Ecommerce UX Trends for 2022: What you need to know
It’s vital that Ecommerce websites to provide a great user experience for your customers and keep on top of new ecommerce UX trends in order to stand out from competitors.
Why?
Because the shift towards ecommerce has been sped up by 5 years due to the pandemic, making online shopping a part of everyday life for more and more users. Therefore, Optimising your ecommerce site to create a better user experience will not only create happy customers, but will ultimately benefit your business as users are more likely to buy from you, and return in the future instead of shopping with your competitors.
It’s important to stay up to date with the latest research and trends, and evolve your site to meet the demands of your users.
Keep reading to find out our top tips for Ecommerce UX trends in 2022.
Dark Mode
Whilst light mode was a big trend in 2021, we predict dark mode will continue to trend in 2022.
White mode, and designs with lots of white space was a big trend in 2021. In 2022, dark mode will continue to be popular.
Offering users the option to toggle between dark and light mode is a great feature for accessibility. Having the option to select a dark theme or mode with stronger colours can aid visually impaired users.
Not only is dark mode great for accessibility, but it also helps to save battery power on mobile devices.
Optimisation for More Screen Sizes
Designers need to be able to cater for an ever growing list of screen sizes in order to maintain a great user experience.
Currently, designer’s need to design for the usual desktop and mobile breakpoints of 480px, 768px, 1024px and 1280px.
A growing ecommerce UX trend, however, is the variety of screen sizes. With the increase of wearable devices, tablets, TVs, foldable devices, and more recently, in-car devices, AR and VR, designers need to be able to cater for an ever growing list of screen sizes in order to maintain a great user experience, no matter what device is being used.
For further information and advice around different screen sizes, Apple and Android have some helpful resources. Based on research by the Worldwide Screen Resolution Stats (Jan 2020 – Jan 2021), the most popular screen sizes are desktop 1920×1080 (8.89%), desktop 1366×768 (8.44%), and mobile 360×640 (7.28%).
Design Systems & Libraries
Using a design system helps designers to create work quickly and consistently.
Design Systems and Libraries are extremely valuable tools to have at your disposal when designing ecommerce sites.
Using a design system helps designers to create work quickly and consistently, and ensures everyone on the team matches the same level of quality, without risking unintended inconsistencies.
Not only can design systems be used internally, but also by external teams. The functionality of different visual elements aren’t debated as they have been defined within the design system.
Whilst there is an initial demand on time to set up a design system, the payoff can be great, reducing the time it takes to create future designs, avoiding confusion between teams, and ensuring on-going, consistent designs.
Accessibility as Standard
It’s vital that all users have equal access to the internet, regardless of impairments.
About 10% of the world’s population are defined as disabled, which is roughly 650 million people.
Therefore, accessibility should be included and advocated more than ever. As the Internet becomes more and more ingrained in everyday life, it’s vital that all users have equal access to it, regardless of impairments.
Accessibility is already being prioritised by some tech companies in their services and products, but an ecommerce UX trend for 2022 is for more sectors to invest in it.
The following are some great starting points for making your ecommerce UX site more accessible:
- Use contrasting colours for text and background – this colour contrast checker tool scores the contrast of your chosen colours, but also suggests a better colour combination
- Add captions to your videos
- Provide descriptions to your images so that screen readers can describe them to your users
Inclusive Design
Inclusive design goes much further than accessible design.
Inclusive design isn’t the same as accessibility.
Whilst accessibility aims to make a digital product usable by as many people as possible, such as individuals with disabilities or impairments, inclusive design goes much further.
By acknowledging that people aren’t the same, and taking into consideration things including, race, age, gender, language, and disability, during the design process, you can make sure your website doesn’t leave anyone behind.
It is also important to remember that not all of your users will access your ecommerce site via the same device; your site should look and function just as smoothly on mobile devices as it does on desktop devices.
Furthermore, acknowledging that deaf, or hard of hearing people are not the only people who would have difficulties accessing audio content. A temporary ailment such as an ear infection, or a commuter on a loud train would also struggle to hear audio content. Whilst accessibility guidelines exist to support people who are hard of hearing, designers may not consider temporary ailments or commuters in the same way. On the other hand, inclusive design would consider one group who may be excluded from an interface, and also explore other demographics who would also benefit from the same support.
Inclusive design, in particular, recognises that solutions that work for people with a disability are likely to also work well for people in diverse circumstances.
Unlike accessibility, inclusive design works to support people who don’t necessarily have a legally recognised disability, but who still struggle to interact with interfaces, as well as those with recognised disabilities
3D Visual Elements
3D elements have been rapidly growing in popularity.
3D elements aren’t new in the design world, but they’ve been rapidly growing in popularity and are on track to continue as one of the hottest ecommerce ux trends in 2022.
3D visuals can come in different forms; realistic product renders are a great alternative to product photography and in turn help to drive sales.
Alternatively, 3D illustrations can add personality and a quirky element to minimalist websites.
The main opposition to 3D visuals is the increased page load time, which encourages users to leave your site faster. However, this issue is already being addressed by developers and with image compression tools & carefully considered use, 3D visual elements can be a great asset to your ecommerce website.
Ecommerce UX trends are great for keeping up to date with your users needs and help you to stand out from your competition.
However, it’s crucial to remember that you need to have a strong website to begin with, before you start implementing trends. You can achieve this by adhering to UX foundations and standards is vital if you want to provide a positive experience for your users.