Users are and perhaps have always been the most important judges of our development projects. They use our products with either a fierce appreciation or a saddened abandon, but in each case, they identify for us what works and what doesn’t. Our job is crucial: to identify, analyze, and implement what the user is looking for from our solutions. Looking forward to 2020, our main and principled purpose should be no different.
But, that doesn’t mean that what we find in all our analysis and implementation is expected. Sometimes it is challenging, unconventional, and defies intuition. This means that keeping tabs on the latest trends—carrying the insights from previous years forward—is an absolute must. Here, we seek to outline the top UX trends for 2020 to keep you up-to-date and aware.
1.Digital Transparency
Design trends and development movements react to the moment. Perhaps you don’t need us to rehash what you already know about the circulation of false and misleading information through technology. But, you may not know the steps that developers and leaders are taking to fight the battle against misinformation. There is certainly a demand for companies to make changes to their products to protect the truth and restore trust in important sources. It’s something to think about in your own customer solutions as giants like Google, Facebook, and Adobe seek to spot manipulation and remove it through AI, disclaimers, and censorship.
2.Community Migration
Online communities play a huge role in adding accessibility to development and design. But, we find that designers and developers are turning away from large forums to solve their problems and setbacks. Instead, they are turning to small communities on WhatsApp, Telegram, and direct messaging to share ideas, get feedback, and engage with one another. These communities are less “macro” and more “micro” as they exchange design references, discuss trends, and seek advice. Consider how you can build a micro-community for your development team to improve your user experience and visual design of your products and services.
3.Team Authorship
The idea of the “genius designer” has plagued the community for a long time now. That stereotype is leaving us as digital teams scale and projects increase in complexity. They are now becoming more valued for their ability to be “team players” and to collaborate rather than what they can accomplish on their own. They are increasingly attracted to being part of a structured group of designers and developers as they work on user interface design, interaction design, and user experience design. This is a profound change in the view of development since it no longer pushes forward the misconception of the “genius” in favor of creating great user journeys in a smaller amount of time.
4.Overload Resolution
We used to live in a world that demanded packed features in exchange for valuable user data. Today, teams of designers and developers are finding that their products work better when they are focused. Less is more. Along this line, some companies are choosing to—incredibly—collect far less data by not requiring user sign-in and ditching pixel tracking. The question of whether data should be collected is starting to be asked. And, for some, the solution seems to be more focus, less data overload and privacy hacking. User-centered design no longer has to be about privacy invasion in the name of user research.
5.Collaboration Enhanced
Designers and developers often joke about how to label their files and discuss at length the best way to name versions and share files. Just as Google Docs has changed how people collaborate on text, transformation is happening in design and development. It seems it is a file-less future. They are recording ideas in Dropbox, defining projects in Google Spreadsheets, and organizing in Notion. The output is no longer a sole file; it is an entire ecosystem of collaborative hubs.
Final Thoughts
From motion design to interaction design, UX designers and developers are moving toward a future which is focused, file-less, and more fully communal. They are focusing on developing with technologies that allow for instant communication, team collaboration, and a greater ability to serve the end user with the best possible product. Current and future development and design will be a process of becoming more integrated into teams rather than isolated “genius developers” as problems become more specific and complex. Choose a company for your development project who lives these trends.
Makeen is one such company that bridges the gap between solid experience and trend awareness for organizations that need a development team to lead their projects to completion. Makeen works with you to extend your skill pool, obey your budget, and increase your resources so that you can enjoy products that are competent, secure, and ready for the future. Get in touch with one of our UX specialists.
