#1 Ethical Design
We all know it exists. Data mining, addictive design features, dark patterns. It’s no secret that the Facebooks of the world are using these techniques to keep users on their site. But thankfully this is all beginning to get exposed to the public, which is forcing companies to make some major changes.
Ethical design is becoming a top priority for UX designers and teams, so we must learn to familiarise ourselves with the ethical design standards. If not, we could face being under major public scrutiny, which no one really wants – not even Zuckerberg.
#2 White Space
We are seeing more and more websites with large white backgrounds, single columns of text and large images without borders – a trend which was in fact initiated by Medium. No longer do we see high-contrast websites with black backgrounds and colourful fonts. Less is more.
Simplistic design features are becoming a priority. Not only making content easy for users to read, but also reducing website loading times – all things which enhance the user experience.
2020 will see more sites incorporating stripped-down, mobile-style UI’s, whereby the focus will be less on visual design and more so on content and the user journey.
#3 Animated Illustrations
Illustrations have been a key player in the digital design world for quite some time. They are important in providing our products with a ‘human touch’, adding a natural feel to the user experience. Applying motion to our illustrations will help to grab the users attention, bring our products to life and make them stand out.
With the advancement in mobile performance and the introduction of 5G, motion graphics will no longer be a pain to load. Incorporating enjoyable illustrations will help our products to cut above the noise, adding a sense of personality to our product, giving the user a memorable experience.
#4 Dynamic Colour Schemes
Brands have become more liberal with their choice of colour and this is set to continue during 2020. We will see an increase in the number of dynamic colour schemes, whereby colours change based on environmental variables (time, location, weather), user behaviour (inactivity, clicking, scrolling) and personalised themes (light or dark).
Today’s digital environment requires more colour flexibility. As designers, we must begin to focus on pairing dynamic palettes with colour psychology to heighten the user experience.
#5 Rendering Intentionally
Adding new features to a product is relatively easy, but making sure we are solving the actual problem is not.
A product needs to do one thing well – this is what drives success. As products grow, we constantly want to deliver more, thus adding more features which become more sophisticated over time. This can become a real problem.
If we add so many different features to our products, often it is too late to go back. The increases in complexity will eventually take away from the products original value proposition, whereby the user experience decays. The end result is that the product has become a lot less meaningful for the user.
So it’s simple. We need to design our products in order to solve the user needs, not just to keep the developers busy! Incorporate a user-first approach and think about the impact of your work rather than the work itself.
At iNQ Digital, we create beautiful digital products that are a joy to use. Learn more about our design process here
Sources:
https://trends.uxdesign.cc
https://www.toptal.com/designers/ux/digital-design-trends-2020
https://www.toptal.com/designers/ux/digital-design-trends-2020
https://uxstudioteam.com/ux-blog/ui-trends-2019/
https://uxdesign.cc/8-ui-ux-design-trends-for-2020-68e37b0278f6
https://www.userzoom.com/blog/10-ux-design-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2020/