No matter how much focus you put into following Chicago web design trends or acquiring the servicesof experts in search engine optimization in Chicago, without a decent user interface, all efforts wouldonly end in vain. No matter how relevant your content is or how visually appealing your designs are, ifthe visitors are not visually led to the main message, and if interaction is not as present as you would want it to be, then conversions will still be a challenge.

This is why you also have to understand best practices that do not just cover Chicago UX design, but that of UI design as well. Here are some of those design trends that promise to move your user interface to the next level:

• Going beyond traditional apps and screens

The rise in wearables and other forms of tech is becoming more and more evident. This means that when it comes to UI, you would also have to think beyond the usual. You’re not just designing for the usual mobile screens anymore. You have to be ready to think innovative, think different, think unique.

• Using design to tell a story

Ask any expert in SEO in Chicago and they’ll tell you that aside from using the right keywords, you also have to be a great storyteller to create effective content. The same thing applies to UI design.

When you use your design to tell a story, you take every visitor on an interesting journey. The brand you’re trying to represent becomes more relatable and it becomes easier for visitors and followers to believe in what the brand can do simply because they know how far it has gone and what it has been through.

• Card-style interfaces

One of the biggest challenges UI designers face is keeping everything in its proper place. Through a card-style approach, this becomes an easier hurdle to jump over. With cards all over your pages, it is easier to group similar content together, making it easier for audiences to focus on what they’re looking for and interact with all the right buttons. It makes scanning a page easier on the eyes, especially if each card is given the right kind of headers or the right kind of visual emphasis.

• Use of more effective iconography

People are more visual than they would like to admit. After all, when they browse through their smartphones, they don’t exactly pay attention to each icon’s caption – they look at the icons alone and decide which apps they want to open.

The same thing goes for web design. Sure, you may have the most attention-grabbing headers. But if you pair them up with eye-catching icons, the more people will be able to process what each section means as well.

• Vertical patterns and the return of scrolling

There was a time when web designers worried about how people would react to the incessant need to scroll down through every page. This is why a few years ago, designers concentrated on keeping every design aspect to a minimum so that people didn’t have to scroll up or down to see everything.

As screens get smaller however, the power of the scroll has become an important factor once again. Today, there is more emphasis on putting everything on a single vertical layout, prompting users to scroll up or down to get to where they need to go.

Remember that your local SEO efforts must always be partnered with effective UX and UI design. Without an effective collaboration among all three, your goals would be harder to reach.