7 UI/UX trends in 2024 for creating a customer-oriented website

Why is it important to follow and consider website design trends? How to find a balance between functionality, trends, and website usability, and what UI/UX trends should be considered in 2024? Denys Studennikov, COO and Head of the UX/UI Department at Turum-burum, a specialist with 9 years of experience, shared his expertise and advice.

3 reasons why you should incorporate website design trends

As user needs and preferences change over time, web design is constantly evolving and adapting to current market demands. Therefore, there are at least 3 reasons to track and incorporate UX/UI trends:

1. Competitiveness. Today, website usability and visual appeal determine business competitiveness and e-commerce conversion rates.
2. Marketing strategy success. For example, recent changes in Google's website search algorithms have made UX/UI the most significant indicator of a web platform's quality. As a result, usability now plays a major role in website ranking: the more user-friendly the site, the higher its search rankings.
3. Customer-centric approach. By understanding your users' needs and pain points, you can design an interface that fully meets the expectations of your target audience and thus optimize the conversion of your online store. 

7 UI/UX trends that Turum-burum uses in the work we do

Below you will find not only a list of trends, but also examples of how our team has implemented them to demonstrate the relevance and importance of these trends to business success today.

Trend #1: user-centric website design approach

Entrepreneurs often make the mistake of putting their interests ahead of the needs of their customers by creating a complex and confusing interface. However, the primary goal of any business is to create value for users. Without this, there is no hope for significant profits.

The main task of user-centered design is to create a web product using the latest technology that takes into account the needs of users and meets the business goals.

A good example of this is Amazon, an online retailer that has become the most popular website in the world in 2023. The key to Amazon's success is the company's customer-centric services, tracking of emerging trends, and desire to meet users' needs.

For customers, the company offers an interface with the most thoughtful usability: intuitive navigation, multiple engaging entry points, convenient search filters, the right visual accents, clean design, and personalized product recommendations for each user based on preferences and previous views. This understanding of the user's pain points allows Amazon to lead the rankings of the most successful companies.

Trend #2: client-oriented interface — know and understand your target audience

We've determined that a successful web product in 2024 will take care of its users first and foremost. But how do we put this into practice? 

Client-oriented website design means understanding the specifics of the target audience and their needs. Therefore, when working on a project, it is crucial to create a user profile that takes into account the following factors:

• Demographic — age and gender;
• Social — education, income, marital status;
• Psychological — values, pain points, fears.

Why is it important? The specifics of the target audience often depend on the industry. For example, in the fashion industry, the look and feel of the interface play a supporting role because the focus should be on the product. Therefore, it is critical to emphasize the content: add bold banners, undertones, accent typography, and non-standard navigation. These tools will help you stand out and grab the attention of potential buyers.

This is exactly what happened in the case of Symbol: we redesigned a website for the largest Ukrainian distributor of luxury brands to optimize e-commerce conversion.

Taking into account the specifics of the luxury clothing target audience, we focused on a personalized approach, emphasizing the brand's benefits and making the product the main focus of the site. At the same time, we added visual accents and created additional entry points. As a result, the website's conversion rate increased by 76.34% after the redesign.

If your product is intended for a wide target audience, you need to take into account the needs of all its representatives as much as possible. Let's take online grocery delivery services as an example.

Since such services are often used by individuals of varying ages and technological proficiency, it is important to focus on the accessibility of the interface. Here, visual and interactive elements play a secondary role, while the following come to the fore:

• Contrast between website sections;
• Comfortable button size;
• Clear font;
• Adequate spacing.

In other words, the success of such a site depends on creating an interface where users can easily navigate the platform to perform desired actions, such as adding items to their cart, viewing product details, or scheduling deliveries.

Thus, an effective interface is one that strikes a balance between aesthetics and accessibility. After all, a site with high usability can also be stylistically bright and contrasting. The key is to focus on the specifics and needs of your target audience, and not sacrifice one metric at the expense of another.

Trend #3: mobile-first design for seamless access to website services

According to statistics, by the beginning of 2023, 65% of all online orders worldwide were placed via mobile phones. This statistic shows that it is important for users to be able to place an order anytime and anywhere.

Therefore, Turum-burum Design Agency advises all online business owners to choose the mobile-first design for their web products, which means designing an interface with a primary focus on mobile devices. 

This strategy makes the design responsive to user interaction and ensures

• Optimization of the website interface for screens of different sizes;
• Maintenance of the visual hierarchy principle;
• Fast page loading without sacrificing image quality;
• Simplified and streamlined user journey;
• Increased user loyalty to the brand.

Instead, owners of running web products are advised to check the adaptability of the platform and make the necessary changes to improve it. After all, if your web product is not optimized for a mobile device, users are likely to be irritated and leave the site as soon as possible.  

Trend #4: artificial intelligence — a true web designer's assistant

The ability to generate content using artificial intelligence has truly revolutionized the UX/UI industry. We have to admit that the era of taking a picture with a mobile phone in everyday situations is over and now bright, vibrant, and creative images are highly valued.

Some key benefits of AI for the ecommerce industry are:

• Cost savings;
• Speed;
• Adherence to trends and patterns.

Artificial intelligence can help improve a project, give it a boost, and save you time. What you used to do manually can now be done by technology. 

Trend #5: service design — meaningful user interface simplification

The popularity of stylistically complex websites with lots of interactive elements, colorful blocks, animations, and videos has dropped significantly. 

The explanation for this is simple: users prefer interfaces that meet their expectations, which means they have a simple and clear structure and style. Therefore, in 2024, the popularity of minimalistic user interfaces will continue to grow, emphasizing the website content.

There are several advantages and characteristics of service design:

• Emphasizes the benefits of products and does not distract users from purchasing;
• Allows you to set the proper website accents;
• Provides simple, intuitive navigation that increases user retention;
• Reduces site loading time.

Important: service design ≠ primitive design!

It is critical that the website design is not “bland” and conveys the company's core messages and values. Custom images and interesting thematic elements will be a great solution.

One of the examples of service design created by Turum-burum studio is the Robinzon project. The client's goal was to create a customer-oriented interface for the online store that would not hinder further business scaling.

To meet this requirement, we chose to create a mobile-first service design with the addition of interesting thematic elements: informative banners on the homepage, bright interactive ribbons to differentiate blocks, associative elements in the interface, etc. The result is a flexible site with well-thought-out usability and the right visual accents. 

Trend #6: visual identity and uniqueness of design stylistics

Of course, when creating websites for business, you should keep in mind that there are different niches with their own specifics, story, and values. So, if you want to get a little more creative, we suggest you keep an eye on the following trends:

1. Brutalism

This is the exact opposite of service design, which is a mix of different styles, effects, fonts, etc. For example, brutalism can be beneficial if your target audience is a fan of rock, horror, cycling, etc. This approach will add niche and identity to the brand and thus attract more customers.

2. Mysticism

Wars, global political and ecological crises, conspiracy theories — in this chaos, people want to find something that will help them understand themselves and the world. That's why we see so many fans of tarot, astrology, and other mystical trends today. And if such topics are close to your audience, you can use thematic elements to attract their attention. These can be images of the moon, constellations, references to zodiac signs, etc. This solution is not obvious, but it can make the interface more effective by increasing user loyalty and engagement.  

3. Abstract gradients

The concept of gradients in web design is not new. However, over time, trends change and classic gradients are replaced by abstract gradients. They add a sense of gravity to the interface and allow you to emphasize certain elements of the site. 

You can mix this trend with others and even generate an abstract gradient using artificial intelligence. Such a solution will make your interface more attractive and will help you to correctly place visual accents on your website.

Trend #7: being socially responsible is important

64% of users say that a brand's values and social activities influence their decision to buy or boycott a company's products. Therefore, a visitor's loyalty to a company increases when he/she shares the company's position. 

So if your brand is socially responsible and cares about the country's or the world's problems, you need to communicate that. You don't have to beat your chest and put flashy banners on your website's homepage, but make sure your web product clearly conveys your brand's mission and values.

To do this, you can use:

• Relevant visuals;
• Storytelling;
• Interface design itself.

The top UX/UI trend for 2024 — continuous interface improvements

The whirlwind of events around us changes our perceptions and needs, creating new trends. For this reason, a website is not a static product, but one that needs to be constantly worked on and modified according to user needs, new business objectives and market conditions.

A striking example of the success of this strategy is the result of the continuous optimization of the Intertop website, which has allowed us to increase the conversion rate of the business year after year.

Such results are possible when you not only track website design trends and tendencies, but also constantly study your target audience and user behavior patterns. This approach allows you to spend your company's budget wisely and continually improve your website's conversion rates. 

Design trends are updated every year, and high conversion is a trend that never changes. Therefore, we advise you to follow the trends, not to try to keep up with each of them but to use only those that will help improve the usability of your website and increase the loyalty of your users. 

Since satisfied customers will always be the key to a successful business, most of the UI/UX trends mentioned in this article have a chance to remain at the top for many years to come.