What’s one website design trend you think will have a major impact in the coming year? Why do you think this trend will be important? We posed this question to 13 industry leaders, and their insights reveal the trends shaping the future of web design.
- Embrace Natural, Imperfect Design
- Incorporate Micro-Interactions with Subtle Animations
- Implement AI-Driven Personalization
- Optimize for Voice Search
- Adopt Privacy-First Design
- Leverage AI for Personalized Experiences
- Enhance Digital Accessibility
- Prioritize Simplicity in Design
- Reduce Overreliance on AI
- Use Interactive and Immersive Elements
- Integrate AI Search and Response
- Implement Dark Mode
- Utilize Custom Typography
13 Website Design Trends to Prepare for
Embrace Natural, Imperfect Design
The most interesting trend I’m seeing emerge for 2025 is a shift towards more natural, imperfect design. It’s like stepping back from the slick, perfection of AI, and a step beyond the concept of authenticity (that will soon be served up by chatbots). I’m sensing a need to reconnect with the real world, with things that AI can’t do, that are a little bit rough around the edges.
You can see it in the colors and textures that have become popular in interior design—people want natural materials, organic cotton, handcrafted ceramics close to them, in their homes. It’s a reaction to the global challenges we’re facing, a way of bringing nature indoors and appreciating its forms and imperfections.
I think this trend will translate to web design in a big way next year. We’ll see more organic shapes, textures, and colors, and a move away from the polished professional look that’s been so dominant recently. I’d be willing to bet that within the next 12 months we’ll be celebrating websites that feel human, personal, and take their inspiration from the natural world.
https://ubiquitouschip.co.uk/ exemplifies this trend perfectly, I think. The site has been designed to evoke an organic, handcrafted feel. The color palette is all about nature, with lots of greens, browns, and earthy tones. The textures are rich and varied, including HD imagery, but also grainy photos and illustrations that remind you of woodcuts. And the layout leans towards asymmetry. It has a free-flowing feel, making me think of a wildflower garden.
Web design is about more than just aesthetics; it’s about sensing a mood, dipping into a sensibility and that’s what this trend is all about. Digital representations can feel exclusionary and alienating (like those too perfect stock photos). This trend is all about bending the form to be more human, more inclusive and participatory.
The world is increasingly permeated by technology; I think this trend offers a sense of balance. It’s a way of bringing a bit of the natural world into our digital lives, and balancing the inherent messiness of being human within a medium that naturally seeks to eradicate the non-perfect.
Garry West
Owner, Imagefix Ltd
Incorporate Micro-Interactions with Subtle Animations
One website design trend we see making a big impact next year is micro-interactions with subtle animations. These are the small visual or behavioral cues like a button gently changing color on hover or a smooth animation when a form submission is successful.
In one of our projects, we integrated these into a customer portal. For example, a simple ripple effect on a confirmation button made the action feel satisfying and intuitive. These interactions might seem minor, but they subtly guide users, improve navigation, and build trust by making the interface feel responsive.
The key is to use them sparingly. Overdoing animations can feel gimmicky or slow down a site. But when applied thoughtfully, they make a website feel polished and human. As users increasingly expect seamless and engaging digital experiences, micro-interactions will play a pivotal role in meeting those expectations.
Vikrant Bhalodia
Head of Marketing & People Ops, WeblineIndia
Implement AI-Driven Personalization
One website design trend I believe will have a major impact in the coming year is AI-Driven Personalization. In simple terms, it’s about using artificial intelligence to make websites feel like they were built specifically for each visitor. The site adapts to their preferences, behavior, or even their location, creating a truly customized experience.
Think about it: people don’t want to sift through irrelevant content or scroll endlessly to find what they need. A website that instantly shows the products they’re interested in, suggests articles they’ll love, or adjusts the layout to fit their needs? That’s a game-changer.
This level of personalization isn’t just cool—it’s effective. Visitors are more likely to engage, stay on the site longer, and even convert into customers when the experience feels tailored to them. And it’s not just good for the user; search engines love it too. Sites with better engagement metrics (like lower bounce rates or longer time-on-site) tend to rank higher in search results.
AI tools have come a long way, and they’re not just for big-budget companies anymore. Platforms like ChatGPT, Optimizely, and even Google Analytics 4 are making personalization easier and more affordable for small and medium-sized businesses. It’s becoming less of a luxury and more of a must-have.
Imagine visiting an online store, and it immediately shows you products based on your browsing history or past purchases. Or a travel website that displays vacation packages based on your location and recent searches. Even blogs are catching on, suggesting articles that match your interests right away. It’s not about being flashy; it’s about being helpful.
If you want to jump on this trend, start small. Use analytics to understand your audience and try tools that help with dynamic content or AI chatbots. Just make sure to be transparent about how you’re using data—it’s important to build trust while creating a personalized experience.
AI-driven personalization isn’t just a passing trend—it’s where web design is headed. Sites that embrace it will stand out in a crowded digital world, offering visitors exactly what they’re looking for at the moment they need it.
Eivind Flom
CEO, Blue Media AS
Optimize for Voice Search
Generally speaking, voice search optimization is becoming critical for SEO success, as I’ve seen from analyzing our user data. When we implemented voice-friendly headings and FAQ schemas last year, our featured snippets increased by 40%, making our content more accessible to voice searches. I strongly recommend focusing on conversational keywords and natural language patterns, as they align perfectly with how people actually speak their searches.
Itamar Haim
SEO Strategist, Elementor
Adopt Privacy-First Design
From my cybersecurity background, I’m seeing privacy-first design becoming absolutely crucial—websites that clearly show users what data is being collected and give them easy control over their privacy settings. I recently helped a client implement a transparent cookie consent system with visual indicators, and their user trust metrics improved dramatically while still maintaining a clean, unobtrusive design.
Tyler Hall
Developer, TROYPOINT
Leverage AI for Personalized Experiences
One website design trend poised to have a major impact in the coming year is the rise of AI-driven personalization. With advancements in AI technology, websites can now deliver highly tailored user experiences by dynamically adjusting content, design elements, and calls to action based on user behavior, preferences, and location. This trend will be important because consumers increasingly expect personalized interactions, and businesses that cater to these expectations are likely to see higher engagement and conversion rates.
Additionally, AI-powered tools can streamline the design process itself, enabling designers to create more intuitive, data-informed interfaces. For example, integrating chatbots or AI assistants into a site can enhance customer support while improving user satisfaction. As the digital landscape becomes more competitive, leveraging AI for personalization will not only differentiate brands but also ensure they stay relevant in a customer-centric market.
Matthew Woodard
Web Designer & Developer, Matthew Woodard, Inc.
Enhance Digital Accessibility
While accessibility has been a focus for years, the coming year will see advanced design solutions to make websites more inclusive, like customizable contrast settings and text size adjustments. Accessibility tools will no longer just check a box; they’ll become dynamic parts of the UI. These features will help businesses reach larger audiences while emphasizing inclusivity.
As more governments enforce digital accessibility standards, businesses must adapt or risk alienating users. Beyond compliance, these features improve user experience for everyone, fostering trust and goodwill while opening up new revenue opportunities from previously underserved markets.
Marc Bishop
Director, Wytlabs
Prioritize Simplicity in Design
I would have to say “Simplicity.” With so many different devices out there, mobile, tablets, desktops, laptops, and so many different screen resolutions, there is nothing worse than having a website that’s not compatible with many of these devices.
As a rule of thumb, you have exactly 3 to 5 seconds for your audience to decide if they’re going to stay on your website or not. Less is more plays a great role here. Keep websites simple and clean on the homepages with great calls to action. That way, it will catch a user’s attention quickly and get them directly to other pages if they want more detail. I have done many audits, and once we redo some of my clients’ websites, they have a much higher conversion rate after making the websites more simplistic and clean.
Lee Levy
Web Design “Queen”, Nex Graphics
Reduce Overreliance on AI
Simply put, the overuse of AI is becoming a significant issue. At the current rate of adoption, the biggest trend—embraced by both beginners and experts alike—is the excessive reliance on AI. Whether it’s chatbots or text generation, AI is taking over the internet, and not in a good way. These days, getting actual help from real people often requires navigating through a battalion of preprogrammed AI “helper” bots that frequently do anything but help. Furthermore, the text on many websites is increasingly bot-generated—less helpful and filled with overly “bespoke” language. In the coming year, websites that provide straightforward, fast answers will stand out, as will platforms—e-commerce or otherwise—that offer direct support from real people.
Hugo Hronec
C.E.O., Winfo.SK s. r. o.
Use Interactive and Immersive Elements
One website design trend I think we’re going to see having a major impact in 2025 is the use of interactive and immersive elements, like advanced animations. With AI evolving so fast and more and more people using things like ChatGPT to create new media, I think this is going to be huge. I’ve noticed that interactive elements make a deeper connection with users. My thought on this is that it makes the experience feel more personal and memorable for them. And since we all know that user attention spans are shrinking, having eye-catching designs is a great way to stand out and get better engagement, more conversions, and stronger brand loyalty.
Brooks Manley
Agency Owner, Web Designer and SEO Strategist, Brooks Manley Marketing
Integrate AI Search and Response
Incorporating AI search and response functionality into websites is a design trend we are beginning to see more frequently, and likely will continue to become more common over the next year. By incorporating AI chat features and search functions in websites, organizations can enhance the experience of website visitors by creating personalized responses to results. When done well, organizations can increase conversion rates, enhance customer satisfaction rates, and improve the performance of other marketing campaigns. In addition to creating a better user experience, this will give marketers new data points to leverage around the most common questions and searches on websites.
Max DesMarais
Director of Strategy, Vital Design
Implement Dark Mode
One very important web design trend that is expected to make an impact in the next year is dark mode. This design choice, featuring a dark background with light text, has become quite popular both for its aesthetic appeal and due to practical benefits, including reducing eye strain and saving battery life on OLED screens. The integration of dark mode into websites becomes more significant as more users get used to dark mode in applications and devices.
The significance of dark mode is based on user-experience enhancement from low-light-friendly preference and accessibility for users with visual impairments. By using dark mode, businesses can achieve more user-friendly and personalized experiences while keeping the design current and appealing. It reflects a shift towards user-centric design and remains one of the most important requirements for relevant and competitive branding in a digital space.
Sheraz Ali
Founder & CEO, HARO Links Builder
Utilize Custom Typography
From my perspective, I believe that typography is critical in web design and can significantly influence trends in UX design. Typography has always been an essential element of web design; however, designers have recently begun to take advantage of it by adding their own unique twists. Based on what I’ve observed, the use of typography to convey a web design can greatly impact the user experience. Depending on the style, typography can enhance the overall appearance of a webpage.
One common approach that web designers experiment with is applying styles such as oversized typography, bold fonts, and even retro typography to capture the user’s attention. For this reason, I believe that the use of custom typography may be the next design trend. It is something that users will notice and can serve as a means to maintain engagement with the website, while also helping web designers express their creative vision.
Mei Ping Mak
Director of SEO and Web, Weave Asia
