According to Ecosense Lighting’s UX Designer Jean Kim, “With the rise of products like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, the user’s experience no longer begins once they open an app, but from the moment they walk into their home.”
To Kim, good UX means baking a seamless experience into product features so that the user won’t be frustrated figuring out the controls.
As products become more technically complicated on the back-end, it’s part of a UX designer’s job to ensure that products are easy and engaging to use for the user. For example, AppOnboard’s no-code software Buildbox allows users to create mobile apps and games without any programming experience.
We asked three design leaders to tell us which major industry trends they’re watching in 2020. They shared what technologies they’re excited about and how they’ll be incorporating them into their products and features. A couple themes to look out for? Machine learning isn't going anywhere and augmented reality will appear in more UX.
After lighting hotel lobbies, five-star restaurants and Parisian showrooms, EcoSense Lighting proves that beautiful lighting can also save energy by using LEDs. Jean Kim, UX designer, said that removing the “technology barrier” from its lightning system (i.e. an overwhelming control system) elevates the user experience.
What UX design trends are you watching in the year ahead and why do you think these trends will be important?
UX stands at a crossroads in 2020. Although traditional concepts of users interfacing through a screen may still be a default, new concepts using AR, VR, gesture and audible interaction are becoming more prominent. Samsung has recently upended the entire idea of needing a translation interface with its Neon AI.
The most immediate UX trends for 2020 that we see for connected devices and smart technology is the move toward voice and motion-enabled controls that don’t require touch. With the rise of products like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, the user’s experience no longer begins once they open an app, but from the moment they walk into their home.
New technology in lighting has created a wide menu of options for control.”
How do you plan to incorporate these UX trends into the products/features your team is building in 2020?
We are creating products that incorporate interaction between the light and the human experience within their physical surroundings with an intermediary control experience that strives to be almost invisible and forgotten by the user in order to direct all attention toward their experience of the light.
New technology in lighting has created a wide menu of options for control that can overwhelm new users. By incorporating more natural interactions we intend to remove the “technology barrier” and give users better access to the capabilities of their lights.
Not everyone has the time to master programming, but that shouldn’t stop them from using software to build their businesses. Vice President of Creative Doug Manson said he expects to see more companies build no-code software like AppOnboard’s Buildbox, which allows users to easily design mobile apps and games.
What UX design trends are you watching in the year ahead and why do you think these trends will be important?
Currently, within the Buildbox software, we are driving toward this by leveraging one of our newest features, Brainboxes.
Brainboxes are plug-and-play components that a user can add to an object that has predetermined animations and logic. This allows users to quickly and easily create game interactions based on the most common user settings. Heading into 2020, we will be working on adding more predetermined logic into other areas such as physics settings.
As platforms become more personalized and tuned to the individual user, I think we will also see a trend toward human design. More organic shapes, illustrations and empty space coupled with a more conversational and informal tone in messaging will create a friendly approach.
Finally, the shift toward no-code software. With Buildbox and AppOnboard software being part of this movement, I will be watching how others in the no-code space are making design more accessible and inclusive to general audiences. Optimizing UX/UI for people who are not coming from a traditional design background and might be unfamiliar with typical design programs and techniques is hypercritical.
As platforms become more personalized, I think we will also see a trend toward human design.”
How do you plan to incorporate these UX trends into the products/features your team is building in 2020?
You will start to see us refer to technical terms in more layman's terms throughout the software. These terms will be more relatable to the everyday person, who might not know the differences between kinematic and dynamic physics. Another place you will see us doubling down will be with our Game Wizard.
The Game Wizard guides users through setting up their initial game template and walking them through fundamental key points of complex game mechanics in a simple format. This is especially useful for users who are new to building games.
Weavy’s white-label framework allows developers to contextually embed team collaboration, like Google Docs and secure file-sharing, into an app to boost productivity. CTO Linus Birgerstam predicts contextual UX to be a big trend for 2020.
What UX design trends are you watching in the year ahead and why do you think these trends will be important?
I believe there’s an ongoing trend around taking contextual UX beyond bringing data and functionality to mobile devices. Contextual UX in 2020 is about bringing any functionality to anywhere. Truly contextual UX will merge all underlying functionality into any other platform and the user will not feel the difference between the two.
Contextual UX in 2020 is about bringing any functionality to anywhere.”
How do you plan to incorporate these UX trends into the products/features your team is building in 2020?
Weavy is a white-label collaboration framework that we have built around contextual UX from the start. In 2020, we will focus on saving developers a lot of time by adding our framework to their apps.
