5 SaaS Design Trends I Can’t Get Enough of in 2018

Okay, you caught me. If the pages of SaaS websites could be printed out into glossy magazines and published once a month, that would be my pornography of choice. Flicking through the new Asana timeline features with a glass of Tawny on the rocks before bed? Oh yea.

My obsession with perusing application websites before presentations and client meetings has taken just that little bit too long lately, so I thought I’d take some time out and do a bit of exploration around what’s got me so hot and bothered.

As I always tell my clients, the design and user interface of the software they choose (along with all the other small details, such as funding, what’s on the roadmap, and quality of support) is most of the battle when it comes to choosing and using the right cloud technology tools. I suppose it’s like finding a romantic partner – if the spark isn’t there – is it ever going to be there? With so many SaaS applications on the market vying for our attention, surely it’s appropriate now to be slightly superficial in selecting the ones that are both easy on the eyes and do what we actually want them to do.

So let’s get into it – what are the five trends that are happening in the space that seem to be working?

1. Soft, warm colours

Tangerine anyone? After a fair bit of Googling, I’ve defined the colour palette on trend as “Warm Citrus” – it seems just about everyone is balancing out the fresh nectarine, lemon and aquamarine hues by making them just that small amount muted. I liken the result to laying on a chaise lounge on a balmy summer evening while drinking a gin and tonic adorned with a perfectly curled orange peel.

We all know how annoying it is to learn new software applications. Is it possible these SaaS products are trying to psychologically ease us into adoption?

The brand new Futrli branding, for example, is so warm and inviting it’s almost impossible to navigate to the landing page without clicking “Sign Up” on autopilot. I mean, come on, no one wants to deal with the complexities of setting up their own financial reporting, but if the dashboard reporting looks half as good inside the platform as the landing page suggests I’ll happily spend my next three Saturdays customising cash flow forecasts.

NB: I believe the rebrand for Futrli is very fresh, but I have seen a sneak peek of the complete UX design meant to be rolled out later this year and I’m very impressed. If you do get a trial account, I don’t think the internal dashboard is up quite yet (as of May 2018).

2. Heaps of white space

Get things out of your head and into the cloud! A clear mind means better decision making, and isn’t that what these applications all promise to do? My favourite tools are now utilising loads of white space in both their branding and the platforms themselves. This personally encourages me to get rid of any distractions and focus on the task at hand.

Asana sort of kill it across a whole range of design applications, however their use of white space on their home page really does it for me. Especially since their software is so focussed on organising all types of projects and tasks, I feel extremely motivated. Whether I’m logged into the browser or the mobile app, I’m able to close out the clutter by minimising the sidebars and do my best brainstorming.

3. Gradients for days

Pretty much all my faves are using gradients in either their logos or as part of the core design elements used in their branding. Usually mixed with white or complementary colours, gradients send a clear signal to the viewer that using the software is going to be easy. Anyone can ease their way into making sense of the convoluted world of technology!

Especially since converting to cloud-based software often requires a significant amount of manual conversion of data, I think this is a smart move on the part of the SaaS companies in utilising this design element.

Take Cloudflare for example. When you onboard the DNS of your website (or websites), the wizard automatically pulls in your existing A, CNAME, MX records and much more. I always get excited visiting the landing page and logging into my account, because the design is such a great reminder of the simple user interface that I’m about to experience. Never mind that the technology behind Cloudflare is extremely complex (they basically wrap a soft fluffy blanked around your website in a world riddled with brute force attacks happening faster than the smartest human can react to)!

4. Images of real people exploring

I’m pretty geeky, so it will come as no surprise that Star Trek: The Next Generation was a favourite growing up. Not that I ever really desired actually going to outer space (that one trip to Space Mountain at Disney World was quite enough, thank you).

Nonetheless, I do like to consider myself “technologically adventurous”, and I think that imagery of everyday, average folks heading off into some kind of unknown somehow psychologically endears me to the SaaS software I use. Take Hubspot, for example. They’ve used a Tina Fey-esque model in bold colours, about to head off into space with her dashboard reporting printout! She’s cool, she’s confident, and nothing is going to get between her and closing that deal in her sales pipeline.

Because Hubspot is just as much about smashing sales targets as it is about keeping a whole myriad of CRM data organised, I like how they’ve used this combination in their branding. Every time I visit the homepage, I’m reminded of how accessible the software makes running a big aspect of my business.

5. Custom illustrations

Anyone can pop a generic looking icon into a web page and call it graphic design, but it takes some pretty careful thought to develop out custom illustrations to link up with your content and your brand.

Help Scout do this extremely well, with every piece of content they produce curated carefully with a hand-illustrated representation of the topic. The shading and colours, of course, relate back exactly to their brand guide, but each drawing is 100% unique.

Because we all want to basically pay nothing for amazing software (come on, you always go for the free version, admit it!), I love this concept in SaaS design because it makes the user feel like they are getting something completely built for their business, even if it is exactly the same instance every other small business owner is using.

Finding, implementing and actually using the right SaaS software can be a total nightmare. In my opinion, you mind as well use what you like. Are there any other trends you think are going off in 2018? Leave a comment below.