7 of the most extra sizzling web trends to watch out for in 2021

2020 was the most unpredictable year of our lives. With the stroke of midnight on January 1 2021, a sense of hope glimmered through our minds as our screens filled with allegories of re-birth and second-chances. A sense of stability and a return to somewhat normality is what we crave; however, we all dread a 2021 movie that morphs into a remake rather than the much-vaunted sequel.

The start of a new year is a time of predictions and second-guessing what the coming 12 months will bring. I’ve collected 7 of my best ‘so warm right now’ trends to keep an eye out for in 2021.

1. The web will continue its evolution into one giant playground

While the concept of gamification is far from new, its potential for communication of content is now beginning to be better understood. In the past we’ve seen gamification used heavily in sign-up forms and educational applications.

So what will change?

We’ll now start to see gamification being used more to encourage consumption of standard static page content. This will be done through presenting information in quizzes and displaying micro-interactions to ‘reward’ users for interaction with the page. We’ll see a proliferation of behavioural psychology techniques designed to grab and hold our attentions. Expect the web to get more fun in 2021 (in a tricky kind of way).

2. Personalisation continues its permeation through the web

Slowly, slowly we are seeing website personalisation become more widespread. We are already well accustomed to the way apps like Facebook and Instagram customise content and advertisements based on our ‘preferences’. While most websites seem to show the same content to all users, if you were to hold a magnifying glass to them, you would see that personalisation is being used more and more. Expect to see this use of personalisation increase exponentially as web development frameworks and website builders come with powerful personalisation functionality ‘out of the box’.

3. Websites will show off their charming personalities

We will continue to take ourselves less seriously and web copy will adapt to a more relaxed, conversational tone. When using tech we are no longer operating machines, but rather connecting with intelligent robots. As it becomes increasingly normal to have conversations with home assistants such as Siri and Alexa, we will expect similar interactions with other non-human interfaces, such as websites. Psychology and experimentation will play a larger role in developing content that tugs at our emotions and causes us to let our guards down and pull out our credit cards.

4. Navigation will be powered by ‘the scroll’

The scroll-wheel, touchpad and touch screen will receive a solid workout. Rather than just moving a page up and down, the scroll function should now be thought of more generically as a lever to accelerate or reverse. The steering wheel will be removed and as operators, we will only be able to choose the speed in which a webpage moves us through a journey. The key for designers will be to ensure that users keep a sense of their orientation in the website and are able to form mental maps of the virtual space they are viewing.

5. Video will become ubiquitous throughout web content

A few years ago, we started to see website hero banners take the form of looping videos. While this trend never completely took off (it was a bit too invasive), the role that video will play in web content cannot be understated. With COVID necessitating reduced face-to-face contact, we now crave more face content online, i.e. we prefer to watch talking heads rather than reading text content on our own. We will see a more subtle use of video, integrated throughout static content in a way that gives users flexibility to consume content in a way that suits their preferences and context.

6. Web accessibility will keep fighting to become the norm

COVID has increased digital adoption for older people who would have previously preferred face to face contact. While the phone has been the preferred option for many, higher volumes of calls have meant insupportable wait times. With a wider demographic of people now using the web to complete day to day tasks, this has further increased the necessity that websites be as accessible as possible. While there has been a slow trend towards better accessibility over the years, the pace appears to have truly accelerated in 2020. One can only hope that this continues, and that the web strives to become a place for all people — regardless of age, diversity or ability.

7. Death to the PDF

The PDF document has had its time. PDF has been slowly disappearing from the web, but it continues to hang around like a bad smell. Printing PDF documents was the logical evolution of the photocopier, but PDFs are now long past their use-by. As printers collect cobwebs and go the way of the T-Rex, most people now read PDFs on their computers or even mobile phones. Imagine if online newspaper websites only housed a collection of PDF downloads — what a disaster that would be! We are seeing more and more that PDF documents are being replaced with native online content, but there is still some way to go. RIP.

• What trends are you expecting to see in 2021?