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Whenever I get a spare minute here at Design Fusions, I often browse the Internet looking at new site designs. There is often so much new material published each day that it becomes very hard to take it all in.

I have recently found that, as a designer, I am often subconsciously influenced by what I have seen on the web. I find that by looking through all of these designs it is a great way to spot new trends on the web. One of my favorite trends at the moment is the crossover between online application design, widget design and website design.

It appears to me that many designers have come to realise that a thing or two can be learnt from the usability which is so often built into User Interfaces within online applications and widgets. Many of these techniques have now started to be replicated across the design of general websites.

In my experience, clients don’t just want a website which looks great, they also want a site which is easy for their customers to use and understand. Often, online, and offline applications are easy to use because they have gone through many rounds of changes and updates during their life. The experience of the application is tested and refined to the requirements of its intended user, therefore, this makes user interface design one of the best places to pick up inspiration and tips on how to aid the design and development of your own websites.

Take a look below at some of the most recent examples of the close relationship between online app design and web design that I have found.

When designing forms, it is a good idea not to use standard Text Fields, Radio Buttons and Checkboxes. Aid the users experience by giving them big, clear Fields with hints on the information which you require along the way. This should help to stop you user from getting confused and potentially exiting your site. Above is an example from LiveStream.com. It is clear to see which text field you are filling in and which fields are mandatory.

GrooveShark is an online application which has many aspects of the design which draw parallels with many good examples of modern web design.

Getty Images use a beautiful ‘mood wheel’ to help its users to locate appropriate imagery. These intuitive ways of helping users to find what they are looking for often help to add to the users experience rather than using a standard category selector. However, it is often important to also offer a standard format as some users prefer to use traditional means to find what they want.

The interface design for the soon to be released Episodic website is very simple and clear for even the novice user to understand.

coTweet is a great example of a highly user friends online application. Many of the features built into the app can also be found built into modern websites.

Meta Lab Design are an Interface Design Agency who specialise in creating applications which work brilliantly online and offline. Many of the user interfaces which work well for their Offline Application also work equally well when implement with their Online Applications.

The Nike Football website uses very clear search boxes which makes it very easy for the user to see what they are typing.

NewsPond is a site which automatically sorts news items by real-time global popularity. The website clearly displays and breaks-down information into manageable snippets so that the user can browse through the information quickly. The design of the site has many similarities to the sorts of applications and software which you find on the desktop of your computer.

Xero.com have a great dashboard interface design. Data is pulled from many other pages and displayed in a simple and clear format. They have used many of the most widely recognised navigation features such as sliders and adapted them accordingly, but not so much that they become unfamiliar.

The above images are purely intended to be my observations of current trends in web design. Tackling the design of interfaces, whether it be  online or offline, is a science in itself, and there is a huge amount of further reading and discussions to consider in this field. However, I hope that I have given you a small insight into this area.