#10 Hot UX Trends for 2023
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Hello friends and welcome back to the future of UX podcast. My name is Patricia Reiners and I am your host for this podcast. So after a two year break almost, we are back with brand new episodes about design, user experience and future tech. And I am honestly, I'm so excited to be back. You know, you can't believe it.

So the reason for this really long break was that I was involved in a lot of different projects.

Most of them in the metaverse area. So UX for the metaverse and AR, VR projects and a lot of innovation projects as well. So I was pretty busy and I decided to get back to podcasting because I want to share the learnings. What went well, what didn't went so well, my personal learnings, ups and downs when it comes to working with these people.

technologies and I think a podcast is still the best ideal format for that to really share learnings and be open and talk about what's going on in the UX and in the tech world so it's the new year it's 2023

Brand new year and I am going to start this year with an episode about UX trends for the upcoming year. I'm going to share with you seven UX trends with you and talk a little bit about what it means for us as UX designers and how to incorporate it in our workflow. I would say let's get started with the first trend.

so the first trends are experiences and this is one of my favorite trends already because one thing that i recognize is that ux design shifts its focus from efficiency to experiences so websites you know there are one that i can recommend to definitely check out i linked it in the description box it's called joshua's world

And he's creating interactive portfolios that really engage users in a meaningful journey and encourage them to spend more time exploring the site. And there is a super important word, which is the dwell time. This is the time that a user really spends on a website or on an experience.

And now we have such powerful technologies as, you know, AI, augmented realities. So brands now have the opportunity to really showcase their unique personality while just really captivating their audience with memorable experiences rather than just simply guiding them towards the call to action page for quick completion of tasks. This is, yeah, this is definitely not the future.

And as the world turns more digital, brands also have much more focus on everything that comes with the metaverse. Metaverse will be our last point, so we're also going to talk about that. But what's important here is that instead of just simply offering users clicks and scrolls, some companies are creating immersive experiences that really give us the opportunity to explore and to grow and really focus on the experience.

And this trend is, I think, one thing that is really important about this trend is also to keep your target audience in mind, right? Because if you're thinking about mobile audiences or those with maybe slower internet speeds, they find traditional options a little bit more enjoyable. So it pays off to really consider your target audience when designing an experience. Always the same, always the same, right? So that's a really important thing. The trend number two is...

Also, very similar to the last one, it's called no failure. And there, again, we are focusing on the user journey. And in an era of uncertainty, users are spending a lot of time on the internet for relief and for entertainment. And if they come across a confusing error page or experience prolonged loading time, 25% will give up entirely. We already know that. We have the data.

So what is important here? Brands really need to create captivating interactive experiences on their arrow pages, on their loading pages, on all these little white spots in the user journey to really integrate some kind of like fun elements that can be videos, that can be images that really capture their brand personality so that they are really keeping the people engaged while preserving the website integrity.

And it really offers users a playful way of loading pages in your site. It can be also some kind of like an onboarding experiences while the website loads.

And this is something that is super, super, super important nowadays, right? Because websites or any kind of services or experiences need to be thought through the whole user journey. And also as UX designer, you need to focus on these little, you know, little, I just call them white spots where you can just like improve the experience.

And yeah, I would say this friendly touch not only increases consistency across your design, but also fosters trust between the customer and your brand and really creating a strong emotional connection that will keep people, you know, like coming back again and again. So point number three is advanced interactions.

And this is definitely one step away as well from traditional websites and mobile patterns moving into the 3D space in the future and really thinking about new ways to interact, new ways how the user can really engage with content. One example for that is, for example, captivating hover effect that can draw users in and really leave them wanting more.

That can be, for example, with an animated reveal or you can provide useful information about the item, including how to use it, what kind of features or even announces new products or services that are coming soon. It's also ideal, for example, for clothing stores, also car dealerships and any other business looking to engage customers while providing valuable details on items. They may be interested in that and just try it out. And it's really interesting because

This is some kind of like way how the user can really interact with the content, not just scroll, not just read the content, but really interact and things are happening. And this is definitely a trend that is also coming from, you know, thinking about the gaming or everything that is happening with the metaverse where people can really more interact with content and see things happen.

Volvo and many other car manufacturers use hover and scroll effects to also slow off the interior and other features of their vehicle, right? So definitely have a look at there. And important here, the desired outcome definitely should be clear. So do users want more information? Do they don't want more information? Also pretty interesting to check that in the background. Again, have a look at that.

Here coming to point number four, which is the storytelling and scrolling. This goes hand in hand with the last topic. So a well-crafted design can open the door to powerful opportunity. We all know that, right? So it's not just about aesthetics, but a carefully considered color scheme that resonates with your target audience has an undeniable psychological effect.

And if you do it right, it's some kind of magical, right? Have a look at the Apple product pages. They are a journey you will never forget. You always have that, you know, you never forget that. So for years, they've been using motion scrolling to create an exciting and interactive experience that immerses visitors in the world of their products.

So whether it be watching MacBooks fly across the screen or you scroll or, you know, functions being carefully staged, show visible appeal. Apple has developed a unique way of storytelling through technology, which truly allows us all to discover something new every time we visit. So definitely have a look how they really tell a story and make their whole website very interactive.

So one of my favorite apps and websites are just like about scrolling through content in one direction, but really modern design offers infinite possibilities for creative exploration. You know, parallax scrolling allows us to experience a different level of dynamic immersion with the background shifting at its own speed compared to other elements on the page.

And taking it up another notch to is sophisticated scrolling, which adds some extra fare by strategically incorporating special visuals along the journey. And with so many innovative ways out there, how will you take your online explorations even further? What is important is to keep the brand in mind.

So website is not a static thing with content on it like a PDF that you just scroll down. It's about a brand personality. It's storytelling and it's like their focus is not only to bring information across but to really tell a story. And that will be a super important thing this year. So trend number five is artificial intelligence and chatbots.

So with the increasing presence of artificial intelligence in basically every product that we are using, people are expecting more and more and also better chatbots. Designers therefore have a challenge to really make conversations feel personal rather than robotic because no one really wants that.

which is why tech experts are really investing heavily into machine learning as we move towards 2023. And this research really aims for more natural speech, right? So that you talk to a chatbot and this chatbot really responds in a very natural way, thinking about very complex vocabulary, grammar control, and even...

maybe adding some spelling mistakes. At least I have seen that in a few chatbots. This was on purpose. So also that customers can really enjoy human-like conversations with their favorite online bots.

And chatbots are one of the best ways to really ensure customers have a great experience with your brand. So that customer service is a very important thing. People will always have questions, will always have concerns. Things are not working out and they need to be able to address that and get the support they want. So utilizing AI technology, you can really maximize their effectiveness so that users never feel like they are stuck without an answer or solution.

So really meaning more trust and loyalty really build between them and your business. Plus, when those happy customers start spreading the word about it, well, let's say it, there will be plenty of rewards waiting in store for you.

uh trend number six which is arvr this is like an ongoing trend i talk about you know when i'm talking about trend there's always arvr because this is like an ongoing trend that will just become bigger and bigger and more important and more important throughout the upcoming years reason for is that that the um

hardware is getting better that all the companies are not all the companies but like all the big ones are heavily investing in these areas and a lot of things are going to change so this is like an ongoing topic an ongoing topic to focus on so and as covid lockdowns have kept millions of people inside and away for yeah a really long time away from large social events virtual reality has been

a very important thing or like one option to participate in different kind of events. So in 2018, the world's first VR Fashion Week opened its door to the public as a way for brands to reach their customers without physical contact.

And also companies are exploring ways that augmented reality and also virtual reality can be combined with real world applications such as using AR within warehouses or even medical practices. And the possibilities seem limitless when it comes to creating hybrid, digital, real world experiences.

So you could potentially decorate your new home before buying any furniture by utilizing cutting edge advantages in both AR and VR technologies. So this is already possible. So VR and AR are now strongly associating with the gaming industry or innovative product lifecycle management, but are still part of the Xtrends, right? So mixed reality,

So what does it mean for us as UX designers really thinking about beyond the screen and rethinking certain design patterns and thinking how this might look like for augmented reality.

So when we're thinking about the UX trend, augmented reality, Mr. Spex, for example, in the video fitting as early as 2011, it was possible to try on glasses at Mr. Spex in a better version. And today, the augmented reality experience is an integral part of online shopping. You know, like 10 years ago,

And now AR apps are a very clear UX trend in online shopping to improve the user experience. So companies such as IKEA, L'Oreal or Mr. Specs use augmented reality already to enable shop customers to try out products. So AR apps are also being used more and more in road traffic and in navigation. So navigation from Mercedes, for example, with AR elements.

So the augmented reality navigation from Mercedes connects the virtual with the real world using augmented reality. So graphical navigation and traffic information is superimposed on live images.

And the number of augmented reality applications is also increasing in healthcare as best practices and experiences with AR apps have also evolved significantly. So it's not surprising that the amount of research on machine learning, artificial intelligence and augmented reality has increased significantly. And at the same time, development in the direction of a decentralized internet

Talking about Web3 in the Metaverse based on blockchain technologies are making rapid progress and will certainly drive many other technical innovations in dealing with VR and AR over the next few decades in combination with conversational AI. You know, exciting times could be ahead of us and I'm really looking forward to that. I think it will be a huge difference for us as designers to really design beyond the screen and

Yeah, focusing on placing content where it actually belongs and where it's needed. So I think this is super, super exciting. So I already talked about that in the beginning. The last trend and really big trend is the metaverse. And it has been a super big trend in the last year already. And this is a step into a world of limitless possibilities. I think the metaverse offers a lot of exciting opportunities for us as designers.

And it's definitely the next evolution in technology, creating an interconnected virtual economy where physical and digital realities converge. Really imagine visiting different shared locations across the network. And that's what it really feels to explore a metaverse.

Thinking about virtual currencies and also non-fungible tokens, NFTs that are powering the commerce within these networks and allowing even more freedom for creators, innovators and entrepreneurs. So for us, we definitely need to have a look at everything that's happened around the metaverse and also really discover the opportunities, right? So really go explore the metaverse today.

And here are a few things that are especially important when it comes to the metaverse. The first is Web3.

which is a new stack of technologies for the development of decentralized web applications. And that enables users to control their own identity and data, which is a huge difference to before, where everything was centralized. Web3 is decentralized. So Web3 and Metaverse complements each other in a community or ecosystem where value is

In some form, it's a change between people, organizations, yeah, boy, some kind of like a combination. The second really important innovation for the metaverse is spatial computing, which can be defined as some kind of like a three, yeah, entire technology stack through which users experience the intersection of the physical and digital world. And then we have innovation number three, which is very important, which is the digital twin of a person.

which not only mirrors a unique individual but is also a near real-time synchronized you know multi-presence so say it like that with the ability to be present in multiple places at the same time in both physical and digital spaces so sounds a bit complicated but it's a really big game changer and then we have innovation number four which is the digital twin of a customer

So some kind of like a suspect is a dynamic virtual representation of a customer that really simulates and learns to, you know, emulate and anticipate behavior. So that's pretty, pretty, pretty interesting and will be so important when it comes to your ex to really predict certain behavior and also understand and track what's going on and make decisions based on that. So customers can be individuals, it can be personas, it can be groups of people or machines. Okay.

So let's summarize the seven UX trends. The first one was experiences. So focus much more on the efficiency than the focus more on the experience than just on efficiency. So really, yeah, making the experience whole and including the brand in it.

Then point number two is having a look at all these white spots or in the interesting parts of the user journey. So making sure that there is no failure and thinking about all those little important spots to create this kind of experience, right? Which is very important. Then number three is the advanced interactions.

So going above and beyond the learned and known UX and UI design patterns and coming up with new ways. One thing could be basic hovering, but then giving the user the opportunity to really interact with the content and telling a story through that.

So number four is storytelling based on scrolling. Here was the example with the Apple website where you tell the whole story about your product, your brand, your person. Less about just, you know, preparing the content, but more about like telling the story and engaging or the user can engage with the content just by scrolling or interacting with it.

Number five is chatbots, which is a very important thing for the user to have a place where you get help. You can talk to the brand and chatbots will be a very important thing this year. Really make sure they are having a natural speech, very complex vocabulary and grammar control.

Number six is AR, VR, the ongoing trend. And have a look at how your brand or your service looks in AR. If there are opportunities, it never has been easier. And a lot of things are going to happen this year when it comes to AR, VR. Going to talk about that topic in another podcast a bit more in detail. And number seven is the metaverse. Limitless opportunities, possibilities, a lot of ways to really...

Yeah, get started with that. It's coming. No one really knows how it will look, but definitely a very important topic. Also to think beyond the very centralized world

way of the internet right now and thinking about new ways nfts especially special computing digital twin all these kind of things okay i hope this was helpful to you if you had some learnings or some aha moments i would definitely love you to share

yeah write a review and that would be so so helpful or just share it with your friends or colleagues or with anyone you think um yeah would be benefit from this podcast thank you so much for listening and and hear you in the future