6 UX Design Trends to expect in 2023

User Experience (UX) Design is an ever-changing profession.

Since its rise in 1993, UX Design has evolved to increasingly meet the needs of users. In the last ten years, UX design tactics have become more data-driven than ever before, and that's thanks in large part to the ubiquity of mobile devices across the world population. This subsequent treasure trove of consumer data has enabled UX designers to create a more personalised customer experience.

With a rise in big data, technological innovators are pushing the boundaries of what we thought was possible with the future of technology. For instance, artificially intelligent robots such as 'Ameca' are becoming increasingly lifelike year after year.

Ameca (on the left) is the world's most advanced artificially intelligent, human-shaped robot

Credit: Arabian Business

This Blog will highlight the top emerging UX, UI and Product Design Trends that may be seen in 2023.

1. Virtual and Augmented Reality (Extended Reality):

It has been a turbulent year for extended reality (XR), with much of the headlines focusing on Mark Zuckerberg's vision of the 'Metaverse'.

What is the 'Metaverse'?

It is where the physical and digital worlds come together. The Metaverse is a space where digital representations of people (aka avatars) interact in different virtual environments, such as a digital workplace and a digital club via the internet.

The concept itself is not new, with it first being described in the 1992 novel Snow Crash written by Neal Stephenson. More recently, we have seen Steven Spielberg's film 'Ready Player One' set in 2045, where people escape the problems plaguing planet earth in a virtual world called The Oasis. Users access this digital world using a virtual reality headset and haptic gloves that enable them to grasp and touch objects in a digital environment.

In 2023, we are unlikely to see a Metaverse that reflects anything like Stephenson's or Spielberg's predictions. However, we are likely to see multiple new headsets coming to the markets with better optics, screens and processors.

As designers, we need to consider how users will interact with VR and AR products. For example:

• How immersive should these products be?

• How do we prevent accidents by ensuring users stay aware of their physical surroundings when using VR headsets?

• What ergonomic and health considerations will UX designers need to take to when designing mixed-reality solutions that can be used throughout the day?

2. AI-based User Experience Design:

Machine learning and AI technologies are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, meaning it is likely that we will see an increasing number of AI-based user experience (UX) design tools that will permit companies to create more effective websites and apps. As of November 2022, most UX design tools (such as Figma and Adobe XD) focus on visual design and creating user flows. However, UX tools that are AI-enabled will allow designers to save time and focus more on ensuring design elements seamlessly work together. For instance, tools as simple as remove.bg enable designers to remove the background without having to use a photo editing tool, such as Adobe Photoshop, thus saving time.

By saving time and thus being able to delegate UX tasks more effectively, designers and researchers should have more opportunities to iterate on their designs. This will result in more user feedback and data to inform technologies catered specifically to the needs of users.

3. Mobile First Design and Context First Design

Increasingly, people are predominantly using their smartphones instead of their desktops to access websites. As such, designers are first designing their website for a mobile device and then building the same functionality for their desktop users. Hence the term: Mobile first design.

This shift has resulted in organisations utilising responsive design principles which enable users to access content across multiple device resolutions. With the rise of extended reality (XR), many UX designers predict that businesses are soon to go one step further and focus on context-first design. This will provide the optimal user experience, irrespective of the device being used. For example, designers of smart glasses need to consider how best to augment images onto a user's display depending on their location, whether that be in a park or in a bedroom.

4. More Micro-Interactions

With an often over-saturated app and website market, UX designers are having to consider the most micro of interactions to stand out from the rest of their competitors. Examples of these include pull-to-refresh animations that refer to the visual feedback a user receives when refreshing a webpage or a mobile app.

These interactions can be a great way to make the user experience more seamless and intuitive and have the power to reduce the risk of a user becoming frustrated with a bad user interface (UI) design.

Research suggests that effective micro-interactions build user retention and can keep users engaged for more sustained periods of time as they receive constant gratification from their actions. So, when designing your next website or app, empathise with your users and consider subtle ways of making your design more intuitive and less hassle.

5. Increased emphasis on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses were forced to move online. This has made SEO more important than ever, as there are now more businesses that operate online.

The most used search engine online is, of course, Google which provides web pages that best suit the key words entered by the user. In 2023, Google's webpage ranking system will be more UX-based, with Google ranking websites that provide a good user experience more highly. This is because Google has begun to incorporate many user testing metrics into its algorithm such as interactivity, loading times and visual stability.

Therefore, web designers and UX designers need to continue to work together to ensure their company's website is as user-friendly as possible to rank highly within Googles search engine.

6. Accessible/Inclusive Design

With digital products becoming seamless with the human experience, there's growing importance, demand and opportunity for organisations to adopt accessibility. As such, individuals with both physical and mental disabilities need to actively be part of the design process to ensure their needs are met.

Naively, big businesses often believe that to address the needs of people with disabilities, they have to water-down their concepts. The opposite is actually true, as accessibility regulations require a higher level of rigour and clarity in navigation which produces more effective and intuitive products. This results in better products for all users which is captured in a quote by American business magnate Steve Ballmer:

I personally experienced the benefits of inclusive design during my research project as a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) master's student. Namely, I attempted to identify the needs and requirements of physically disabled users of Location Based Games (LBGs). In doing so, we (myself and my participants) were able to create and design ways of making LBGs more accessible. For instance, we designed a messenger system that would allow all LBG users to better communicate with one another when completing in-game tasks.

Concluding Remarks

Keeping up with the latest trends can take your design to the next level and will enable you to stay at the forefront of the UX industry.

I have only touched upon six expected design trends of 2023 when in reality there are many more. Regardless, I hope the trends I have discussed inspire you to create wonderful products that place the user at the centre of the design process.