Apps are dominating the way we interact with the world today. We use them for daily activities such as shopping, travelling, and meeting people as well as how enterprises function. That also means the market is saturated with new mobile phone applications and enterprise tools. That means it's more competitive than ever before. How can an app beat another one that offers similar services? Can anything be done to induce usage and drive up user acceptance? How much of a focus should be put into the user experience?
Here's where the importance of UX stands out. There are statistics to back this up, too. For example, mobile users are 5 times more likely to abandon a task if the website isn’t optimized for mobile. This is a basic aspect of design and pros are going to have to focus on the key trends that are going to lead the UX domain in the new year. Let's explore some of the hottest trends.
The Main UX and UI Trends for 2022
Virtual Reality Office Spaces
Companies like Facebook and Horizon have created ways to set up virtual meetings. That may very soon be a reality across businesses thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the continued acceptance of hybrid workplaces. VR and AR both are touted to be the best substitutes for real-life meetings and events. That includes training sessions and boardroom meets. Many companies intend to have VR and AR set up in their offices. These will substitute for real-life events and training sessions.
The advent of VR office spaces means that future offices will need to handle this equipment. They must be able to handle all the data as well. This will have to be a focus on the enterprise apps and tools the workplace depends on too. The entire experience has to be seamless so that meetings can take place uninterrupted and performance is unhindered. That way, each experience will be as good as the real deal. Although it's still in its beta stage, 2022 may be the year VR and AR take off in the world of the modern enterprise.
Biometric Authentication
The coming year may see biometric authentication becoming a key trend as people continue working from home and adopting a variety of devices of varying degrees of embedded security. That would enable a security-first approach for businesses and end-users. That would improve the user experience substantially. The main biometric authentication market is innovative and helps people avoid being impersonated. According to Statista, the US biometric market revenue in 2018 was 4.9 billion USD. This technology scans faces, eyes, voices, and even vein patterns. Businesses are particularly intrigued by the security that eye scans provide.
Google has been a pioneer in this domain. They've already added biometric sign-ins to some of their services, such as fingerprint recognition. This will be an interesting challenge for UX designers as they will have to implement different designs centred around PINs, unlock patterns, and more. Of course, these designs will have to be responsive as well.
Increased Popularity of Videos
Video content in its many forms is already dominating social media. From stories and short video clips to Reels and other visual formats – you can't escape it. It's one of the best ways to deliver vast amounts of information in a short time. According to one study, the video will comprise 80% of all internet traffic by next year. Video will start playing a more crucial role in enterprise training, user education, and marketing and communications. There are many types of videos as well, such as animations, real-life videos, and more. All of them use storytelling to deliver points across in an easy-to-consume way.
That will pose new challenges for UX pros as building applications that support videos is quite different. That is true for both the design aspect and for collecting video analytics so that app uses can analyze the effectiveness of their technologies.
Inclusive Design
The modern enterprise is now extremely conscious of the need to become more diverse, inclusive, and equitable. Even digital products need to be made accessible for those with special needs and impairments. Ensuring your design acknowledges diversity, and takes into account factors such as race, age, language, and more is called inclusive design. For example, creating emojis that include all races and gender identities. 2022 will see an increase in the demand for more inclusive design processes to boost user engagement and satisfaction.
This field isn't new but is now gaining popularity, especially since mobile adoption is reaching astonishing new heights across all social classes. Leaving this out of the list would be ignoring the potential in combining social justice with technology. History has proved the two go hand in hand.
Localization of UX and Content
The new year will have a strong focus on personalized and localized user experiences. That would allow users to customize their notifications, dashboards, and the other content they interact with. That would help identify the needed localization in UX for the different markets. For example, in most Western markets, the preferred login method is through email. But in Asian markets, there's a higher preference for logging in through mobile numbers.
In the new year, there will be new standards of doing business thanks to the ongoing trade barriers and wars. That will amplify the need for localizing UX and make that a more important requirement than before.
There will be many exciting developments in the new year, such as AR and VR entering B2B markets, accessibility in more sectors, and many more. There will also be a host of learning experiences from apps that started strong but fizzled out. With technological advancements powering the way forward, it's sure to be a dynamic year for UX. The question for product companies will be, do you have the skills available to build the UX your customers expect?