These are exciting times for design professionals. The industry has evolved tremendously in the past decade... logos going from 3D to flat, typing on Google to asking Siri for help, switching on lights manually to controlling smart lighting via remotes, isometric illustrations to 3D graphics, we’ve seen it all. Still we have a long way to go and new technologies are still emerging as we speak. It will be exciting to see what happens next.
As the countdown for 2020 has begun, let’s find out what trends will dominate UX and UI design in 2020.
Dominating Trends in UX
1. Voice Assistance
Can you name some famous internet sensations of today? They would be Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, Bixby and Cortana.
We all know VUIs have proven their worth in adding extra value to their respective creators. But how can UX designers take advantage of this? It’s simple- lesser a user waits for the results, the more he uses the service. Since talking is a natural skill, it becomes the fastest mode of giving and receiving information. However, deciding on which functions need to be linked with voice assistance is very important.
2. Voice Assistance go multilingual
How amazing would it be if our grandparents could talk to Alexa and get a response in their own language? With Siri speaking multiple languages for years and Google launching its first multilingual VA in 2018, Cortana trying to perfect itself in various languages conversationally and Alexa ready to start speaking in Spanish, the competition has begun already. However, the main issue with going multilingual is getting the grammar right. In 2020, we can expect more activities that can be done without having to type.
“Alexa, can you tell me the UX/UI trends of 2020?”
3. Password-less login
Forgetting passwords is very common among people. And if you think “forgetting” passwords is the real problem here, I’ve got news for you. According to an article by McAfee, an average of 13 unique passwords are used per person as of today. And a study by Yubico says 57% users admitted it’s too difficult for them to manage the passwords they use for their personal accounts. Also, as someone who’s a UX problem solver, I see setting a password that includes capital and small letters, along with a special character, number, etc., adding confusion and a great level of difficulty in remembering so many different passwords. So how can this improve in 2020? Well, biometrics is one simple and safe approach for secure, passwordless authentication. Other approaches that we already see today, as an alternative to passwords, are OTPs, pattern-based and personal question based verifications.
4. Personalization
It’s a well-known fact that users like visual content. But they start to love it when content is provided according to their personal preference. Gone are the days when content was produced in bulk, uniform for one and all. And in order to maintain the existing customers, it becomes extremely important to provide them with content before they search for what they are looking for.
People ignore design that ignores people
– Frank Chimero, Designer"
For example, Netflix creates a list of movies based on the type you’ve previously watched. Similarly, Pinterest lets you select the different topics you’re interested in and shows posts accordingly.
5. Story telling
We are not talking about using fancy words here. We’re talking about the way we can make it easier for users to understand the different steps to reach their goal while ensuring we don’t lose their attention and keep their minds captivated. It’s about showing the user his journey while using the online platform and guiding him to the end result. Show them what they want to see instead of beating around the bush with lots of content. UX is not just about designing. It has also become necessary to pay attention to the content presentation style.
Dominating Trends in UI
1. Micro-interactions
Micro-interactions are small interactions with the users which create human-like feeling. Creating small interactions helps the user to stay focused on the service for a longer period of time. It becomes easier to get the attention of the user and makes them curious to see what the product has in store for them. Just make sure to not overuse the interactions. It could distract your users and make them drift away from their action.
2. Dark theme
We’ve seen dark UI for instagram, Netflix and Spotify. Dark theme UIs work only if the surface is dark enough for the text to be visible. Not only does Dark Mode conserve mobile phone and tablet energy, but it also reduces eye strain for users. Dark mode helps in bringing out the graphical content more, which works perfectly, as more and more content, today, is being represented graphically. Picking the right combination of colours could be tricky. Staying away from saturated colours would be a wise decision as that makes the text difficult to read.
3. 3D Surface
Due to, either budget constraints or slower rendering processes in some softwares, designers had been avoiding the use of 3D models or interfaces so far. But all that is about to change as mid 2019 onwards, we’ve seen it make a comeback. Safe to say, 2020 is going to be the year of beautifully rendered 3D models. It gives real experience of what the product will look like. This helps the users to connect with the subject more.
4. Interactive background homepage
These have become a thing in 2019 and will definitely be gaining more attention in the year 2020. Since it’s the first page that users see, it’s a good way to grab the user’s attention and keep them engaged with your platform and intrigue them to explore it. This sort of engagement increases users’ interest, trust and ability to bond with any platform and can also be used to convey a company’s values or mottos or tagline and increase its recall potential due to the visual interaction the user experienced.
You want your users to have a great experience, start at the homepage. And what better way to do that than incorporating an interesting interacting background
5. Augmented reality user interface
An apt example of this would be Pokemon Go. Yup, that’s what AR is all about. Seeing what an object would look if it were right in front of you.
UI is not only about the screen design anymore. Users feel more connected and trust the subject when they see it in reality before making a buying decision. Getting them close to reality is what augmented reality does. Real World interactions AR will definitely be more visible 2020 onwards. Home decor, directions, food menu etc. have already taken up AR into their user satisfaction scheme.
Now that we’ve come to the end of our research, what can be concluded by these points is that, we see that new trends come and go every year and holding onto any one trend is neither easy nor recommended. Staying consistent is no fun and experimentation is extremely essential if you want to keep your customers. So going forward, along with making it easy for users, let’s also follow these trends to create amazing UX/UI experiences.
