Every year, businesses must make decisions that could make or mar their efforts. These product design decisions are usually determined by controlling trends that are too important to ignore. These trends shape the culture of the day and how users relate and connect with existing products. In designing products for customers, there are trends to look out for that if sidelined, could negatively impact the outcome of your offering. In this post, we want to share with you some of the most important UI/UX trends to be cognizant of when designing digital products for your users in 2020 and hopefully beyond.
VIRTUAL REALITY/AUGMENTED REALITY
Virtual Reality is heavily used in game design creating a thrilling experience for users.
Augmented Reality (AR) is gaining huge popularity. This is the case as hardware and software become more and more accessible. Let us take the instance of wearable. Wearables provide the user with a greater sense of feeling and control.
The year 2020 could witness an increase in the adoption of AR. The brands search for ways to give consumers the convenience and the different sides or perspectives on their products and services.
Augmented Reality (AR) seeks to add digital elements to a live view, a good example is Pokemon Go. AR has found great use in mobile games, mostly relying on the smartphone’s camera. The AR/VR trend is growing fast, with a total of $5 billion AR revenue generated in 2014 alone and predicted to generate revenue of $70 to $75 billion by 2023. While this trend is seeing increasing usage among company products and with several startups springing up from this, VR is expected to accelerate this year.
GRADIENTS AND BACKGROUNDS
With this trend showing up on websites and apps, gradients are truly returning, and their effects are driving modern ui design in a wonderful way. With a special blend of colors uniquely used, the gradient effect adds life and vibrancy to flat design. This trend spiked in 2018, got popular in 2019 and seems not to slow down this year. Gradients are commonly seen in new app UIs and can be strikingly attractive. Designers now use bold gradients to make aspects of their projects standout instantly and companies are tilting towards this.
MULTI-PLATFORM INTEGRATION
Over the last few years, we all have got used to multiple screen sizes. We are also used to compatibility across devices. That’s a thing that cannot be taken away. In the year 2020, UX/UI will most likely be manifested to build solutions for voice-based interfaces, gaming consoles, automobile dashboards, interactive TVs, and other innovations and inventions yet to come over the already existing mobile, desktop and tablets. Till now, User Experience Design has been quite restricted to Natural User Interfaces. So, 2020 might witness a transition towards auditory interfaces. Voice User Interfaces (VUI), along with the rise of newer technologies in security services, will be the new thing. Tactile interfaces are going on the run, in finding use-cases in the healthcare industry for people of all age groups.
Nowadays it is way too hard and almost impossible to predict from what kind of platforms users might access a website or an app. There’s a growing number of smartphones, smart TVs and other smart devices. Hence, a need for multi-platform design is essential, especially if industries care about how many users access their applications. Yes, they obviously do.
Can you imagine accessing a desktop-only app from your mobile or mobile-only website from your smart TV?
VOICE UI
Voice UI has already gained huge popularity in many homes around the world. Amazon’s Alexa is an example. Well, maybe this year is more likely to see a bigger adoption rate.
In the year 2019, nearly 35% of households in the US, we’re equipped with at least one smart speaker. Statistics say that by 2025, this rate will increase to around say 75%. Towards the end of 2019, the trend started and Amazon immediately launched a range of TV commercials that motivated and inspired families with smart home devices.
Amazon’s way of depicting stories shows how actually the communities can come together, with the help of simple and accessible technology. In 2020, more firms will be likely to invest in a digital voice strategy, in order to target users of different generations.
3D INTERFACE DESIGN IS TAKING SHAPE
While 2D and faux 3D interfaces have been the trend these past two years, the tools for authoring 3D interfaces have become widespread. 3D interfaces are especially economical when it comes to using the same real estate for multiple purposes and this trend is promising to go big in 2020.
THE AGE OF MATERIAL DESIGN
Material design is Google’s design language that supports onscreen touch experiences through rich features and realistic motions that imitate real-world objects.
Through this design language, UX designers can employ 3D effects, realistic lighting, and animation to deliver first-class experiences that will grab users’ attention.
While the famous flat design has provided users with clean and minimalist pages that convert, the material design offers a three-dimensional setup that will make your pages and applications more interactive.
