Trends
For the designers and interested clients out there, below are some recent articles on trends in the web design industry.
Designers love to craft, but polishing pixels before the problem is solved is a time-sink. This article pinpoints the five traps that lure us into premature detail — being afraid to show rough work, fixing symptoms instead of causes, solving the wrong problem, drowning in unactionable feedback, and plain fatigue — then hands you a four-step rescue plan to refocus on goals, ship faster, and keep your craft where it counts.
www.smashingmagazine.com
What’s the best way to make your SVGs faster, simpler, and more manageable? In this article, pioneering author and web designer Andy Clarke explains the process he relies on *to* prepare, optimise, and structure SVGs for animation and beyond.
www.smashingmagazine.com
We often spotlight wireframes, research, or tools like Figma, but none of that moves the needle if we can’t collaborate well. Great UX doesn’t happen in isolation. It takes conversations with engineers, alignment with product, sales, and other stakeholders, and the ability to listen, adapt, and co-create. That’s where design becomes a team sport, and when your ability to capture the outcomes multiplies the UX impact.
www.smashingmagazine.com
pathElement: Line CommandsSVG is easy — until you meet `path`. However, it’s not as confusing as it initially looks. In this first installment of a pair of articles, Myriam Frisano aims to teach you the basics of `
www.smashingmagazine.com
In this tutorial, Blake Lundquist walks us through two methods of creating the “moving-highlight” navigation pattern using only plain JavaScript and CSS. The first technique uses the `getBoundingClientRect` method to explicitly animate the border between navigation bar items when they are clicked. The second approach achieves the same functionality using the new View Transition API.
www.smashingmagazine.com
[Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)](https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/aria/) is an inevitability when working on web accessibility. That said, it’s everyone’s first time learning about ARIA at some point.
www.smashingmagazine.com
CSS can be unpredictable — and specificity is often the culprit. Victor Ayomipo breaks down how and why your styles might not behave as expected, and why understanding specificity is better than relying on `!important`.
www.smashingmagazine.com
Meet “Accessible UX Research,” our upcoming book to make your UX research inclusive. Learn how to recruit, plan, and design with disabled participants in mind. Print edition shipping Fall 2025. eBook also available for download in Fall 2025.Pre-order the book.
www.smashingmagazine.com
pathElement: Curve And Arc CommandsOn her quest to teach you how to code vectors by hand, Myriam Frisano’s second installment of a `path` deep dive explores the most complex aspects of SVG’s most powerful element. She’ll help you understand the underlying rules and function of how curves and arcs are constructed. By the end of it, your toolkit is ready to tackle all types of tasks required to draw with code — even if some of the lines twist and turn.
www.smashingmagazine.com
As online scams become more sophisticated, Carrie Webster explores whether good UX can serve as a frontline defense, particularly for non-tech-savvy older users navigating today’s digital world.
www.smashingmagazine.com