UX Trends 2024: New Year, New User Experience

If user experience (UX) professionals want to stay one step ahead of the competition and truly elevate their work, they need to pay attention to what the people want. For the most part, the top UX trends of 2024 revolve around accessibility, ease of use, and modern technological innovations. Here are some to consider implementing as you head into the new year.

1. Microinteraction

Considering most people have short attention spans and are accustomed to convenience, they will quickly become frustrated if they perceive a website as unresponsive. In most cases, they’ll have no idea if their input registers unless they see a visual or auditory response. 

For example, you could have a small celebratory animation play whenever the cursor hovers over the sign-up button. Alternatively, you could make a button look like it’s being pressed whenever users tap and hold on it. A brief audio or visual queue is helpful, enjoyable, and mentally stimulating. 

Microinteractions are one of the biggest UX trends of 2024. After all, engagement-driven movement can make a big difference in a website or app. For example, a simple progress bar appeals to the 70% of e-commerce users who abandon their online carts. As long as you’re mindful of the crucial differences between mobile and desktop microintentions, you benefit from following this trend.

2. Motion Design

Technology has advanced to the point where you can display animations, videos, and movement without any noticeable drop in performance. Because of this, more UX designers will likely adopt motion design. It became pretty popular in 2023, so it sticking around into 2024 should come as no surprise. 

Motion design directly engages the user, subconsciously driving them to interact with the app or website for a longer period. A semi-interactive interface can lower the bounce rate and improve brand perception. Needless to say, it is one of the top UX trends of 2024.

3. Accessibility and Inclusivity  

At this point in the digital age, small businesses have no excuse for ignoring accessibility tools and designs. Frankly, screen readers, high-contrast text, larger button sizes, responsive UI, color filters, and image alt text are all easy to implement and can be very rewarding.

With internet usage higher than ever before, the public’s general awareness is at its peak. Because of this heightened connection, people are much more knowledgeable of others’ struggles and are very empathetic. If you follow this trend, you could increase brand perception in those with and without disabilities.

More often than not, accessible UX just involves the basics. For example, designing UI with mobile in mind is essential because 70% of internet traffic comes from phones and tablets. Sometimes, being inclusivity-driven just means you consider the broader user experience.

4. AI Integration 

Artificial intelligence might be the biggest technological innovation of the decade. Considering it’s shaping up to be one of the most impactful UX trends in 2024, you should seriously consider implementing it. After all, around 62% of developers already use it to improve their efficiency.

UX researchers and developers could create data-driven personas or automate design workflows. Alternatively, they could deploy chatbots or have a generative model update the FAQ page in real time with actual user questions. Since this technology is so versatile and has so many subtypes, there are endless ways they could integrate it into their process. 

Whether you want to improve UX on the backend or provide users with a modern, exciting feature, following the AI integration trend is an excellent idea. Although some people think it’s a temporary craze, all signs point to it sticking around for years to come.

5. Hyper-Personalization 

Out of all the UX trends of 2024, hyper-personalization is one of the biggest. People have grown used to data collection and cross-site tracking, meaning they’re accustomed to tailored messages, deals, and online interactions. Although many UX researchers and designers considered customization an advantage in 2023, it will become a near necessity. 

Technology rapidly advanced in 2023, making hyper-personalization easier. As more UX designers and developers have worked it into their websites, it has become a massive trend. In order to remain competitive and provide a better experience than the competition, utilizing this strategy is vital.

6. Dark Mode

People will be on their phones more than ever in 2024, so designing a mobile-first experience is more important than ever. Frankly, a dark mode option is practically a necessity heading into the new year. At the beginning of 2023, the average person spent over six and a half hours on their screens every single day.

Opening a screen with a white background at night is blinding. A darker screen minimizes eye strain and substantially improves usability, meaning users are more likely to enjoy their experience and remain on the app or website longer. Plus, this mode even provides an opportunity to create some interesting visual changes.

7. Privacy and Transparency 

In the modern age, data privacy is a huge concern for most people. Globally, an average of 53% of people felt concerned about their online privacy in 2019. Since new technology like AI makes information collection easier than ever, it will be one of the more prominent UX trends of 2024.

There are plenty of ways to enhance a user’s online privacy. For example, you could use a cookie consent pop-up or send notifications for permission requests. If you want the user to feel more trust, explain what you intend to do with the information you collect. 

This trend is all about upfront transparency, clear communication, and user-friendly privacy settings. Even if you sell data, you can phrase it in a harmless light — simply tell users their information could be visible to a third party.

8. Augmented Reality 

Although augmented reality (AR) has been around for years, many people have found it lacking. Large companies have attempted to incorporate it into their websites and apps, but their attempts often fell short. Fortunately, massive leaps in technology have made implementation more feasible — and cements it as one of the top UX trends of 2024.

With AR, UX designers and developers could realistically show product dimensions, provide skin-tone-accurate makeup swatches, or display navigation arrows in real time. Although AR features have typically remained a quirky, forgotten feature in most apps, the technology’s use cases have substantially broadened in the past year.

Although people have criticized AR as a gimmick in the past, it has countless practical use cases. Beyond that, it adds layers of interactivity and immerses users in a brand’s hand-crafted space. Design elements overlaid in the real world are the next big thing in UX design.

9. Voice Interface

Out of all the UX trends of 2024, voice interfaces are the most substantial. Globally, nearly 30% of internet users speak to search on mobile. Considering a large chunk of the population also has smart speakers, the number of people driving this trend is likely even higher in reality. 

UX designers can incorporate voice interfaces in search bars or leverage AI to create a digital personal assistant. Either way, this feature can elevate users’s experiences with a brand and make their lives a little more convenient. 

The Top UX Trends in 2024

Most of the top UX trends of 2024 are easy to implement. Even though some are challenging, most are feasible — while a small business may not be able to develop a chatbot for AI integration, they can definitely create a dark mode. Even though following every one of these trends is ideal, it’s not necessary. Besides, they are all impactful on their own.