First impressions are huge when it comes to product design. Within seconds, a potential customer will decide whether something is worth their time or better left alone. Keeping things modern while still being functional is key.
Therefore, designers must stay current on the industry’s latest product design trends. By doing so, they can ensure their products are fresh and appealing to the users of today.
So what can we expect for 2025? We’ve done some in-depth research on the latest product design trends for the upcoming year. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Read on to learn all about these anticipated trends in product design.
The top 12 product design trends in 2025
The following trends can be used to inspire your designs in this coming year and keep your creative juices flowing. Not only do they help create engaging products, but they will also reflect the great advances and cultural shifts happening in society.
1. Artificial intelligence
The role of artificial intelligence in digital product design has been crucial in these past few years. In 2025, it will continue to be integrated into various products while also becoming more adaptive and refined. Users desire more personalized experiences and AI can help achieve this.
By tracking and adapting to the users’ behavior and preferences, AI products can offer more relevant content or fun-interactive experiences. Take Google Arts and Culture’s Art Selfie as an example. Novel and custom features like these not only help draw customers in but also increase retention rates.
As more creators integrate AI into their work this year, a big focus will be on doing so ethically and transparently. Topics like algorithmic bias and data privacy will be a huge consideration when designing products users can trust.
2. Sustainable design
Users are becoming more eco-conscious and choosing products with environmentally friendly materials and practices over those without. So how do these preferences transfer over into digital product design trends? Well, even online experiences and digital products contribute to overall energy expenditure.
Products that use high electrical consumption contribute to a carbon footprint and the production of electronic waste. Therefore, designers should consider how they make their products, the softwares they use, and what companies they are working for. Eco-friendly work processes and businesses will be of benefit in the upcoming year
For more ideas on how to be a sustainable product designer, visit the Sustainable UX Network. The network lists resources for each stage of the product development cycle.
3. Interactive animation
Motion design in digital products has been an integral part of making them feel futuristic, modern, and engaging. Interactive animation is a trend that is not slowing down anytime soon. Not only do they help entertain users during transition periods like loading pages but they also help create a seamless experience with minimal error.
Interactive animations can also influence the users’ emotional state, making them feel relaxed, excited, or confident. They also help the user navigate through the app by using engaging and effective motion design graphics as clear indicators they are on the right track. Trending interactive animations are found in response to user activity like scrolling, hovering, clicking or inputting text.
Many digital product designers are even choosing to create mini-games on loading screens for transitions that take longer than average. Check out some examples of interactive animations that follow the trend for 2025.
4. Augmented and virtual reality experiences
The integration of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) features in digital products is expected to increase for various industries ranging from gaming to healthcare, fashion, interior design, and even education. AR and VR experiences help engage the user while providing a novel and worthwhile experience.
AR and VR technology is popularly used in digital design to help users try out a product before purchasing it to help them make informed decisions. For instance, potential customers can try on a shade of lipstick, test out a new couch in their home, or see how big a TV will look on their wall. Or help them visualize a healthy portion of food on their plate, test out a tattoo design, or play interactive games like Pokemon Go and Zombies, Run!
5. Minimalist design
In a busy world full of advertisements, notifications, and constant access to the internet, users are craving simplicity. People are looking to declutter not only their physical space but also their digital world. Digital products that are clean and simple but still functional and engaging will be an important product design trend in 2025.
Designers can achieve a successful minimalist design by focusing on what’s truly needed and reducing any unnecessary features and CTAs. The minimalist design aesthetic is characterized by simple font, clear and direct lines, limited color palettes, and effective negative space. Buttons, menus, and icons should be sleek and straightforward.
The challenge of minimalist design is ensuring a balance between simplicity and functionality. Essential features should not be compromised for the sake of minimalism. However, when balanced correctly, minimalist design can make products more intuitive and improve performance.
6. Color pop
The use of color in product design can evoke emotion, attract attention, and send a specific message to an audience. Companies can even use them to create a strong brand association (ie. red and yellow for McDonald’s or green and white for Starbucks). This year, designers are choosing to use bold, vibrant pops of color in strategic and effective ways.
Not only do these colors help appeal to the users’ emotions, but they can also help create a visual hierarchy that guides users to vital features. Designers can use them on buttons, toggles, menus, and input fields to help direct the user and streamline their experience.
Some trending colors for 2025 to try out this year are retro burgundy (# 8C2B32), luminous red (# E94823), poisonous green (# A3EA71), cobalt blue (# 2628DD), and tonal apricots (#FF7842).
7. Inclusive and accessible design
Although they are used interchangeably, inclusive and accessible design have two distinct meanings. Accessible design refers to designing a workable product for someone no matter their visual, auditory, motor, speech, or cognitive ability. Inclusive design is taking all genders, races, ages, ethnicities, and sexual orientations into account when designing various products.
Both approaches to product design will be important in this year to come. Examples of accessible design include easily legible fonts for those with difficulty seeing or transcripts of auditory cues for users who are auditorily impaired. Inclusive design examples would be emojis and pictures of people with a variety of skin tones or offering multiple options for gender identity on intake forms.
Creating inclusive and accessible products is not just morally significant but it is also a great business move. The product or brand will be seen as just and forward-looking and your customer base will expand as a greater variety of users feel confident using the product.
8. Biophilic design
Biophilic design is characterized by the integration of textures, elements, and patterns that reflect nature and naturally occurring phenomena. Including organic shapes, free-flowing forms, earth tones, and other naturally occurring colors helps foster a sense of tranquility and well-being in your product.
Adding biophilic features may not be the best fit for every brand, but adding them where they fit can help counteract our hyper-urbanized lives and bring a sense of harmony to the user. Design elements like wood or stone textures, wave-like animations, background images of the night sky, and lines like tree vines are some options to incorporate.
This trend moves alongside the increase in sustainable design and can be utilized in any product that has an eco-friendly feature or theme. However, even apps that don’t advertise environmentally conscious features can benefit from the incorporation of nature-like design elements.
9. Emotional design
Our high-tech world has led to some amazing advancements, but often they are at the expense of interpersonalism and connection. An important product design trend in 2025 will be designing with the users’ emotions in mind. A designer who can appeal to the users’ emotions often makes successful products that users have a deep attachment to.
An impactful way to evoke emotion from users is to design with a narrative in mind. The narrative should be user-focused and define what should be built and why it’s important. A great example of a product design narrative is Airbnb’s dedication to safety. They understand users desire security when traveling and, therefore, make sure their copy, app features, and images reflect this.
Not only does appealing to the user’s emotions help foster a strong relationship between customer and brand but it can also guide design decision making and inform what direction the product should go in.
10. Dark mode
Designing digital products with a dark mode feature has become a crucial aspect of user interface design, catering to the evolving preferences and needs of users. Dark mode not only enhances the visual appeal of a product but also addresses concerns related to eye strain and battery consumption.
The design process involves thoughtful consideration of color schemes, contrast ratios, and accessibility to ensure a seamless and enjoyable user experience across various devices. Striking a balance between aesthetics and functionality, designers must carefully choose hues, implement soft gradients, and optimize the overall layout to create a harmonious dark mode that aligns with the brand identity and user expectations.
Ultimately, incorporating dark mode in digital products is a testament to the adaptability and responsiveness of design practices and a reflection of users’ concerns about battery-saving practices and vision health.
11. Word-oriented design
The combination of creative minds and artificial intelligence has made the number of fonts available for use today almost infinite. Therefore, word-oriented design is set to be a popular product design trend. It involves a meticulous focus on typography, readability, and content presentation to ensure a compelling user experience centered around textual information.
The challenge lies in balancing visual aesthetics with optimal legibility. Typeface selection, font size, line spacing, and color contrast are critical considerations to enhance readability and user engagement. Additionally, designers must prioritize responsive layouts that adapt gracefully to various screen sizes, emphasizing the importance of fluid text rendering. Implementing thoughtful whitespace, clear hierarchy, and intuitive navigation is imperative.
Whether it’s a news app, an e-reader, or a writing platform, the success of word-oriented digital products hinges on a harmonious integration of design elements that elevate the user’s interaction with written information while maintaining a visually pleasing and immersive experience.
12. Thumb-friendly navigation
Our busy lives often have us accomplishing tasks with one hand and in a hurried fashion. Designing digital products with thumb-friendly navigation is essential in ensuring a user-friendly experience. The placement and size of interactive elements, such as buttons, menus, and navigation controls, are strategically considered to accommodate the natural reach of the user’s thumb.
This approach is rooted in ergonomic principles, acknowledging that users often navigate and interact with their devices using one hand, particularly on larger screens. Designers prioritize placing crucial actions within the thumb’s easy reach, minimizing the need for uncomfortable stretches or awkward hand movements.
This not only enhances usability but also contributes to a more seamless and intuitive navigation experience. As mobile usage continues to rise, prioritizing thumb-friendly design becomes a key element in creating digital products that prioritize user comfort and accessibility.
Key takeaways
In 2025, product design will continue to evolve and be guided by a confluence of technological advancements and user-centric philosophies. As we step further into the year ahead, the synergy between cutting-edge technology and user-focused design principles promises a landscape of innovative, visually compelling, and intuitively functional digital products.
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