UX in 2021 (what to expect)

5 predicted UX trends for 2021

The close of 2020 saw different prediction spring up of possible design trends to be expected in 2021.

This articles looks at some of these trends and their possible applications.

P.S: This is my first time publishing an article, Incase it is shitty 😁, I promise it’ll get better.

Well let get to it;

1. AI, AR and VR

AI, AR and VR. Image from Artbees

It’s no surprise that we’re seeing them amongst the top trends for 2021. Although they had been around for a while, they gained popularity of use in 2020 due to the pandemic AR and VR especially. They went from just having entertainment based applications to finding use in businesses, travels, education, etc and we’re starting to see applications in way more industries. Real estates, fashion, finance have started getting their slice of the AR, VR and AI pie, with a few popular names already leading the way, incorporating these technology’s into their products further solidifying the proof that they’re here to stay and aren’t going anywhere soon. They would only get better from here on.

2. Better product copy

Product micro copy. Image from Adobe

The topic of content or copy has been a very diluted subject before now when it came to digital products. It can’t be emphasized enough that the heart of a product, especially digital products is its content, being able to clearly communicate a product to its user makes it easily understandable. Before now significant value wasn’t placed on content but that’s changing, as companies are now realizing the worth of good content, and roles are being opened for content specialized individuals, a job that would’ve been done before now by the UI/UX designer or product designer. With these roles opening up, it means better contents for products and lessened work load for designers, and in 2021, we expect to see products with superb content structure as well as even more content specialized roles springing up.

3. Macro interaction

Interaction in design. Image from Adobe

It’s no news that interactions make a product come alive and improves user experience throughout a product. Whether it is a simple transition between screens or feedbacks after performing an action, interactions gives a product that human feel and as predicted, we are going to see micro interactions becoming more macro. Anything from sudden page zoom, to layout reshuffle or any other interaction types out there should be expected. In as much as there’s much emphasis placed on the “less is more” approach of designing, this will be a welcome development so long as they are not intrusive and only responds when users perform actions that warrant them to respond.

4. Mobile first design

Designing for mobile. Image from UX Magazine

With super computers now handy and pea sized, (I’m talking about your smart phones📱), digital product designs may tend to switch from web first to mobile first. The conventional web first design that digital products currently follow, might begin to see a change, and accessibility will be the major driving factor for this change. Though portable, laptops are still limited to where they can be worked with, where as mobile phones can be used wherever whenever. This doesn’t mean products won’t have web designs, it just means that we might see more products prioritizing mobile first designs over web in their overall design process for that particular product.

5. Voice based experience

Google assistant. Image from Driod on Riods

The likes of amazon, google and Apple have long revolutionized how products interact with humans. Thanks to voice assistants, products can now communicate back to its user through speech. Alexa, Siri and Google assistant, have dominated this sphere for a while now, but newer products which leverage voice assistant technology are breaking into the market and it won’t be long before the market is saturated with voice based products. On the plus side this will help foster accessibility especially for the visually impaired but on the minus, taking into consideration the difference between building voiced based experience and visual based experience, if not done right, might render the product unfunctional.

In closing, the year is still young, and we can’t say what’s to come. New trends may emerge, others may fade out early and will be forgotten, but in all these predicted trends are ones to watch out for.

Let me know what you think in the comment section, which do you think will stand the test of time and which ones won’t.