By now, you’re probably used to seeing design trends come and go. But have you ever given any thought to what passing trends do to a website when left there for too long? As a web designer, you have a few choices. You can ignore popular design trends altogether; you can adopt them, but pull them out of rotation the second they go stale, or you can put your own unique spin on them. This guide will help you figure out which approach makes the most sense for your site.

Consumers don’t always understand the technicalities of what businesses do or the solutions they’ve created for them. So, copywriters use jargon that translates something like “Internet-connected devices with computing capabilities” into “smartphones”, “smart watches” and “smart speakers”.

Some of these buzzwords spread like wildfire and it soon becomes impossible to find a brand or website that doesn’t use them. When that happens, the words — and the associated product or service — become meaningless in the minds of consumers because everyone is saying the same thing.

The same thing happens when design trends become too popular. This is something Vitaly Friedman talked about last year with regards to cookie consent notices and banner blindness.

But what choice do you have? Are you supposed to hop on the design bandwagon anyway so your website doesn’t get left behind? Today, we’re going to look at what your options are.