This time of year is always appropriate to look forward and look to where progression will be made in the next twelve months. Here we talk you through the top UX trends to look out for in 2018.
User Engagement: Simple Design Focusing On Content
Increasingly, we are seeing more sites where the primary focus is around design and interactions, based on recent trends for minimal and flat UI. Designers need to elevate content as part of the design process to reduce needless distractions away from content. Build clarity by getting the basics right:
- Visual hierarchy – Getting the content structure correct and make reading content a pleasure.
- Minimal distraction to focus users, use white space as a tool to provide clarity and embrace negative space to draw users to the content you want users to read.
Focus on content as part in the design experience and make it an integral part of your discussions with stakeholders. Building content strategies with brands upfront will see a focus on well curated content as a key part of a digital products success.
User Behaviour: Influence Of Voice
Voice technology has had a huge impact in the home and user’s everyday experiences, with a number of voice activated experiences like Siri and Alexa building a strong platform for the technology to grow.
The impact of this will see less focus on experiences designed for click and tap interactions, and a move to screen less technology as the advances in voice technology improves.
Real world experiences may prove tough to shape voice experiences around, with users reluctant to give voice commands or getting frustrated not hearing a command in a crowded environment.
But, with the growth of the technologies capabilities and more understanding with how users engage with voice controls we will see a shift towards voice integrated experiences becoming more normal.
User Feedback: More Micro Interactions
Micro-interactions are moments or effects centred around accomplishing a single task and are effective ways to communicate to users.
Micro-interactions focus users to do things like provide encouragement while that can also provide simple communication that a task was completed
Core uses for micro-interactions:
- Communicating feedback or the result of an action
- Accomplishing an isolated, individual task
- Manipulating a setting
- Preventing user error
(Source UXpin https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/ux-design-best-practices-refined-microinteractions/)
Micro-interactions work because they appeal to the user’s natural desire for acknowledgement. To react positively to an experience in your own way is an effective method of communicating to users by allowing instant ways of expression in a way that doesn’t bore or distract users.
Medium incorporated the ‘clap’ functionality into their posts, which is a great micro interaction for users to show appreciation of a post. In turn user engagement is increased across the posts building traction with this allowance for positive expression.
Conclusion
2017 has seen a number of technical advances in UX that influence user behaviour when engaging with a digital product. And, in 2018 I see no let up with these experiences growing and integrating into our everyday lives. So now is the time to start thinking about some of these trends and how they might impact and benefit your digital marketing.
The original article can be viewed here.
