UX Design Trends in 2018

Did you know that a whopping 79% of individuals abandon a particular site if they don’t like the content? Also, with marketers placing utmost importance to content, it is only imperative that design layouts, both mobile and desktop incorporate the content experience as a crucial factor of UX design.

If you are planning to create a website with unique design ideas and are letting customers be effective with their time on the site, then UX will emerge as the key success driver.

Here’s a quick look at the eight major design trends that will rule the world in 2018!

8 UX Design Trends to look out for in 2018

Building an exciting website in 2018 can be tough if you don’t know the latest trends on board. The following pointers will surely help you create a stunning, unique, and fully functional website:

• Use the power of  ‘negative space’ for Content Experiences

Minimalist design is the most widely accepted design trend and the whole purpose is to remove distractions and help the reader focus on the main thing – Content.

Negative space also known as white space is a crucial aspect while designing a web page. It offers room for creativity and also acts as the breathing space for the important elements in your website. This white space design also helps readers to navigate easily on the website without creating any visual obstacles.

However, the concept of ‘white space’ isn’t new. Crucial changes in reading habits have compelled  UX designers to incorporate this particular element. Open layouts and white space will increase readers’ focus, and it greatly improves the user experience.

The best example of using white space for a content centered experience is Medium – the single and utmost focus is to enable readers read long form blog posts without any visual distractions.

• Conversational bots

Facebook popularized Chat Bots to a great extent. The messenger app helped numerous individuals create operational bots, and the number has increased significantly. The initial figures were 30,000 and that has gone up to a whopping 100,000 today. With some of the leading companies embracing the idea of Chat Bots, effective marketing communications and customer service has become easier than ever!

Some brands have also seen a spike in orders because of the ease and convenience of conversational bots. Hence, it is safe to assume that 2018 shall see more of such interactive design features on their websites.

• Omnichannel UX

It is time we change focus from a mobile-first design. The number of connected devices are increasing and especially with Internet of Things (IoT) gaining more popularity, it is just natural that designers thing of an omnichannle user experience now. Today’s users are more goal oriented and are more concerned with completion of that goal irrespective of the devices they interact with.

While creating an omnichannel UX, a designer should be mindful of creating a seamless flow of user journey and make it easy for a customer to transit from one device to another without any hiccups in the user experience.

• Moving closer to Virtual Reality

Although there’s a lot to improve, VR will still make significant impacts this year. Companies will incorporate VR strategies while showcasing products. Also, designing gestures for a VR environment that are similar to the natural environment will bey a key focus to help the VR market grow. More and more brands are opting VR technology for their marketing strategies only to create a different ‘user experience’.

Hence, VR is definitely going to be a subset of the greater picture of UX design in 2018.

• Micro-interactions are common

If you wish to accomplish or complete a single-dimensional task, micro interactions will give you the perfect opportunity to do so. Here are some of the use cases of micro interactions:

• Feedback communication or the consequence of a particular action
• Accomplishing individual and isolated tasks, connecting one post to the other
• Manipulation of a particular setting
• Prevention of user error

The flexibility to add reactions to a particular post on Facebook is the greatest example of Micro-interactions.

• Voice User Interfaces

Technology is constantly evolving to make daily tasks of human life easy and 2018 is definitely the year where Voice User Interfaces (VUIs) are going to gain more popularity. Design is bound to slowly move focus from clicks on websites to screenless experiences.

We already have a range of VUIs such as Siri for Apple, OK Google for Google, Alex for Amazon and Cortana for Microsoft, and a Gartner survey also suggests that 30% of our interactions with technology will happen in a more conversational style.

Hence, designing fro VUIs is going to gain momentum in 2018 however there is still time for this technology to mature and replace graphic user interfaces as these AI systems still need to become more efficient at understanding ‘how’ people talk about topics and the conversational flows.

• Card-based designs are going a long way

Web designers and marketers are quite familiar with the ‘card-style’ design. The trend isn’t new and will continue to rule the design world. With Google implementing it into the material design, the trend seems to have a bright future.

The card design layout helps to showcase a lot of content in a clutter-free way on smaller screens. Also, the card layout helps to maintain design consistency across different devices such as mobiles, desktop and tablets.

A good example of the card-based design is again Medium where tons of content is displayed in a neat layout and it also makes it easier for the user to find what he is looking for click.

• Smart and Personalized designs

Brands are moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a creating custom tailor-made experiences for each individual user. Also, with advancements in AI and Machine Learning, today companies have enough and ample data about user behavior, buying patters, interests etc.

Design also will now cater towards creating more personalized user experiences to enhance interactions with the brand. This is bound to take personalization and brand experience to the next level.

Conclusion

We looked at some of the key UX design trends that are going to take dominate 2018, but like they say, trends come and go, but what matters is that we continue to design and build products that touch people’s life. If you think there is an upcoming design trend that needs attention, let us know 🙂

2017 – The Year Of UX

UX Design has totally revolutionized the arena of businesses worldwide. It has enabled business owners to shift the focus away from selling goods or services, and rather focus on selling experiences to the customer. With its growing influence, the field of UX design too is expanding rapidly.

For those who want to know what is in store for 2017 and 2018, here is a quick compilation of the UX design trends that will continue to be popular in 2017 and 2018:

1 – Platform independent UX

As we increasingly move to cross-platform solutions, we are looking to deliver a richer cross-platform experience to users. Be it responsive design to cater to different screen sizes, or fading online-offline channels for generating e-commerce sales, the entire world is now looking to have a contextual yet platform-agnostic user experience to be delivered to customers.

2 – Better personalization

Gone are the days of batch mailing and hoping for great conversions. Today it is all about personalization of the marketing messages after considering the views and opinions of users. For this, marketers will need to reach far and wide and sift through multiple sources of unstructured and structured data like diverse social media feeds.

3 – Move away from general UX

The scope of specialization within the UX domain is fast gaining momentum. As a result, we will see domain-specific UX design expertise emerging for sectors like Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and within industry verticals like healthcare.

4 – Performance tracking beyond the interface

Traditional metrics like bounce rate, page visit, etc. will hold lesser prominence as performance indicators. Instead, there will be more emphasis on how well an experience was delivered to a customer.  Take the case of Snapchat Spectacles. The accessory is great for Snapchat users to interact with the platform without the use of a phone. This merging of an intuitive experience around the way a customer uses a product denotes the overall experience delivered to the Snapchat user.

5 – Merging UX into the employee workflow

A visionary management will seek to integrate UX as a management practice rather than an alienated concept in 2017 and 2018. In this, the management will employ UX and put themselves into the shoes of the employee. This will allow them to know what triggers, incentives, or limitations an employee faces at each stage of a user journey – right from suggesting an idea, to implementing it, and then seeing what happens when they fail. This UX integration will be a great motivation boost for employees to bring out their innovative steak into routine work. This trend of enabling UX design for employees is expected to gain traction in 2017 and 2018.

As evident, the forward- looking trends will play a greater role in helping businesses stay ahead competitively in a crowded digital landscape. Make sure to employ these trends into your next UX design project and enable the much needed competitive edge to your clients.

UX Is The Key

The future might not be predictable, but we can at least guess what’s waiting for us. Tech innovations have revamped and revolutionized numerous sectors. It goes without saying that it will continue to do so for years to come. As of now, three crucial ideas and concepts seem to rule the design arena. User Experience, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality has emerged as the three pillars of innovative designing. Before delving deep into the nuances of this topic, it’s high time to understand the true connotation of User Experience!

What’s UX and how it affects site designs?

Whether you build an official website or a highly scalable app, the entire design process should be user-centric. It’s your users who determine the usability, experience, and functionality of your site or application. Smooth and hassle-free navigation is the key to ensuring that. Whenever a user operates on a particular site, he will surely wish to have unsurpassed experiences. If your website fails to offer the desired experience, users won’t take much time to abandon it.

Integrating UX into the future ‘reality

With tech advancements getting the better each day, the implementation of AR and VR strategies seem to be a common affair. Designers across the globe are taking up the challenge, thus thinking out-of-the-box and creating unique design experiences. Here’s how UX is dominating Virtual and Augmented Reality!

1 – Mobile app development

While creating mobile apps, designing will surely emerge as a crucial task. It’s here that most of the designers are leveraging AR and VR to create exceptional User Experience. These concepts and innovations seem to be interdependent where VR and AR technologies are helping designers create real-world experiences

2 – Immersive experience

Gone are the days when one-dimensional and uncomplicated designs used to work. The current scenario has a different story to narrate. Users are always looking for something different, and that’s where immersive experiences play the vital role. There’s been a paradigm shift, where UX determines the performance or appeal of an AR or VR device.

3 – Developing the design ecosystem

Virtual Reality devices such as the Oculus Rift is no less than innovation. By offering real-world, virtual experiences to users, this particular device creates an entirely new world of reality. It’s right here that UX emerges as a determining factor. If you are planning to create stunning designs for the next VR or AR application, it’s none other than UX helping you out.

4 – Action automation

Present-day AR and VR devices run on user-centric technologies. Personal interactions seem to be of paramount significance, and it’s a lot about how users interact with a particular app or game. UX can help designers automate actions on a VR or AR app. As a result, users will have the opportunity to share personal experiences.

5 – Intuitive and Interactive

Last, but certainly not the least, UX designing brings along the element of intuitiveness and interactive behavior. While developing an AR or VR application, these things seem to be highly imperative.

Signing off

At the end of this article, you will surely come to know how AR and VR draw influences from user experience designs.

UX Interview Tips

If you are planning to land your dream job as a proficient UX designer, you will have to crack the interviews perfectly. Irrespective of the company, job role, or brand you are about to associate with, interviews will be integral parts of the recruitment process. You have to get it right as that is the key to bagging your desired job role!

What makes UX so important?

The User Experience Design lays the foundation for the entire design process. Whether it’s a landing page, site, or high-end apps, UX designs will always play the pivotal role. At least, that’s what we see when we take a look at the crucial stats. Nearly 88% of digital customers refuse to return to a website if they have poor browsing experiences. That defines the significance of UX and why you need to get it right.

Questions to note

If we refer to comments, suggestions, and experiences shared by prolific UX designers, it would be clear that User Experience Design is crucial for website appearance. Here’s a small discussion on the five questions that’ll be faced by every aspiring designer out there!

1.     What is UX design?

Although it might sound a bit childish, this is the first question you will be asked. Try to delve deep into the nuances and answer this question categorically.

Recruiters wish to know: Recruiters want to know whether you are capable of crafting a compelling story and translating it into practical designs. They want to check your interpretation of UX design process.

2.     What process do you follow?

Try to devise effective strategies and keep a ‘go-to’ process handy. You can also demonstrate examples if that helps you.

Recruiters want to know: Some of the budding designers are coming up with innovative techniques while some of them still follow traditional ideas and strategies. Your recruiters want to know the process followed by you, as that will help them check whether it aligns with their objectives.

3.     Who are your associates?

While preparing to face an interview, you should develop ideas of the basic points. As a candidate or applicant, you should have the capability to comprehend the needs and ideas of your associates.

Recruiters want to know: Employers would want to know whether you have the desired experience to work with engineers, fellow designers, and project managers.

4.     Which sites and apps do you like?

Prepare a list of the applications, programs, and sites you love. It will reflect your ideas as well as expertise in UX designing.

Recruiters want to know: They simply wish to know what you are good at, which are the designs that interest you, and the kind of work done by you!

5.     Do you have samples?

Since you are applying for the job of a UX designer, it’s imperative to note the crucial aspects associated with it. Carry your work samples, if you have already worked on some projects.

Recruiters wish to know: They want to check and analyze your knowledge of information architecture, usability, and UI.

Final tips

Keep in mind that professional interviews are bi-directional processes. Just as the interviewer has the liberty to ask questions, you should also clear your doubts while answering them.