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Web Design Trends for 2023 | User Experience in 2023 | Artificial Intelligence
2023 Web Design Trends: What We Can Expect
As 2023 approaches, web designers and developers are filled with anticipation about what design trends will define websites and digital experiences in the coming year. With 2022 already yielding significant innovations and shifts in the web landscape, some clear front-runners have emerged that seem destined to shape and dominate web design over the next 12 months. Paying close attention to the trajectories established this past year provides intriguing clues into what users and clients will soon expect from the sites, apps, and interfaces of the very near future.
Minimalism Stays Strong
The minimalism trend shows no signs of fading anytime soon. Web users have demonstrated a strong preference for clean, uncluttered sites and apps that focus on simplicity and ease of use. Expect to see minimalist principles continue driving most mainstream web design in 2023. Some elements of this include:
- Lots of white space
- Flat graphics and muted color palettes
- Hidden navigation/hamburger menus
- Ample negative space surrounding key content/visuals
- Restrained ornamentation and visual elements Adaptive Design Comes Of Age With continued mobile growth eclipsing desktop access to the web, 2023 may be the year adaptive design becomes the norm, rather than the exception. With one flexible code-base, sites can seamlessly adapt UI and UX across a spectrum of devices and screen sizes. Flexbox and grid CSS take center stage to enable dynamic and responsive site adjustments.
Variable Fonts
One of the most innovative web design technologies expected to rapidly advance in 2023 is variable fonts. Variable fonts allow for fluid adjustments to weight, width, slant, letter-spacing, line height and other typographic qualities with just a single font file. This removes the need to separately host and load multiple static font variants. Instead, variable fonts behave dynamically, able to shift and adapt along adjustable axes according to user needs and preferences.
Expect 2023 to usher in much wider implementation of variable fonts across both new and existing sites. Their flexibility and compression abilities offer the web enhanced typographic options without sacrificing loading speeds. Designers can leverage variable fonts to create flowing, personalized reading experiences shaped by unique user inputs and interactions. We’ll also likely see variable fonts take center stage in more ambitious responsive design adaptations. Their fluid nature allows typography to stretch, contract and reflow seamlessly between desktop and mobile with no discernible quality loss.
Focus On Accessibility
With disability laws and anti-discrimination regulations expanding rapidly across regions, designing accessible digital experiences is no longer just best practice—it’s a legal obligation. Sites and apps failing to conform to modern accessibility standards risk exclusion, litigation, and loss of trust from users with disabilities.
Expect web designers and developers to place greater emphasis on inclusive design in 2023, allowing individuals of all physical abilities to navigate and comprehend content and interfaces with ease and independence. The accessibility movement will become a driving force of innovation, shaping decisions around information architecture, color contrast, interface markings, ARIA attribute implementation, keyboard compatibility, screen reader functionality, captioning, and flexible/adaptable design systems.
Front-end developers in particular need to ensure markup is semantic, logical, and optimized for assistive technologies like screen readers. This includes proper heading hierarchy, alt text for images, thoughtful link labeling, strong color contrast, focus indicators for interactive elements, and other inclusive markup considerations. Complimentary back-end development should also facilitate dynamic content adaptations that support user preferences and abilities.
With multimodal interfaces expanding through voice assistants, AR/VR tools, and ambient computing, accounting for accessibility will no longer be an afterthought. It must permeate the entire design and development process. Failure puts organizations at substantial risk of exclusion, liability, and providing subpar user experiences that disenfranchise people unnecessarily.
The websites and apps best positioning themselves for the future will embrace inclusion and preserve access for all from the very first lines of code. They’ll consult regularly with users across the disability spectrum and conduct frequent assistive tech testing to uncover issues. With web accessibility now an expectation rather than a bonus, organizations failing to make it a priority do so at their own peril. 2023 looks to be the year this focus shifts from the exception to the norm industry-wide.
Summing Up Web Design Trends For 2023
As we navigate further into 2022, additional web design innovations will likely emerge, as they always do. But already, the core DNA of dominant trends for 2023 shows itself taking more definite shape – coalescing around principles of simplicity, seamlessness, and accessibility above all else. Rather than chasing flashy bells and whistles in hopes of standing out, next generation sites instead seem focused on serving all users equitably by getting the fundamentals right.
Streamlined, adaptable interfaces removing navigational friction, while preserving access for diverse ability levels appear well on their way to defining web design in the year ahead. So while new unexpected features will surely arise and certain nuances will evolve, minimalist and inclusive foundations are cementing themselves at the center of where UX is headed. Wins seem less likely to come from gimmicks in 2023, but rather from the sites and apps that perfect accessible, flexible, and hassle-free journeys to meet each user’s unique needs gracefully.
With mobile platforms taking undisputed leads in how most people interact online, responsive capability is no longer a bonus–it’s the imperative starting point. And with global disability legislation on the rise, accounting for neurodiverse perspectives and assistive tools can make the difference between access or exclusion for millions seeking essential services. As 2023 draws near, the websites, apps and organizations prioritizing these inclusive foundations over trendy flourishes seem poised to provide the most frictionless and equitable user journeys in the year ahead. So while surprising innovations still await in the wings, the core formula for success appears to already be declaring itself though minimalist, accessible design.
While additional innovations will emerge through 2022, the path forward in 2023 web design seems clearly etched – with accessibility, seamless adaptation, and simplified interfaces rising to the forefront of industry best practices thanks to their user-centric nature. Organizations seeking forward-focused web design and app development would do well to work closely with user experience experts focused on these frontiers of seamless, accessible design systems suited for the cross-device world ahead.
If you’re seeking an industry-leading team to help craft sites and digital experiences centered firmly on users’ needs for 2023 and beyond, the experts at Web Experts are here for you. Having spearheaded award-winning web design and app development for over 20 years, our UX driven process keeps the user perspective central to every project. We stay ahead of innovations in responsive systems, inclusive interfaces, simplicity of experience, and more. Let’s connect to explore how our user-first web design and development services can take your 2023 digital presence to the next level while others play catch up. The future of user-friendly websites is now – let’s build it together.
