Social networks are not for passing time anymore. They are effective tools of reading, interacting, working, sharing information, buying and organizing today. But how will these social networks look like in 2016? At the heart of social network will definitely be user-centric designs.

Let’s check out some of these trends:

Mobile-first designs

User-centric mobile-first designs will be game-changers. In 2015 smartphones and tablets represented roughly 50% of the web’s traffic. In 2016 mobile will surpass the desktop and an estimated 2 billion consumers worldwide are expected to own a smartphone by 2016.
Why: Users’ web behavior has changed to obsessive mobile use. Social networks will NOT get a second chance if they didn’t think of hooking users from mobile platforms. UX designers who are thinking mobile-first are already ahead.

Videos, GIFs will rule designs

Videos are a web-wide trend that’s been popularized by social networks. Add to this a plethora of options such as live video streaming, cinemagraphs, GIFs, stop-motion animation. 70% of companies now say video is the most effective tool in their online marketing belts. By 2017, 85 percent of the Internet will be video. Did you know Cinemagraphs alone gets 60% more engagement than static images?
Why: Morphing and photo-shopping have somehow decreased the credibility of still photographs on social networks. Being able to comment, like or post live videos is already showing addiction symptoms, Facebook has introduced video profiles. UX designers can make a huge difference in creating social network designs with exceptional story-telling abilities via video or GIFs.

Social-commerce designs

The Buy Button is today the most important feature for any social network. In 2016, this trend will become more creative where user-generated commerce content will be posted on social networks with ‘buy’ button. Social network development will see a revolutionary change with creative ways to embed ‘buy’ buttons while socializing.
Why: Since more users are spending time on social networks, they would want to derive utility from their time. There’s no better way to engage them in a good-looking social commerce experience as part of social network UX.

Little details of designs

Social networks are likely to remain minimalistic owing to the user-focused interface that’s always worked so far. Minimal, easy and user-friendly designs will engage employees in a company social network, doctors in a hospital social network, fans on a sports social network etc. Similarly, the typography will remain simple and readable. A simplistic custom social network design is more likely to engage users for a longer time.
Why: The reason why social network designs kicked off in the first place was ‘easy and user centric’ factor. With the decreasing attention span of users, this cannot get complicated. There’s nothing more user-centric than simplicity.

If design is at the core of your social network development strategy and you wish to make a dent in the custom social network field, give us a shout. Who knows our association might become the next trending niche social network!!!!!! Get in touch.