Website Design in 2025: 10 Things That Are Totally Out of Style (And What to Do Instead)

1. Hard Drop Shadows

Why it’s out:
Harsh, dramatic shadows feel clunky and artificial. They scream outdated skeuomorphism and ruin modern minimal layouts.

Do this instead:
Use soft, ambient shadows with high blur and low opacity. Or better: lean into layering and depth through subtle elevation and color gradients.

2. Carousels That Auto-Slide

Why it’s out:
People scroll faster than your carousel rotates. Plus, it creates a control issue. It’s like your site is grabbing the mouse from their hand.

Do this instead:
Design stacked, scrollable content blocks. Give users full control—and make each block scroll-worthy.

3. Popup Overload

Why it’s out:
When 3 popups attack the moment your homepage loads—email signup, cookie policy, and a 10% discount—you’re not converting. You’re repelling.

Do this instead:
Use intent-based modals. Trigger popups only when a user scrolls halfway, shows exit intent, or clicks on something curiosity-driven. Keep it vibe-aware.

4. Full-Screen Sliders With Stock Photos

Why it’s out:
Overused. Generic. Looks like a theme demo, not a real brand. Stocky hero sliders rarely say anything real.

Do this instead:
Swap it for a statement visual + bold headline combo. Use motion, texture, or product-in-action footage instead of canned lifestyle fluff.

5. Generic Call-to-Action Buttons

Why it’s out:
“Click Here.” “Shop Now.” Snoozefest. You’ve got 0.5 seconds to make someone care.

Do this instead:
Use contextual CTA copy. Try:

• “Steal the Look”
• “Let’s Get Ritualistic”
• “Build Your Set”
  Match the tone of your brand—and talk like a human.

6. Cluttered Navigation Menus

Why it’s out:
Too many nav links = decision fatigue. Mobile-first design makes multi-level menus a nightmare.

Do this instead:
Use condensed nav with expandable menus or mega menus for large inventories. Prioritize your top 4–5 flows, and move the rest to footers or secondary links.

7. All-Caps Body Text

Why it’s out:
It’s hard to read. Aggressive. Feels like shouting in Helvetica.

Do this instead:
Use sentence case for body text and save all-caps for microcopy, button labels, or section headers (and only in moderation). Pair with soft kerning and chill line height.

8. Slow-Loading Product Pages

Why it’s out:
Nobody’s waiting more than 3 seconds for your moisturizer photos to load. High-res is not an excuse for bad compression.

Do this instead:
Lazy-load images. Use WebP or AVIF formats. Optimize your stack. And preload assets that actually sell (first image, first variant, top CTA).

9. Cheesy Micro-Animations

Why it’s out:
Wiggling buttons, spinning icons, pointless hover effects—they’re more annoying than delightful now. The novelty’s worn off.

Do this instead:
Use micro-interactions with purpose: a button press that gives feedback, a smooth fade on scroll, or hover states that offer info, not fluff.

10. Social Feed Widgets in the Footer

Why it’s out:
Nobody’s checking your Instagram grid from your footer. It clutters your layout and slows your load time.

Do this instead:
Curate 1–3 key UGC or brand images and design them into your layout with purpose. Or just link out cleanly with a branded icon and call it a day.

Final Thoughts: Trends Change. Trust Doesn’t.

Your site shouldn’t just follow trends—it should understand them. Know when to adapt, when to simplify, and when to flex. The design decisions you make are silent signals to your audience: We’re current. We care. We’re not using a template from 2016.

So ask yourself—does your site feel like your brand today? Or does it still have the energy of “we’ll fix this later”?

If it’s the latter—I got you. Let’s turn that “meh” layout into a scroll-stopper. Quiet luxury, soft brutalism, Gen Z core, cozy chaos—we can build it.