We are all witnesses to unparalleled growth in the usage of mobile applications. The numbers are just surreal: about 4 million applications are available in the Apple App Store, while approximately 3.5 million applications populate the Google Play Store. All these applications have reached billions of downloads across the world, placing mobile right at the head of the table concerning how we currently interact with digital content.
As mobile app design continues to innovate, it’s redefining what the web experience will look and feel like-and in some unexpected ways-on desktops. Distinctive design choices for smartphones and tablets bleed into desktop web design as users expect similar speed, simplicity, and interactivity across all devices. Let me explore a few of the ways in which mobile app trends put a lasting mark on desktop web design.
Chatbots Give Websites Personality
As people became more comfortable talking over chat interfaces, the popularity of mobile messaging apps made their way onto our desktops. WhatsApp claims more than 2 billion users, and Facebook Messenger is the king of mobile communications.
Enter chatbots. So many websites nowadays employ chatbots as a way for a personalized, conversational experience-something that just feels second nature due to heavy use of mobile messaging apps. Chatbots provide immediate assistance for users, answer questions, and walk them through processes-even adding a bit of personality along the way.
For instance, UX designer Adrian Zumbrunnen replaced a website navigation menu with a chatbot. Two days later, his visitors increased by 1000%. Takeaway here is this: users’ interactions get smoother with chatbots, but the chatbots also bring fun to those static web experiences.
Icons Come into Play
In web design, icons have always been secondary elements-destined for pointing out certain actions in the early days. Today, with mobile apps changing all that, icons are much more central components in both mobile and desktop design.
Creating intuitive navigation in very limited screen space, mobile applications have relied heavily on the practice, which has moved right along onto the desktop web. Now icons are larger and more detailed, serving as visual anchors that direct users through a website’s content. They’re no longer just decoration but an integral part of the user experience.
Australian designer Fitz Fitzpatrick takes center stage on his website through the use of colored bold icons for his projects, which really captures users’ attention and shows them where their interests lie at a glance. Nowadays, icons have turned out to be an interactive way to tell any brand identity visually with the user, and sometimes they can be very interactive.
Interaction Is Everything
Mobile applications are about interaction where designers focus on those features that make users interact with the application. Be it swiping, tapping, or scrolling, an app lets users know that it’s an application with which they will have to interact. This influence of focusing on interaction has rippled on to how designers think about desktop web design.
From prominent call-to-action buttons to AI-driven chatbots, interactivity on a desktop website has become common. They are placed at strategic positions where the eye can catch them easily to invite actions. Whether filling out a form, selection, or interaction with dynamic content, such interactive components in a website create an immersive experience and echo principles of mobile design.
Single-Page Design Encourages Scrolling
Remember when scrolling was taboo in Web design? Designers tried to fit all of the important information “above the fold” so that the user wouldn’t have to scroll. But this has changed dramatically with the proliferation of mobile apps where scrolling is part and parcel of the way users navigate.
Well, today desktops not only embrace but celebrate long one-page designs. Designers make use of scrolling to their advantage and push valuable content below the fold with cool features such as parallax scrolling and animations. That brought desktop browsing up to a new level of engagement that pushed users along the page and made them scroll down, just like they do on mobile.
Conclusion: Bridging Gaps Between Mobile and Desktop
As consumers continue to spend more and more time on their mobile phones, their expectations of digital have also shifted. Today’s user expects a similar level of simplicity, interactivity, and speed on desktop websites that they’re afforded with mobile apps. The crossover in design principles is, therefore, changing how websites are being built to make sure users have consistent, engaging experiences irrespective of the device being used.
In fact, for any business that wishes to be at par with others, it’s all about the identification of such emerging trends and planning mobile-first design elements in your desktop web development strategy. That would not only meet the expectations of the users but would make the experience of your digital site more intuitive and enjoyable, driving people through engagement and conversions.