UI/UX Design Trends in 2023

The UI/UX design trends are constantly evolving. Every year businesses try to quickly grip the new ones in an attempt to capture customers’ attention. Given this, the competition in the market is also growing and companies put much effort into adding that fascinating glimpse to their apps that would make their digital solutions stand out among others.

To turn their applications into really engaging marketing instruments, businesses relentlessly follow the latest UI/UX design trends and consider how to implement them in their solutions in the best possible manner. Here, we’ve gathered the upcoming UI/UX design trends in mobile and web development that will be increasingly popular in 2023.

Top UI/UX Design Trends for 2023

In 2022, the rise of remote working culture made businesses pay special attention to the UI/UX design used in their digital solutions. Huge amount of people of all ages went online and for business owners it became a crucial necessity to make their applications user-friendly and intuitive for those who had little to no experience of using the Internet before. Apart from that, many Internet users started spending more of their working and leisure time online. Therefore, the issue of black-and-white app themes became one of the major ones due to an increasing strain on the eyes.

In 2023, we expect that some of the UI/UX tendencies revealed in 2022 will remain and many more will be added. Here are the ones that we’ll definitely expect in the upcoming year.

Mobile-First Approach

Creating one app that would run on several devices is a popular strategy for businesses to effectively expand their audience. Adopting a mobile-first approach for building cross-platform applications can be a winning strategy in this case.

Mobile-first approach means building UI/UX for mobile devices as a top priority. This tendency rests on the fact that Internet users use smartphones to go online more often than any other type of device. For example, Statista states that in the 2nd quarter of 2022, more than half of global website traffic was generated with mobile devices, reaching 58.99%. This leads to the necessity to apply a mobile-first approach to the development of web solutions. Today, if a company wants to be noticed online, its website should be effectively adapted for smartphone use.

The approach involves the use of responsive design practices that allow making simply scalable to various screens and devices solutions. For example, software developers have to consider screen size, bandwidth, visual hierarchy, and other aspects to conveniently place application content around, creating an eye-catching and appealing solution for end-users. Of course, this requires more effort than building a traditional web application but the convenience it offers allows bringing more visitors, effectively turning them into paying customers.

Personalized Experience

In UI/UX development, providing outstanding personalized experience has never lost its relevance and in 2023 it’ll continue to be one of the most important aspects of web and mobile software development. Consumers expect that businesses of all sizes provide them with the same level of individual approach.

Although the personalized experience has always been used mostly for adverts and recommendations, UI/UX designers have moved beyond that and started offering the end-users to alter their application settings. This way, apart from receiving content adapted to their tastes, the users can also modify the application by changing its color theme, background images, text size, and more. This allows businesses to make their digital solutions better meet customer needs, providing exciting user experiences and making them come back.

One of the dominant issues for various businesses in 2023 will be the provision of similar user experiences across all the selling and communication channels with the same level of personalization. For this, businesses have to consider how to move from a multi-channel to an omnichannel approach, creating a client-centric and seamless UX on their online platforms as well as in offline stores.

Voice User Interface

Voice User Interface (VUI) allows customers to interact with software programs using speech. Although the VUI is used in many apps and gadgets, it was the most widely adopted for creating virtual assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa. In 2021, 50% of US households had voice assistants and the figure is expected to reach 75% by 2025. Therefore, VUI is a familiar technology for many consumers, and it’s becoming more common when companies use it in their apps today.

VUIs help companies increase customer engagement, providing a hands-free interactive experience. For example, Snapchat has added a voice search for filters to apply them over images, Pandora offers its users voice mode to discover new music, and Kia experiments with voice assistants to provide a more pleasant driving experience.

More and more companies realize the capacity of using VUI for their apps. We expect that the implementation of VUI will be one of the prominent UI/UX design trends in mobile app development in 2023.

Simple Navigation

Seamless and intuitive navigation is essential for any custom web and mobile app today.

Although mobile and web digital navigations differ much in their development, they still should follow some common concepts:

• Maintain customers’ momentum – help users to get to parts of a web or a mobile app as quickly as possible;
• Provide unified navigation – when the navigation structure is logical and simple to follow;
• Follow navigational patterns – for a user, it’s important that a mobile or web app has familiar navigation found on other applications;
• Have minimalistic design – when an application stays functional while taking little space and offering fewer buttons;
• Be engaging – when each navigational link encourages app users to click it and discover more content.

Simple navigation is a common requirement for all types of software, however not all companies manage to maintain it at a high level in their apps. That’s why we expect that this trend will remain relevant in 2023.

Immersive 3D Visuals

3D visualization is actively winning its ground. Adding 3D elements allows businesses to make their applications look more sophisticated and unusual.

Previously 3D visuals were used mostly as static UI elements, though in recent years UI/UX designers started making them more interactive.

Animated 3D effects help businesses efficiently promote their brands, provide exciting user experiences, and make their applications more memorable among users.

Another UI/UX development trend is a wide use of Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) technologies. The use of three-dimensional complex designs in software applications, bring them to an entirely new level of user experience.

Many businesses are extensively using VR/AR to enhance the attractiveness of their brands. Walmart is testing its AR platform for quick product scanning to transport items from the backroom to the sales floor. ASOS offers its customers to “digitally fit” its closing onto models with the help of its AR app. Amazon has introduced its salon with new hairstyles customers can try on using the company’s AR app.

Mark Zuckerberg is developing his own metaverse based on the VR technology that he is planning to expand throughout all the Meta products, including Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and others.

We’re sure that 3D will become one of the hyped trends in 2023, and we’ll see many more examples of 3D visual implementation in diverse applications from e-commerce to e-learning, to healthcare, and more.

Advanced Micro-Interactions

Micro-interactions can be found in practically any software application today. They are small elements that make user interface designs vivid and fascinating. These can be popping emojis on Facebook when a user wants to react to the news or an attention-grabbing pop-up chat on a web page.

Micro-interactions can be of any form and kind. Apart from using already traditional types of micro-interactions such as diverse switches, buttons, bars, etc., it is becoming more common for UI/UX designers to implement advanced micro-interactions. They include various hand gestures, voice interfaces, hands-free tools, and many others. When creating apps, UI/UX designers have to carefully consider each micro-interaction element. Otherwise, they can ruin the app experience and users will abandon it, having no clear idea why they do so.

In 2023, micro-interactions will remain relevant for web and mobile app UI/UX design. They significantly alleviate designers’ work by making it easier to build an effective customer  journey through the app. Therefore, designers will have to find ways to smartly implement these elements in the developed solutions.

Large Font Size

A general trend that could be traced through many web and mobile applications in 2022 and will remain persistent in 2023 is oversized typography. World-known brands from Apple to Tesla and McDonald’s, and others preferred using large-size fonts and images for their UI design in their applications.

Why so? The answer is simple – large elements allow customers to quickly grab the most important information. Moreover, it helps businesses keep only relevant information in their applications, removing other unnecessary elements. This also creates an immersive experience and keeps customers in the app for longer as it’s eye-catching and simple to understand.

We expect that businesses will continue adding oversized elements mixed with animations to their apps, creating captivating user experiences in 2023.

Anti Modes

The Dark theme has been a preference for many users over a couple of years. In 2021, around 80% of people used Dark mode across their devices. That’s because a Dark theme decreases eye strain and dry eyes, has a positive influence on insomnia, and minimizes visual disturbances. Therefore, it became a preferred choice for many during the Covid-19 pandemic when watching videos on a computer was the main option for work and rest. Meanwhile, some experts believe that it also leads to negative feelings and lowered focus.

Tech experts have found the solution for those users who are in two minds about which mode to choose – the Anti Mode option. In the Anti Mode, the luminous intensity adapts to the light changes automatically, making it easier for the users to work on a computer or use their mobile phone. More and more users opt for Anti Mode on their devices and it’s becoming a must for businesses to include this feature in their digital solutions.

Immersive Experiences on Wearables

Wearable gadgets boomed during the pandemic times and their market share will only continue growing in 2023. According to the Grand View Research report, the global wearable technology market was estimated at $61.30 bln in 2022 and is expected to expand, growing at a CAGR of 14.6% between 2023-2030.

During the pandemic times, people learned that their physical and psychological well-being is no less important than other aspects of their lives. Therefore, more and more people started purchasing wearable devices and using them for various purposes from self-monitoring to establishing daily routines, to self-analysis during illnesses.

A caring attitude to health has transitioned into the design industry and had a significant influence on how software for wearable technologies is built. When building wearable gadget software, designers started taking into consideration the mental health and emotional state of the end users. This resulted in soothing color palettes on the screens with a focus on greater data visualization and analysis. Also, UI/UX designers started paying much attention to gadget performance, trying to minimize any interruptions and deliver content in a more friendly and natural way.

An important trend in wearables development is “mirror design” when different software development teams build applications in a similar way so that the app navigation becomes intuitive and user-friendly. Also, now it has become easier to sync wearables with other devices even if they belong to different manufacturers.

Summary

There are myriads of commercial apps and websites online, each striving to grab users’ attention and expand their follower base. In this highly competitive environment, companies have to consider how to update their digital products so that they spark interest and make their users interact with the app as long as possible.

One of the most effective ways to surprise and attract more customers is to continuously implement the latest UI/UX innovations in web and mobile apps. That’s why many companies search for teams who could effectively incorporate these innovations in their custom solutions.

If you’re looking for UI/UX design services, our team of professional software developers and UI/UX designers is ready to help you create intuitive UI for your web, desktop, or mobile apps as well as provide full-cycle development of your solutions.