2.2) More applications are trending towards revealing relevant controls only WHEN you try to interact. (You want to delete a table row, hover your mouse over it, and a trash can appears.) The step-by-step reveal process reduces the initial cognitive load for users.
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UI “design trends” get a bad rep for being gimmicky or sacrificing good UX, but many recent trends are actually pushing HCI forward and may be worth embracing to benefit end users.
A thread to demystify design trends 🧵
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Yesterday, I was interviewing a designer for
@kp_fellows
and they asked how I stay on top of design trends. I responded initially, “I don’t,” but then clarified. I think the term “design trend” is often misunderstood.
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Junior designers tend to blindly follow visual trends in hypothetical mockups (they are rarely shipped) like neumorphism 🤢
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In contrast, experienced designers scoff at “design trends”, thinking the notion of following a trend undermines the scientific aspects of UX.
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Let’s back up a bit and demystify how design trends are actually formed.
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A trend often comes from one successful experiment with a shipped product, causing other designers to follow suit, making it a trend. So most of the time, design trends are the latest HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) best practices proven by hundreds of products.
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For example, two of the hottest “design trends” that have popped up recently are 1) the Command Bar and 2) In Context Controls
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1.1) Command Bar: Power users love keyboard shortcuts, but they’re hard to remember if you don’t use the same app all day. A command bar satisfies users with fast keyboard actions without needing the upfront dedication to memorize combos.
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1.2) It also makes it easier for a new user to get started. Without hovering over unknown icons in the toolbar and reading every tooltip, a user can simply type keywords into the command bar and hit enter.
Here’s a neat one we built
@compound
I had a ton of fun building the command menu
@Compound
and thought I'd share some technical details about it 🧵
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2.1) In Context Controls: The most obvious example of this is Notion vs. Google Docs. Notion presents editing options around your cursor, while Google Doc has all of the toggles in the utility bar.
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Both examples are UI design trends that fit into a broader trend in software of allowing users to “stay in context and focus on content”.
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As an added bonus: Once these design trends become widespread enough, you can use them and avoid having to educate users because other software apps have already done the work for you.
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(Once you learn how to use a command bar in one app, you understand intuitively how to use them in different apps and become more efficient!) The end result: your users get a better experience without needing to learn anything new.
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As designers, we shouldn’t shy away from design trends. Instead, if we think deeply about what makes them popular and apply them in the right contexts, we can push HCI forward and make better software.
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@sjzhang_
Unfortunately this (and many other hover-based progressive disclosure patterns) is horrible from an accessibility standpoint 🥴
There's an exciting opportunity to evolve these trends and push HCI forward in a way that's inclusive!
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@micahfenner
Great point! I think over and over again in history, new movement often go overboard to cement change, then consolidate into a more reasonable form. We see that in arts, architecture and so on
Ofc, not an excuse to be inaccessible today!
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