7 UI/UX Trends to Watch in 2023

User interface and user experience (UI/UX) are crucial for any type of website, whether you’re creating a blog, business site, or landing…

Crissa Aguilos

Oct 2, 2023 • 6 min read

User interface and user experience (UI/UX) are crucial for any type of website, whether you’re creating a blog, business site, or landing page. For blogs in particular, many users may overlook this aspect, so we recommend beginner web designers learn more from this tutorial to create a UI/UX-friendly blog.

Besides that, understanding the latest UI/UX design trends is important to make your website more engaging and accommodating for users. This means web designers should be ready to keep up with new design systems and trends.

In this article, we will cover the seven UI/UX trends to watch in 2023 to help you stay ahead of the competition. Let’s begin!

1. Mobile-First UX

Mobile-first UX design focuses on creating a user experience that is optimized and responsive for mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and even smartwatches.

Building a mobile-first design can improve website performance and search engine optimization (SEO). That’s because Google uses mobile versions of website content for indexing. In addition, more people prefer to use their mobile devices rather than desktops to access the internet.

The first step to ensuring a mobile-ready website is selecting a responsive web design template, whether that’s for a landing page or different product pages. An excellent resource for this is EpicPxls. It provides various pre-designed mobile-ready templates, perfect for both mobile and desktop sites.

To optimize your site’s design for mobile, consider using these tips:

Focus on the content — ensure that website elements, like the logo and menu, are displayed properly on different mobile devices.
Provide intuitive navigation — build a navigation flow that is easy to understand. For example, many web designers use a hamburger menu as they are touchscreen-friendly.
Test on real devices — ensure the design works well under real conditions. Many developers use a tool like BrowserStack to check their sites or apps on different browsers.

2. AR-based UX Design

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that integrates real-world environments with computer-generated simulation. It incorporates visual elements, sounds, and other inputs via a device, where users can then interact with virtual objects in real time.

Lately, more industries have started to utilize AR technology to attract customers by providing an immersive experience. For example, Sephora has a virtual artist tool that allows customers to try on various lip colors, foundation shades, and other make-up online.

With this in mind, AR will likely affect how customers interact with products in the future, making it one of the most important UI/UX design trends to watch.

3. Immersive Scrolling

Another popular UI/UX design trend is immersive scrolling or scrollytelling. It helps build an engaging experience and sparks customers’ curiosity using motion design.

The Stanley Kubrick website is one of the best examples of scrollytelling, where visitors can see interactive animations like transitions while scrolling. This user interface gives a unique browsing experience, making it memorable.

When integrating scroll effects, consider these aspects:

Know your website’s functionality — some types of websites are unsuitable for immersive scrolling. For example, news sites may not be ideal for this effect.
Ensure that the effect works properly — test your design and see whether the visuals need to be improved. Some static images may not work smoothly with animated effects.
Analyze your site performance — measure the website’s loading time to ensure that your scroll effects don’t negatively affect the page speed.

4. Gradient Colors

Implementing gradient colors will help you to enhance a flat UI design. By combining the right tones, you can create eye-catching and captivating mobile apps and sites. This popular 90s to early 2000s trend is predicted to come back in 2023.

You can use gradients for various projects, including data graphics and digital products. For example, Instagram and TikTok use gradient colors in their logos, which create a fresh and bold look.

To ensure an excellent gradient, follow these tips:

Consider branding. Opt for colors that represent the emotions aligned with your brand. For example, a dark blue gradient can create a sense of calmness and reliability, suitable for a fintech company.
Assess visual harmony. Build a smooth transition between the colors to create a pleasant viewing experience. We recommend using analogous colors or shades from the same color family.

5. 3D Elements

This is one of the top UX/UI design trends that can deliver a great first impression, helping to improve brand recognition and visitor engagement.

For instance, creating 3D custom cursors can enhance the user experience and encourage customer interaction. You can find various pre-made 3D designs on many platforms, including Dribbble and EpicPxls, to ease the design process.

To optimize 3D elements, use fast-loading components and avoid adding too many details to your web design. This helps prevent user fatigue, resulting in improved browsing time.

6. Dark Modes

Many mobile users prefer dark mode because it helps them save battery usage on their devices and reduce eye strain. Therefore, designing a dark mode-friendly website allows you to provide a better experience for all types of visitors.

Moreover, the dark mode can make colors pop by contrasting vibrant tones, helping to improve site engagement. Some popular apps and operating systems (OS) that support a dark mode theme include Instagram, WhatsApp, and Android.

Here are some tips for implementing dark themes in UX/UI design:

Use brand colors carefully — choose a saturated primary color for crucial elements like the logo and a desaturated color for the rest of the web elements. This is best if you want to maintain the same look and feel as in the light mode.
Avoid high contrast — use dark gray instead of pure black as the main color to reduce eye strain. This tip also applies to the white font color.
Be careful with saturated colors — they can make text hard to read because of the high color intensity. So, use lighter tones which have better readability on a dark background.

7. Better Accessibility

Accessibility plays a major role in UX/UI design since it helps users navigate your site more easily. This will lead to an improved brand reputation and visitor experience, mainly for users with disabilities.

Some of the best ways to create an accessible web design include:

Use advanced technology — make your app or site compatible with assistive technology (AT), such as voice assistants, screen readers, and personalized keyboards.
Add alt text to images — write a short description so that screen readers can read it aloud for visually impaired users.
Provide text transcripts in videos — it enables users with hearing impairments to understand your video by reading the closed captions.
Measure usability — use tools like WAVE and WebAIM to ensure your sites or apps are accessible to users of all abilities.

Keep in mind that some countries, such as the United States, France, and Australia, have created regulations regarding web accessibility. For this reason, we recommend following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Conclusion

Whether you want to create a website or mobile app, its visual design is crucial to grab users’ attention and building a good visitor experience. With a great UX/UI design, users can navigate your site and understand its content more easily.

To recap, here are the top seven UX/UI trends you should watch in 2023 to improve your web design:

Use a mobile-first approach.
Incorporate augmented reality (AR) design.
Add immersive scrolling.
Implement gradient colors.
Leverage 3D elements.
Provide dark mode options.
Increase accessibility.

In addition, we recommend conducting qualitative UX research and quantitative user research to help you evaluate the web performance and find ways to improve. Good luck!