10 web design trends that will change everything in 2015

06. Privacy

Designer Laura Kalbag (laurakalbag.com) says we've long "designed for security, so people can trust forms and checkouts with their information". Now, as people become aware of how data can be exchanged with third parties, "they'll be reluctant to share it without good reason — and rightly so".

07. Isomorphic JavaScript

Web design author and practitioner Aaron Gustafson has an alternate take on investment in frontend JavaScript frameworks like Angular and Ember: "Development benefits can be great in terms of speed of development, but there are costs to using this approach. JavaScript is the single biggest point of failure in any web-based product. Unlike on the server side, we do not control the execution of code in the browser."

He therefore reckons we'll see more use of isomorphic JavaScript, for companies that have heavily invested in JavaScript for their site infrastructure: "It offers improvements in the areas of performance, SEO, and maintainability to boot. Airbnb and Twitter have moved to this approach. Others will surely follow."

08. Iteration

Designer Robby Leonardi mulls that perhaps 2015's big trend will be iteration on what we already have: "We just had trends such as responsive and flat design, and it will take time for another big thing to happen."

By contrast, he sees enhancements on existing concepts and technologies, with increasingly sophisticated web layouts, better typography, and more designing in the browser.

09. Vibrant design

BaseKit co-founder Richard Healy believes Google's Material design specification – intended to combine the texture and tactility of paper and ink with the 'imagination and magic of digital' – will inspire designers.

He told us: "Think bold, graphical and intentional. We're talking vibrant, unexpected colours, contrasted with subdued and muted environments; large-scale typography, soft directional lighting and shadow; the use of responsive design best practices; and meaningful motion – carefully choreographed animation that provides fluid, seamless touch transitions and, more importantly, delights users."

10. Web components meet adaptive design

Developer Aaron T Grogg predicts "web components and adaptive development will combine to create a new style of web development". Someone will then fashion a "snappy acronym for this approach, which will cause all job ads to now require it".

By adaptive, Aaron clarifies he means making decisions on the server regarding mark-up to send a user, usually depending on the device being used. "When you combine the power of adaptive development with the flexibility of web components, I think we are going to see very creative solutions from designers and developers.

Hopefully, we will still be creating mobile-first, responsive, one-site-for-all-devices, but making subtle differences will be powerful tools in our toolboxes."

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Words: Craig Grannell

Craig Grannell is a writer, designer, journalist and long-time contributor to net magazine. Follow him on Twitter @CraigGrannell.