It is coming to the end of 2017! It marks that I’ve been a product designer working in silicon valley for about two years. It’s definitely a short time in my career as to many other talented designers in the bay area, yet I have some thoughts on the UX trends that may have a continuing impact on our work in 2018. So, why not share them with other creative minds on this planet? 💡📝
Clean interfaces
The release of iOS 11 this year revealed a noticeable UI update on those bold, clean navigation bars. This visual language emphasizes the top priority of the information on the interface — content comes first. Content-first interfaces reduce distractions and make users laser-focused on the information contained in those interfaces. It also accelerates user interactions in linear flows of completing tasks.
Facebook Stories in both Facebook App and Messenger App occupies the top space on the front page to allow users take photos and record videos and share with other friends instantly.
The same concept drives changes in mobile designs like Instagram, Facebook Local, Yelp, etc. The most outstanding benefit of content-first designs is users would never be overwhelmed by given too many options (like Craigslist front page), users will be more confident navigating through multiple screens accomplishing what they intend to do.
Data-driven designs
Another big change that I have seen in 2017 is that design decisions are more driven by user data rather than typical stakeholders from design review meetings.
Data tracking analytics platforms like Tableau Online, Mixpanel, and Periscope help designers understand the products we design from users’ perspective and form more comprehensive thoughts for design improvements.
User data can break down user behaviors to a micro-level and analyze how users behave navigating through certain use flows. Reading these data help designers find out quickly where our users get confused and come up with right design solutions.
I don’t have a data science background, but I found myself mesmerized by how amazing data can be utilized in driving decision-making in the design process. Here is an example of how I used Mixpanel user data to help me design the layout of a screen.
VUI interactions
VUI (Voice user interface) has been a buzzword for the whole year. I have heard many times that voice interaction will become the next dominant user interaction comparing to web-based and mobile-based interactions. I’m neutral before expressing an opinion on it, but I see VUI is adding a rich and dynamic dimension to screen-based interactions.
For example, VUI products like Amazon Echo or Google Home Mini can be seen as stand-alone products that are primary voice-driven, but they are also peripheral devices that consistently behave as entry points for driving other applications on Amazon or Google.
On the other way around, I think web and mobile products can really leverage voice command as an assisting feature to help users navigating, searching or booking.
Summary: Stay tuned
There are other trends I want to add to the article but I figured that I should cut things short to highlight the most important ones. As designers, we always need to keep our eyes open to sense new things, try new tools and contextualize new ideas. If you have any ideas and thoughts on this article, please don’t hesitate to put it down here. Conversations keep our life moving forward! 🛫
