Carousel Website Design: Sliding Through Industries

A sad, beige website results in a sad, beige user experience.

And for some industries, that's just not good enough.

Luckily for you, website carousel design is one way you can transform a drab, static, and forgettable user experience (UX) into a state-of-the-art aesthetic wonder.

In the text below, we will disclose some best practices of website carousel designs. You will also get a chance to see stunning examples of web carousel posts in different industries. Check it out!

Industries in Which Carousels Can Flourish

Carousels, sliders, or galleries, as they are also known, work best in the case of websites that thrive on image-based content. Deciding which kitchen appliance to buy, which designer clothes might fit you, or how nifty you want your gadgets to be is often an exhilarating experience. And a sleek carousel post can make it even more fun, and informative. It can nudge a website visitor to convert: fill in their personal details, book a trip, or add a product to their cart.

While carousels can be useful in pretty much any industry, here are some of the most common and successful examples:

• Interior design
• Fashion
• Automotive
• Tourism

The uses of carousel design on websites vary. For instance, luxury apparel and kitchen appliances are meant to be purchased on the spur of the moment.

All of these purchases are largely based on making a good visual first impression. It is therefore vital to get a realistic, inspiring, and clear view of different offers. Carousel web design helps users take their pick from a wide variety of choices. The goal is to match their personal aesthetics, lifestyle, as well as personality.

Interior Design and Carousel Sliders

In the world of home decor, carousels can help businesses convey the particular colors, textures, and patterns of a particular collection. They facilitate conversions both in the case of eCommerce and just enhancing the brand in question.  All that, without overflowing website pages with content.

Check out one of the carousel website examples in the image below:

Image 1: Interior Design Carousel Post, Video

Clients have built the carousel above using the Zoom Engage (ZE) platform. As you can see, the slider images are clean and simple. Users can also control the sliding process with clearly displayed arrows to the left and to the right. This is important, as auto-forwarding carousels can annoy website visitors, according to recent studies. 

Along with the slider image, you can see some text describing every image, as well as the item's price. It's a brilliant way to show off some of your best pieces in a small space.

In this case, the carousel ad examples helped a home decor brand attract its audience’s attention and dazzle them with some of what the website has to offer.

Fashion, Friends & User Experience

In this case, the carousel ad examples helped a home decor brand attract its audience’s attention and dazzle them with some of what the website has to offer.

The carousel is located on the homepage, showing a long line of famous fashion brands. As you can see in the video below, the carousel is clickable. The users can click on any brand, and end up on the brand's respective landing page.

Image 2: Fashion Carousel Post, Video

If your business is part of the fashion industry, you could do some in-house research and find out which pieces sell the most. Maybe add those items to your carousel.

You could also use the slider to market a new collection, or just show users the overall mood of your store. Your website visitors could do some mobile window shopping of boho dresses, smart suits, or vintage clothing, using appropriately styled carousels.

Speed Up the Design Journey in the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry really benefits from carousels. It’s one of those cases where having a transparent background is the smartest idea for a well-designed carousel slide. A well-advertised carousel would showcase vehicles in their most glorious, high-quality variants.

Image 3: Automotive Carousel Post, Video

Forget about eCommerce in this section: your main focus should be on making the products look good, and matching the general look of the original website.

Buying a car is not a spree-of-the-moment decision for most people, like purchasing a hat or a pair of shorts. Feel free, therefore, to make sliding automatic, although slow, and easy to control manually. This way, your carousel will not have a negative effect on your UX.

Make sure to arrange your items according to the type of vehicle. More family-friendly cars can be lumped together, surrounded by a gentler, well-lit color palette. As for the speed race cars, you could opt for a sleeker, possibly darker mood, invoking that batmobile sense of lawlessness and immortal style.

Safe Travels, Don’t Overspend: Carousel Design in the Tourism Industry

If you want people to get off the couch and travel the world, or visit a hotel chain, carousels can help you with both marketing and eCommerce.

Being that a carousel would usually be sliding throughout the year, it would be a good idea to group them according to the location: put the seascapes and beaches in one roll, and mountain climbing with cottages in the other. The snowy tops and ski resorts would look amazing together, deepening that feeling of opportunity: and adding meat to that travel experience.

In the image below, you can see a carousel built using the ZE platform, advertising a party-oriented tourism experience. It features a total of six images, three of which are visible at a time. The carousel also contains a completely manual slider control.

Image 4: Tourism Carousel Post, Video

Image 5: Tourism Carousel Post, Video

Along with your everyday carousel specs, this UX is particularly economical and user-friendly. By just clicking any image in the carousel, a website visitor can view it in a bigger, more detailed variant. The visualization of the depicted travel destination becomes more realistic and immersive. This increases the probability of making a sale.

The One Industry That Steers Clear of Slider Design

Famously dreadful when it comes to digital design, most law firms couldn't care less about web design. All they want to do is get prospects to pick up the phone and make an appointment. No need for widgets, playful typography effects, or even drop-down menus. 

Showing off a new fashion brand collection is a whole different situation. Just like unveiling some flashy new wheels to commute or take road trips with. The same goes for motivating your prospects to visit exotic destinations and have adventures.

Final Words

Carousel website design across industries helps you ensure a visually appealing, easy-to-navigate UX.  You can easily build carousels with clickable images, text, and buttons that fit your brand voice like a glove. And as long as you allow users to be in control of your carousel, they will not fall off. And you can count on more visitors converting in no time.