Mobile developers should know: Five major mobile design trends in 2015

I remember predictions like this coming out back in late 2000 and it sounded a bit outlandish then, but it’s 2015 and it’s right, kids.

In fact, Comscore believes that we passed the "tipping point" earlier this year. While it varies from site to site, overall we believe that desktop users have become a minority "fringe user group" in some sense.

So, if mobile has become the primary browsing device, “mobile design” is now synonymous with “design”.

With that in mind, we’ve come up with five trends that you can expect to see in mobile design in 2015. If you’re planning to redesign your app or creating a new one, I recommend you read the following.

Subtle color palette

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While you’re likely to see more spectacular, bold colors in web design, the opposite is true for mobile apps. Since mobile design seems to be going in a minimalist direction, it’s not a big surprise that designers are going back to basics with color.

Simple, subtle color schemes are now replacing bold and flashy palettes. From a psychological perspective, this is a smart design move. Because bright colors can grab people's attention, but they can also distract attention. Subtle colors can attract attention and grab people's attention.

There will be a lot of contrast, don’t let the talk of subtle color palettes fool you. The only difference is that the fire hydrant red and neon green colors are actually more “warm” than “hot.” ​​As subtle colors are implemented in mobile interfaces, flat designs are more optimized and elements are more interactive.

Animation Elements

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Promoting more interactions seems to be the new plan to expand on mobile. Nothing gets people to respond more than animation. So don’t be surprised if animation is introduced to mobile as well.

Rather than making your app stand out from its competitors, you should expect to see animation used in a more functional, motivational role rather than purely visual. Animation will be used to guide users through a more enjoyable, efficient experience. Properly implemented users will also have time to figure out what is interactive and what is pure show.

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With animation, mobile designs will be able to present more realistic ways of integrating with typical human behaviors, as opposed to those that are mechanical or "dry." Using animation will hopefully provide not only more entertainment but also personalize the app itself, which in turn will help the app retain its target users.

More Scroll

We’ve already seen scrolling take web design to another level, but expect it to take full effect on mobile in 2015. Scrolling is already a fact of life on mobile, as it simply makes everyday functions more meaningful. I’m going to talk about one of the biggest web trends, parallax scrolling.

Parallax scrolling will take animation and interactive storytelling on mobile to the next level. Since traditional designs are more flat and one-dimensional, parallax implementation will add a depth to mobile designs that we haven’t experienced before.

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In addition to parallax scrolling, you should also expect to see some applications that adopt modularity and instant scrolling. Of course a responsive design will be required to ensure certain effects, assuming that the modules can be fully understood. However, we will undoubtedly see vertical and horizontal scrolling used to create some surprise effects that delight users. Scrolling will definitely become the new click.

Storytelling

As some of these new effects are applied to mobile design, it also makes sense that storytelling itself will be added in a new form. Mobile design will stop relying on actual words to get its story across, and instead, the story will play an interactive role.

As mentioned before, mobile design with a focus on UX and UI looks more interactive and exciting. This means you should expect to see elements used to tell a “personal” story for the user. I’m talking about visual boldness, high-quality videos, and more personalized experiences based on collected data.

Making interactive stories is not only used to create exciting experiences, but it will serve as a conversion tool beyond the standard call to action. You will see animation used alongside storytelling elements to bring these stories to life.

Blurred background

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Of course this trend has already been seen in web design, but it is gradually being applied to mobile app development. Blur effects are used in mobile design not only to create visual pleasure but also to highlight key elements. This aesthetic trick will mainly be used to keep the copy readable. This will also make the command button stand out.

Interfaces that utilize blurred images give users a sense of what is interactive and what is not. Expect buttons that are now boldly designed to stand out more than before, as they are called out by blurred backgrounds.

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It’s worth noting that blurred backgrounds aren’t just used to make sure you press those buttons to transition, but can also be used to tie in interactive storytelling. In addition to blurred backgrounds, we’ll also see more translucent elements incorporated into the mobile interfaces themselves for a clean and minimalist feel.

in conclusion

From the perspective of mobile developers, these top mobile design trends are just a small part of the changes. Many trends do not include the focus on mobile gestures, material design, simplified interfaces, wearable devices and more. In any case, the path of better user interaction experience in mobile design is becoming clearer and clearer.

Of all these trends, which one do you like and which one seems to have longer-lasting batteries? Which one do you prefer?