Trends in the design of mobile applications are changing constantly. Some trends disappear over time, while others continue to grow and develop. Most modern UI-trends are worth considering, since in every new “chip” you might find innovative solutions. However, the so-called ‘wow effect’ is not so important in the User interface design (UI), in contrast to simplicity and efficiency. That’s why designers aspire to perfect functionality – they want the navigation of the application to be so intuitive that users never even think of how they interact with the device.

Rapid introduction of Touch ID

When the sensory identification has just appeared, it was used exclusively as a tool to unlock a mobile device. Nevertheless, careful observers immediately called this technology an instrument of the future. In 2015, Apple introduced the world to Apple Pay, a revolutionary mobile wallet, and it immediately became clear that engineers were definitely working on something far more than just unlocking functionality.

Apple recently announced that IOS will have functionality, allowing third-party applications, such as Dropbox, Amazon, etc. to use Touch ID technology.

Any person, not only a designer, can experience the benefits of this approach – conventional passwords that you need to remember and type manually are sinking into oblivion while the new technology makes online authentication much easier and safer.

Blurred and diffused backgrounds

Modern mobile devices can have a very small display, but the screen size does not affect the desire of a designer to attract the attention of users by any means necessary. Diffused backgrounds were very popular in the design of user interfaces in 2016 and this trend is still popular. The reason is simple – blurring makes the design look more “alive”, with the right approach this tool adds volume and depth to the interface. Furthermore, degraded or diffused background creates a visual contrast, changes the perspective and allows you to focus on the elements of the first plan.

Wearable mobile devices

Perhaps it is too early to think about the interface design for wearable mobile devices – this trend is only gaining momentum. But it is sure to manifest itself in the nearest future. Many experts predicted a ‘boom’ in sales of smart watches, but this did not happen. However, this does not mean that wearable electronics does not stand a chance of success. Yes, it does, it certainly does, you just need to wait a little longer. So far, the link “smart clothes – a clock or a smartphone screen” does not work well; this explains the cool attitude of users to the newfangled gadgets. But as soon as the amount of technology reaches critical mass, there will be a way for easy interaction with smart clothing. And there will be a need for new interfaces. It’s hard to say, what exactly they would be like – so far all smart devices, including Apple Watch, implement a time-tested approach. Users don’t like it very much, so you need to closely monitor what will happen to this area in the coming year.

Card Design will become more important

Cards or tiles have had a major impact on web design. This approach allows to present a content in the most convenient way for users of mobile devices. No wonder application designers took interest in tiles. Tiles are an effective tool, primarily because it allows to break the content into smaller parts and then associate each element with the relevant content.

Moreover, cards allow users to choose the action themselves, so that the designer using this method of content presentation could completely focus on their needs. If a mobile application is connected with a website, it can attract more traffic – cards allow you to easily run multimedia elements (such as video or image files) from Twitter.

Entertainment and Personalization

The design of a mobile application interface is affected by numerous factors, including culture. In recent years, several applications have appeared, in which the usual or even conservative elements have changed significantly. The design has welcomed bold colors, while interactive elements got a hint of a game and dialogues became more friendly. Dialog boxes with funny messages or notifications, in which optimistic text is amplified by funny pictures are becoming more and more common.

Material Design

Material Design is a relatively new visual language introduced by Google in 2014. Its appearance can be called, albeit with great caution, a small revolution in the design of mobile interfaces. Anyway, this Google guideline has quickly become very pertinent and today it has a great influence on the appearance of their mobile apps.

Today there are a huge number of mobile applications using material Design, mainly due to its simplified effects such as clean gradients, clear hierarchy and predictable animation. Material design is closely related to Card Design, which indicates that this trend will be relevant in the next few years.

Pale color palettes

When it comes to design, it often happens that seemingly conflicting trends are equally relevant. Interface of the mobile application should be primarily functional, but the color palette might vary, depending on the application purpose. In some cases, the designer will choose a bright color palette and will be right, as bright color schemes are in trend today, but he will also be right if he softens the colors, in case he deems it necessary.

In 2017, the “less is better” principle will definitely be a trend. Therefore, designers should strive for simplicity, especially when working with color. If you look at interface design of the most popular and stylish apps, you will notice a minimalist approach in their design.

Catchy and flashy palettes sometimes don’t attract as much attention as modest color scheme in pastel colors do. Everything, of course, depends on the situation, but you need to remember that the trend for acid colors has remained in a distant past. Still some guideline requirements may prevent the designer from using a muted palette – in case the application is created for a certain brand. But this limitation can be bypassed – even if the brand uses bright and contrasting color combinations, a professional will always find a way to organically fit them into a discreet color palette.

Output

Modern technologies change so quickly that it’s very difficult to predict how the interfaces of mobile applications will look in a year. Some trends are quite stable, since they are closely tied to the hardware. But time does not stand still, changing the visual language and it is possible that next year we will see many innovative solutions in the field of UI-design of applications.

Thanks for reading!

© Tesoro Studio Team