In the fast-paced world of digital design, staying current often means chasing the latest aesthetic fads. We see full-screen video backgrounds, invasive interstitials, and minimalist navigation that hides essential information. While trends can introduce fresh aesthetics, they frequently prioritize novelty over functionality, resulting in a frustrating experience for the end-user. This guide serves as an essential resource for designers and business owners looking to Improve User Experience By Avoiding These Web Design Trends, focusing instead on timeless principles of usability and accessibility.
Prioritizing Usability Over Aesthetics
Superior user experience is not about looking cutting-edge; it is about effortless interaction. When a user lands on a website, their primary goal is usually to achieve a specific task—find information, make a purchase, or get in touch. Anything that obstructs that goal, no matter how beautiful, creates friction and harms UX.
The golden rule of anti-trend UX design is simple: if a design choice makes a user stop and think, rethink that design choice.
Trend 1: The “Hamburger Menu” on Desktops
The hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) is a mobile necessity due to limited screen real estate. However, its migration to desktop interfaces is a widespread trend that actively damages usability.
Why it harms UX:
- Hides Navigation: Users have to click to discover options, increasing the number of actions required to browse the site.
- Reduces Discoverability: Studies consistently show that visible navigation labels lead to significantly higher engagement and task completion rates than hidden menus.
The Anti-Trend Approach: Use clearly labeled navigation links across the top of the desktop screen. Clarity trumps minimalism here. Reserve the hamburger menu strictly for mobile views where space is a genuine constraint.
Trend 2: Full-Screen Intrusive Interstitials and Pop-ups
“Subscribe to our newsletter!” “Take our survey!” “We use cookies!” These messages, delivered via giant overlays that block the entire screen, are perhaps the most universally disliked trend in web design. While essential legal notices (like cookie consent) must appear, aggressive marketing pop-ups destroy user flow.
Why it harms UX:
- Interrupts User Flow: The user is interrupted mid-task, forced to deal with the overlay before they can proceed.
- Accessibility Issues: These can be difficult to close for users with limited motor skills or who use assistive technologies.
The Anti-Trend Approach: Use a subtle, fixed banner at the top or bottom of the screen for important announcements or subscription requests. Ensure all necessary legal pop-ups are easy to dismiss with a clear “Close” button. Respect the user’s journey.
Trend 3: Low Contrast Text
A sleek, minimalist aesthetic often relies on incredibly thin fonts and low contrast color schemes—gray text on a slightly lighter gray background, for instance. This trend is a nightmare for accessibility and general usability.
Why it harms UX:
- Readability Issues: Text becomes difficult, if not impossible, to read for anyone with visual impairments or simply using their screen in bright sunlight.
- Accessibility Non-Compliance: Websites failing to meet contrast ratio standards miss crucial Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) benchmarks, alienating a significant portion of potential users.
The Anti-Trend Approach: Adhere strictly to WCAG AA standards for contrast ratios (at least 4.5:1 for normal text). Ensure all text is easily legible against its background. Prioritize legibility over trendy monochromatic color palettes.
Trend 4: The Hero Carousel/Slider
A persistent trend in e-commerce and corporate websites is the automatic rotating banner, often placed prominently “above the fold.” The idea is to feature multiple campaigns in one location.
Why it harms UX:
- Banner Blindness: Users often ignore carousels entirely because they look like advertisements or move too quickly to read.
- Slow Load Times: High-resolution images or videos used in carousels bloat page weight, slowing down the site.
- Lack of Control: Auto-rotating elements annoy users by moving content away before they finish reading it.
The Anti-Trend Approach: Use a single, powerful static hero image or message that clearly communicates your primary value proposition. If you must display multiple pieces of content, arrange them in a static grid format where the user is in control of what they view and when.
Trend 5: Hiding or Obfuscating Navigation Cues
Driven by the desire for ultra-clean layouts, some designs remove conventional cues that indicate interactivity, such as underlines on links, changes in cursor pointers, or visual feedback on buttons (e.g., hover states).
Why it harms UX:
- Unclear Interactivity: Users become confused about what is clickable and what is static text or imagery. This uncertainty creates hesitation and cognitive load.
- Lack of Feedback: Good UX provides immediate feedback when a user interacts with an element. Removing hover states or active feedback loops makes the experience feel unresponsive.
The Anti-Trend Approach: Design explicit cues. Underline links in body text. Ensure buttons look like buttons (using strong contrast and shadows/depth). Provide clear hover and active states for all interactive elements. Predictability and clarity build trust and make a site intuitive.
The Timeless Principles of Superior UX
To truly Improve User Experience By Avoiding These Web Design Trends, focus on the fundamentals:
- Clarity: Is it immediately obvious what the site offers and how to use it?
- Consistency: Does navigation behave the same way on every page?
- Efficiency: Can users complete their tasks quickly and without friction?
- Accessibility: Is the site usable by everyone, regardless of disability or device?
By prioritizing these timeless principles over fleeting fads, you build a digital experience that is usable, accessible, and successful long after today’s trends have faded.
