There are several reasons why UI cards have become quite ubiquitous in today’s contemporary world of the Internet. Since users are shifting more and more towards the smaller screen to surf the internet, the result of that is web designers are looking for a very compact interface to work with.
This is where using the UI cards has become quite necessary, as they not only provide the appeal to users but they are also trendy and attractive in nature, which is what one should expect from any UI. Cards, along with flat designs and minimalism, have become the talk of the E-town.
The benefits of using the UI card patterns start from the fact that they facilitate better loading time. Apart from that, the UI cards are also very accommodating to all types of screen sizes. Users, especially people on mobile phones, always seek content that is bite-sized optimized. These UIs are also preferably shared by people on Twitter and Facebook more often than the regular ones. In fact, so common have they become, many companies and content providers prefer using the card UIs across all topics and websites.
The cards are typically the small boxes or containers and they contain information, as one box or card depicts one particular thought. A typical UI Card can easily display any type of content-be it text, link, visual, or others. However, they are generally governed by one single theme to promote continuity and appeal.
In these modern times, the whole world wide web is being restructured to comply with a user’s preferred personalization. This basically means today’s UI depends more on individual and separate components. Thanks to the rise of mobile internet usage.
This has also occurred because screens sizes and shapes have become quite haphazard. The regular usage of SKDs and APIs pipelines have also meant that users are more inclined towards having content in one single package for a better experience rather than in different pages or batches. This is where card UIs have made their mark the most.
If you need a responsive website, then UI cards offer great value. They provide top-notch fluidness and they hence become quite responsive with frameworks. All of these things tick all the positive points for the mobile phone users. Here are the reasons why Cards are the future of the mobile internet genre;
UI cards are basically used for aggregation factors. Like how useful it can be for the users and the viewers. So, let us take a look at the reasons why even we must rejoice when it comes to viewing content on the UI cards.
Twitter – quite recently the company started using the cards by allowing users to attach multimedia in line with them in their tweets.
Google – Even Google is anticipating the next big thing and is using it to distribute personal features.
Pinterest – it is totally committed to using cards, as the website is designed around it.
Facebook – most of the website’s content is based on the cards
Others – iOS7 is based upon cards too; for instance apps like Airdrop
These are just a few examples, and going by the road-map, UI cards are definitely here to stay for a long, long time.
Cards are revolutionary; however, some designers and users have spotted some drawbacks in them. First of all, the cards give priority to display of the interaction rather than putting emphasis on the content itself. The cards focus on the container itself and rather than on the content. And this means the size of the container (or the size of the card) dictates the size of the content, not the other way around as it should be.
Apart from that, content usability problems are also quite common with cards. Many users report issues with the cards, whilst they actually use them. Some cards also confuse the users, as some of them require horizontal scrolling, while some require vertical scrolling. Apart from that, what is even more confusing is that fact that some UI cards contain data on their flip side, which the users have to tap and flip if they know about—and then check. This gives users the problem of understanding the cards. They do not know how to correctly encounter the cards, as every new day brings a new card to them.
Apart from that, another drawback of the cards UI design is the lack of hierarchy in it. All the cards look same and their importance also looks the same. They are of course of the same size as well. Thus, designers have to be extra important about the picture they use on the cards. If the picture misleads the users, then they will certainly hate using cards—as it will not only cost time but it will be quite frustrating too.
Everyone wants to navigate easily and see their content in the fastest and the best possible way. The cards certainly do allow us to have that privilege. With cards, one can easily improve the navigation factor. And, when it comes to using the internet on the mobile phones, the requirement of cards become even more essential. As most handheld gadgets are now touchscreen devices these days.
Thus, the cards are the future. Yes, there are some issues which designers need to sort out and of course, there is the problem of acclimatization, but if these demerits are lifted, then we can easily see a much more interesting web world thanks to the appeal of the UI cards.
So, it won’t be long before cards become even more ubiquitous on our web pages.
May be stupid today if you do what others won’t. But tomorrow it would lead to do what others can’t.
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