We like to keep our eye on what people are talking about so here are my top thoughts I think will be on agenda next year in the world of UX/UI design.
A strong focus on prototyping and interaction design. There have been over 25 different prototype tools launched last year which clearly shows that there’s a strong demand for prototyping and interaction design tools. Interaction designers are looking to create more natural interfaces and concentrating on how it ‘feels’ to the user. Motion and audio experiences will be less of an after thought and material design will influence a lot of experiences.
More than ever usability research will be at the heart of business conversion. Style guides will become the norm, making user experiences more consistent, practical and usable. With more businesses realising the importance of design thinking and UX research.
Conversational UI’s, voice interfaces and habit-forming tech. With the launch of products like Amazon Echo and voice activated interfaces will begin to start to appear. Products that learn from users input will have more context in our lives. Less noise.
I think we will see the rise for web interfaces with more mobile features will grow. We started seeing mobile UI elements in web applications in the last few years and we will see more of that I think next year.
There will be fewer apps, less fragmentation and a movement towards a more centralised experience.
Device-appropriate design: Designers seem to keep getting mobile wrong by leaving desktop experiences feeling weak. Businesses will need to invest more in mobile. Mobile design will come first and not be an afterthought of a desktop experience.
They’ll be a next generation in social media communication. Perhaps this is tapping into businesses. I’m unsure what this will be but I’ve got a feeling Facebook will nail it again with new services. You never know, it might even be with video!
Video communication in business – better video conferencing in the home office market.
Users will become even more demanding with their digital experiences. That means more clarity in interaction design is required.
It should be a very exciting year ahead.