiful and unique experience. The design is cloneable in webflow.
- This second website which is also cloneable on Webflow, takes a simpler approach as compared to the first website example. The position of the man holding the coffee mug changes depending on the movement of the user’s mouse.
- Horizontal scrolling
When visiting a website, it is normal to expect the scrolling system to go from up to down. How about a website that goes horizontally (from left to right)? Cool, right? I particularly like this website trend because it has a unique feel. The feeling you get while using a website with horizontal scrolling is that of a Gallery as opposed to the regular website feel. Make no mistake, it has got a nice and unique user experience. Hopefully, we see more of it in 2021. This website created for the Raise Three Fingers campaign uses horizontal scrolling very well.
- Custom cursors
Many web designers have gotten so used to the plain old arrow mouse pointer that they do not know how much creating a custom cursor can improve the UI and UX of a website. While creating a custom cursor, it is important to match the color of the cursor with the colors that are used in the website.
- Dark mode
These days, a lot of websites have two color themes, the regular theme, and a darker theme to makes the website come alive during the dark. The dark mode is not in any way new, but lots of web designers and developers have been using it on their websites in recent times. Numerous websites use it nowadays like Facebook and Github. The dark mode is here to stay.
- Retro fonts
Typography is very important in every website, the type of font used in the design of a website help beautify and shape the website. Fonts like Roboto and others that are commonly used in websites are starting to look a little stale as they are used in a lot of the websites. This is why retro fonts are starting to look cool again and are making a comeback in 2021. When used properly, retro fonts breathe new life into websites as they make them look and feel unique. Goliath entertainment accompanied their spectacular multimedia use and web design with the use of a superb retro font that made the website to pop.
- Diversity and Inclusion is huge in 2021
People from different backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, and age groups would most likely visit your website. It is thus important to make them feel comfortable by using designs and illustrations that acknowledge diversity and inclusion. Doing this would go a long way in boosting user experience.
- Better use of Videos and Audios
Web developers and designers in past were skeptical of using multimedia like audios and videos because using them would slow down the website load time which would greatly affect user experience. However, with the introduction of superfast internet speeds with 4G and 5G, this is no longer an issue. Websites can load videos and audio without any problem. Therefore, adding videos and audio to the text and pictures on the website makes sense because it combines to deliver a richer user experience. It is very easy to add videos to your webflow website designs. Webflow’s designer page is a good example of how to use multimedia on the web.
- Geometric grids
Simplicity as they say is golden. The use of geometric grids in websites makes them look clean and organized. They also add a lot of flexibility to the website design. Geometric grids give your website a simple but complex look and feel.
