The UX and UI trends that matter in 2026 are the ones with a standard or a measurement behind them, not the visual fashions of earlier years. Accessibility now has a concrete baseline in WCAG 2.2; Apple and Google have both moved their mobile design languages toward layered, animated, "expressive" interfaces; AI chat is a new interface that users still find hard to understand; and passkeys are replacing passwords on a large scale. Gradients, 3D graphics and large type, the trends of 2017 to 2019, are still available as styling, but none of them decides whether a design works.
Key takeaways
- WCAG 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023 and added nine success criteria, including a minimum pointer target size of 24 by 24 CSS pixels and a rule against login steps that depend on remembering or transcribing.
- Apple previewed Liquid Glass on 9 June 2025 for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26. Google's Material 3 Expressive draws on 46 studies with more than 18,000 participants, according to Google.
- Nielsen Norman Group found that new users "had a difficult time understanding what a genAI bot can do and how it can be used", and recommends prompt controls to fix it.
- In FIDO Alliance's October 2025 Passkey Index, 26% of sign-ins used passkeys, and passkey sign-ins averaged 8.5 seconds against 31.2 seconds for other methods (figures reported by the member companies).
- Older trends such as 3D graphics, gradients, big typography and voice were styling choices. The shifts that last are accessibility rules, platform design systems, AI interfaces and sign-in.
What counts as a design trend, and what is only styling?
A useful test is whether you can check it. A gradient is a style; a 24 by 24 pixel target is a measurable requirement. A floating navigation bar is a style, but a platform guideline decides how it behaves on a phone. The 2017, 2018 and 2019 lists on this site named things such as landing-page structure, 3D graphics, gradients, typography, video and voice interfaces. Those can still make a site look current, but they do not tell you whether people can finish a task. The sections below follow the trends that can be tested.
What did WCAG 2.2 change for designers?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2, published by the W3C on 5 October 2023, added nine success criteria and removed one (4.1.1 Parsing, which it calls obsolete). Six of the new ones are at levels A and AA:
| Criterion | Level | What it asks of a design |
|---|---|---|
| Consistent Help (3.2.6) | A | Help mechanisms that repeat across pages appear in the same relative order |
| Redundant Entry (3.3.7) | A | Do not make people re-enter information they already gave in the same process |
| Focus Not Obscured, Minimum (2.4.11) | AA | A focused element is at least partly visible, not entirely hidden by sticky headers or banners |
| Dragging Movements (2.5.7) | AA | Anything done by dragging also works with a simple pointer action |
| Target Size, Minimum (2.5.8) | AA | Pointer targets are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or meet an exception such as adequate spacing |
| Accessible Authentication, Minimum (3.3.8) | AA | Login does not depend on a cognitive test such as remembering or transcribing, unless an alternative is provided |
The practical effects are small buttons, sticky cookie banners that cover a focused field, drag-only sliders and "retype this code" logins. All are common, and all are now easy to test. For the legal side in the EU, see Web development trends in 2026.
Is "expressive" mobile design here to stay?
Both major mobile platforms moved in the same direction in 2025. On 9 June 2025 Apple previewed Liquid Glass, a translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings, across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26. Apple describes controls as "a distinct functional layer that sits above apps", and in iOS 26 tab bars shrink as people scroll "to bring focus to the content while keeping navigation instantly accessible".
Google's Material 3 Expressive came from "46 separate research studies" with "more than 18,000 participants", according to Google's design team. It reports that people spotted key interface elements "up to four times faster" in the expressive designs in an eye-tracking study, and that users aged 45 and older found them about as quickly as younger users. These are Google's own findings, not independent ones.
What this means for an app: users of recent phones will see a more layered, animated system interface, and your app will be judged against it. Treat the new styles as something to adopt where they help people find things, and check contrast, text size and reduced-motion settings as you do. Our app design page describes how we approach it, and our UX design checklist covers the basics.
How should you design for AI chat and assistants?
AI chat is now an interface many sites offer, and it has its own usability problems. Nielsen Norman Group's research on generative AI chatbots found that "new users had a difficult time understanding what a genAI bot can do and how it can be used". It describes four main uses of prompt controls:
- Increasing discoverability of the chatbot's features.
- Educating users and offering inspiration.
- Setting constraints for conversations.
- Facilitating follow-ups.
Turning that into design: say plainly what the assistant can and cannot do, offer example questions that fit the page, show its sources, and make it easy to reach a person. For a business assistant, the limits matter as much as the features. We cover how to build one in How to make a simple chatbot, and our AI assistants page explains what we offer.
Are passwords finally going away?
Not yet, but passkeys are now in everyday use. The FIDO Alliance's Passkey Index (October 2025), compiled from member companies including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, PayPal, Target and TikTok, reports that on average 93% of accounts are eligible for passkeys, 36% have one enrolled and 26% of sign-ins use them. The same release says passkey sign-ins averaged 8.5 seconds against 31.2 seconds for email verification, SMS codes and social login, with a 93% success rate against 63%. These figures come from the companies and the Alliance, not an independent audit.
For design, the lesson matches WCAG 2.2's accessible-authentication rule: do not make people remember, transcribe or solve something to sign in. Offer a passkey or a password manager-friendly form, and keep a clear recovery path.
Why does speed still belong in UX?
A page that responds late feels broken however good it looks. Google's responsiveness metric is Interaction to Next Paint, and a good score is 200 milliseconds or less. We cover the measurements and what the 2025 Web Almanac found in Web development trends in 2026.
A checklist for your next design review
- Are buttons and links at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or spaced so they are easy to hit?
- Is the focused element ever hidden by a sticky header, banner or chat widget?
- Does anything need dragging with no simple alternative?
- Can people sign in without remembering or retyping something, and recover access easily?
- Do help and contact links sit in the same place on every page?
- Does your AI assistant say what it can do, show its sources and offer a route to a person?
- On a phone, is navigation reachable with one thumb and still clear when it shrinks on scroll?
- Do animations respect the visitor's reduced-motion setting?
- Is the page responsive in under 200 milliseconds for real visitors, not only in a lab test?
- Can someone finish the main task, such as asking for a quote, in a few steps?
If you would like help with a review, our website design and app design pages describe what we do.
FAQ
How big should buttons and links be?
WCAG 2.2 asks for pointer targets of at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, unless an exception applies, such as enough spacing around a smaller one. Bigger is easier to use, especially on phones.
Do we need to redesign to follow these trends?
Usually not. Most of the useful changes are fixes: target sizes, focus visibility, sign-in, a clearer assistant and faster responses. A full redesign makes sense when the structure of the site no longer fits what people need.
Should we add an AI chatbot?
Only if it solves a real task on your site, such as answering product or policy questions, and you can keep its answers accurate. Plan for what it should refuse, how it shows sources and how a person takes over.
Do we need passkeys?
If people sign in to your site or app, offering passkeys is worth considering, since the Passkey Index reports faster and more successful sign-ins. Keep a password or other fallback and a recovery route while adoption grows.
Should we copy Apple's or Google's new look?
Follow the platform conventions your users already know, and adopt the new styles where they make navigation clearer. Do not adopt them only for novelty: check contrast, motion and text size first.
Sources
- W3C, "What's New in WCAG 2.2" (WCAG 2.2 published as a Recommendation on 5 October 2023): https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/new-in-22/
- Apple Newsroom, "Apple introduces a delightful and elegant new software design" (9 June 2025): https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/06/apple-introduces-a-delightful-and-elegant-new-software-design/
- Google Design, "Expressive Design: Google's UX Research": https://design.google/library/expressive-material-design-google-research
- Nielsen Norman Group, "Prompt Controls in GenAI Chatbots: 4 Main Uses and Best Practices" (2 August 2024): https://www.nngroup.com/articles/prompt-controls-genai/
- FIDO Alliance, "FIDO Alliance Launches Passkey Index, Revealing Significant Passkey Uptake and Business Benefits" (14 October 2025): https://fidoalliance.org/fido-alliance-launches-passkey-index-revealing-significant-passkey-uptake-and-business-benefits/
- web.dev, "Interaction to Next Paint (INP)": https://web.dev/articles/inp