Top Mobile UX Trends on My Radar for 2023/4
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With 2021 almost over, it’s a perfect moment to explore what’s on the frontier of UX design trends for mobile.
- Regurgitated and reworded for your entertainment and pleasure by Moi
The rise of the superapps:
This trend originated in Asia. A notable example of such apps is Wechat; which combines a messenger, social media and mobile payment app into one. Superapps are essentially a multi-purpose app that are capable of performing many different tasks. Such apps strive to create ecosystems that cover all users needs so that users don’t have to switch to another app to solve their problems.
It’s a very challenging concept. Since the app offers many different functions, it’s essential to invest in good discoverability and in-app navigation.
Video interactions:
COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on our life; it has changed the way we work and communicate. Video conferencing software became one of the most in demand tools of 2020. And as we found out, it’s possible to do many things remotely without sacrificing efficiency.
And In 2021 and in the future, we will see more and more cases of video interactions integrated naturally into our daily routine. Telemedicine and video shopping will be the two most popular areas.
3D graphics with a functional purpose:
3D designs have been used in apps and websites for years, so you can hardly call it a novel design trend. However the role of 3D objects in design is changing - they serve a clear functional purpose. There is an opportunity to render 3D graphic design a central part of the mobile experience.
3D graphics first and foremost, should improve the efficiency of the interaction process and only then create a wow effect. The sector of e-commerce apps can particularly benefit from leveraging 3D graphics. 3D attracts attention and makes products look more appealing; it can allow, for example, designers to integrate a 360 view of a selected product.
Manipulation of information:
Users face manipulation of truth both on news websites and, especially, in social media. The content on social media can be misleading but presented in a very compelling way so you start to believe that it’s true. After all, not many people have time to research facts, especially when they’re on mobile.
Media platforms like Twitter, for example introduce algorithms that conduct content analysis and hide information that might be misleading.
Voice based design:
You’re right, I know. Voice-based AI assistant or conversation design, really? It’s sooooo last season.
Apple Siri, Google Now, Amazon Alexa are the big 3. Yet, most of them work more like voice-based shortcuts for common operations (i.e., “Alexa, what’s the weather” or “Siri, set the alarm to 8:00 am”), rather than powerful AI-based solutions
The ultimate goal is to create a technology that will be capable of solving complex problems (i.e., “Should I buy a house now?” or “What college should I select for my kids?”) and be user-friendly at the same time. The next-gen of AI assistant will have:Advanced personalization. The main goal of personalized design is to make the user feel that the content is created especially for them. Voice-based assistants will learn to understand who is interacting with them by analyzing voice and face.
Touchless interactions. Voice-first interfaces will help designers to reduce the number of steps a user has to take to reach the desired result.
User mood analysis. The next generation of AI assistants will understand user intention and analyze user speech to understand the current mood.
Cross-platform app optimization:
With the release of the M1 chip, Apple breaks the borders between desktop and mobile and opens a new chapter in cross-platform solutions. The fact that M1 is based on ARM technology allows us to run iOS apps on the macOS.
But what does it mean for product designers? It means that we can (and should) optimize iOS apps not only for mobile devices but also for a desktop experience. Why? Because it gives you access to a larger audience and allows you to create a seamless transition between platforms.Finally, users will decide what platform they want to use at each given moment.
Advanced data visualization:
Communicating information through visual representations is a great way to make data engaging and easy to understand. Data visualization can turn cold numbers into real stories, and stories can provoke emotion. It can be especially useful for the healthcare to the banking industry, helping us for example, better understand how we spend our money.
Product designers must remember however, that the purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures. Data visualization is a lot more than beautiful visuals; it’s about a thorough understanding of the target audience and their needs, and finding the best way to communicate valuable information to them.
Subtle neomorphic details:
Flat UI paired with minimalisms is the de facto industry standard. To create something fresh and unexpected, designers try new approaches in the attempt to go away from the Flat UI. One of the techniques popular in 2020 is neu-skeuomorphism (or neomorphism). This visual style uses design elements and textures that mimic the physical world. Neomorphism has one key difference from skeuomorphism: designers who apply neomorphism mimic the physical world for purely aesthetic purposes.
Similar to skeuomorphism, neomorphism makes it difficult to scale a design. So it’s better to avoid creating full-neomorph UIs.
However, it’s important for product designers to know that it’s possible to introduce subtle neomorphic details such as icons or pseudo-3D-buttons in design. By doing that, you can add “human touch” to the overall UX of your products and make products stand out from the crowd.
Next-gen of augmented reality apps:
Facebook has unveiled its long awaited smart glasses in partnership with giant sunglass corporation, Luxottica under Ray-Ban, entering a nascent wearables market with a focus on capturing photos rather than augmented reality. The Luxottica partnership would help accommodate an array of styles and preferences that people might have for the devices. The Facebook glasses allow users to take photos and video, to listen to music and to answer phone calls. While they lack AR, the technology that overlays digital content on the physical world, Facebook says it eventually plans to embed that functionality.
In addition, Apple is rumored to have a secret team of hundreds of employees working on augmented reality projects.
These are clear indicators that the industry is moving towards AR glasses and will invest heavily in AR technologies. And the best platform to pilot the AR tech is well, mobile.
Data security and privacy:
Many users are concerned about trust and privacy. It is well known that large IT giants are profiling our activities. Most of us being in a situation when we browse for something on the web, for the next few weeks we see advertisements, mimicking our browser history. In addition, massive data leaks have made users reluctant to share their personal data.
Industry leaders aim to find a solution to some of these problems. For example, registration and log-in processes are steps in the user flow, where we typically share our personal data. In 2020 Apple introduced Sign in with Apple feature, a private way to sign into apps and websites. Displaying a Sign in with Apple button in your app or website means that people can sign in/up with just a tap using their Apple ID. In cases where you choose to ask for a name and email address, people have the option to share a unique, random email address that automatically relays messages to their personal email address.
Also, Apple have updated the App Store to include a new badge that shows what data linked to your identity the app collects.
