5 web design trends for financial services in 2021
Web design trends keep changing every year. Each industry has its own design trends that include everything from the choice of fonts used to more complex webpage structure designs.
With so many digital marketing companies out there, new trends keep emerging and redefining the industry, pushing it forward. Today we’ll talk about the latest design trends used by financial advisors and other similar services.
The primary motive of introducing new industry trends is to create a unique UX that will set your company website in front of all others. 2021 is a bit different than most other years due to the massive worldwide push towards complete digitalization.
Stay with us, and we’ll cover some of the latest trends and explain why they are a good idea.
1. Website design finally matters
When it comes to digital financial products, in the past 20 years, most companies didn’t really invest in well-designed websites or apps. They kept focusing on the products, keeping professional website design and exceptional user experience in the background.
Sure, most successful companies had functional sites with plenty of features of the products in their offer, but they didn’t care much about the presentation.
Instead of creating their own websites with custom features tailored especially for their needs, most companies used pre-designed templates when designing their websites. That way, they could focus more on product development rather than presentation.
That’s exactly why most financial service websites look boring and simple. But, as time went on, financial companies realized that the rules were changing. Most customers had enough of the boring design, so they often went with sites that offered an amazing user experience.
As a result, some industry leaders took advantage of the latest trends, and their revolutionary luxurious site designs kept attracting high-end customers. So today, the focus is on creating an elegant, complex solution that makes managing finances and handling wealth easy and fun.
After all, people with lots of money want a luxurious experience in everything they do. This also includes well designed social media pages as well as using dynamic creative ads which help targeting the right audience on Facebook and Instagram. As a result, more and more fintech companies adopt the tailored-made website design approach because it helps build trust between the brand and its users.
2. Gamification based on good financial decisions
Gamification of apps and websites has been on the rise across all industries in the past few years. After decades of research on user behavior, companies realized that users are more motivated to interact with website features if they get some kind of reward.
When it comes to organizing finances online, there’s nothing fun and interesting about it. However, that is quickly changing, as more and more financial services include various gamification elements in their website design.
They use gaming elements to transform something that’s normally formal and boring into an engaging experience.
A New York web design company specializing in financial services reported that most of their clients want to create websites that feel welcoming and look interesting, rather than the formal approach that was popular for decades.
Their products are digital, which means that they have to make them easy and fun to use by everyone involved, including financial advisors, stakeholders, and end-users.
That’s where gamification comes into play. However, the idea isn’t to turn a serious financial platform into a game. It’s about using various gaming elements to improve user financial behavior and motivate them to make better decisions.
Good decisions are rewarded with points, badges, accomplishments, and similar details that act as an excellent motivator.
By allowing users to build their reputation within the platform, fintech companies can boost customer engagement and build loyalty. In addition, by connecting excellent design solutions with the ability to manage all transactions safely, fintech companies are changing the rules of the game forever.
3. Simple design systems are replacing complex platforms
Finances are complex by design, and most financial platforms didn’t try to simplify things for their users in the past. Think back a few years and try to remember a fintech site that was easy to use.
There were none, but the rising need for complete digitalization all over the world resulted in many new trends in the financial industry, and the overall design system is one of them. The key is to create a system that allows the complete digitalization of complex financial products and services.
Designers are putting in extra effort to connect all features to make it easier for an average user to see the bigger picture.
When you consider that the biggest financial digital services involve thousands of different screens made by hundreds of designers from all over the globe, it’s clear that the design system requires a careful approach.
Another important consideration is the available technologies. While software like email marketing services remain important for all companies, trends change every year, and technology keeps evolving faster than ever before.
Not only that, but customer expectations keep changing all the time, making it increasingly hard to meet their needs while keeping up with industry trends.
Digital financial services are much more complex than most other products out there, making it even harder to follow the latest trends.
But, with a well-designed system, with clearly set UX/UI rules that are in-tune with the product development vision, everyone involved will work in synergy.
4. 100% mobile friendly app designs are a must
One of the biggest lessons the world learned from the recent COVID-19 pandemic is that a traditional business model can’t survive in the new digital world.
Many brick-and-mortar businesses have gone under due to the inability to provide products and services directly to customers. Digital businesses, on the other hand, outgrew their annual goals in a matter of months due to the rising need for secure online platforms and easy one-tap purchases.
Digital platforms offer a few significant benefits that became even more evident as lockdowns got introduced in most countries all over the world.
The same goes for financial services and products. Customers no longer have to stand in queues, sign tons of documents, only to realize that they have to do everything all over again due to a mistake they made in the process.
With this new digital model, the long bureaucratic processes consumers had to go through are now almost non-existent.
With new systems and other advanced features, financial services became more available and much easier. Moreover, since almost everyone owns a smartphone or some other type of mobile device, the need for a well-designed mobile banking app is on the rise.
With advanced automation features and better UX/UI, service providers can now extend their offer to billions of users without investing massive amounts of money.
As long as an app is able to meet customer needs allowing them to manage their finances using a mobile device, the company behind it will experience a significant boost in sales. That’s why every financial service needs a 100% mobile-friendly platform to keep growing in the future.
5. Augmented user experience with the use of AR and VR
Although AR and VR have the biggest application in the gaming industry, other industries keep adapting them to provide users with more control as well as a better overall experience.
As businesses switch from legacy systems to cloud computing, AR and VR became very popular among many industries, including finance, real estate, architecture, and many others.
The truth is, AR and VR can help businesses with all kinds of processes, including making payments, customer support, trading, data visualization, recruitment and training, and many others.
In other words, companies can provide financial services remotely by using VR as a medium between the customer and the financial experts. They can meet, exchange ideas, find solutions, and make deals in a virtual reality setting, no matter where they are.
However, since AR and VR are still considered new technologies, in practice, they are still in their early stages. We expect them to evolve further over the next few years as the number of AR and VR users and apps with these features keeps growing.
Designing a better future for financial services
We live in an age where technology evolves faster than ever before.
Functionality and new features are introduced all the time, and companies providing financial services keep adopting new technologies to bring customers closer and help them get what they need whenever they need it.
Companies have to invest in creating better platforms designed to expand the reach and allow users to access all information and offers without too much effort.
Financial service providers are under constant pressure to improve their platforms with features that simplify interaction and reward users for their trust.
The road ahead is still long and bumpy, but there’s no doubt that the financial industry is making the final push towards complete digitalization.
So make sure that you’re always following the latest industry trends. Then, with a little bit of hard work and the use of the latest technologies, your company can get an advantage over the competition.
