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Trends in UX design in 2020: Data protection, AI, gesture control

User experience (UX) is the benchmark for the quality of a digital product. This user experience basically describes the experience that a user has when using software, a website or online content. The decisive factors thus far have been aspects such as benefits, aesthetics and stability. But the list goes on: especially in UX design, new developments are emerging as a result of the current online world. Read here to learn about the trends in UX design you should be prepared for.

December 2019

Data protection and opting out

Revised data protection regulations such as the GDPR in the EU, but also the increasingly stringent IT security situation have created an increased awareness among users of the value and protection of their data. It is therefore key for companies to increasingly integrate data protection aspects in their UX design. Transparency is particularly important here, as customers want to know what is happening with their data and who has access to it.

Device synchronization

Mobile first should now be standard for most companies when it comes to designing digital content. But the coming trend goes far beyond the mere optimization of content for smart phones. What users expect today is synchronization across all sorts of devices. Whether smart phone, smart watch or laptop, users expect to be able to simply switch between multiple types of devices. With Uber, for example, a journey can be started by voice command and ended with the help of a mobile application or a smart watch. User can therefore choose which application suits their usage scenario. This may sound logical, but it is anything but self-evident.

Less is more

Fewer bells and whistles, more clarity - UX design in 2020 will probably move further in this direction. After all, what online users lack these days is time. They don't want to invest their precious time navigating a confusing UX design, no matter how attractive it may be. More clarity is achieved when UX designers consider context-specific peculiarities of navigation patterns and implement time-saving design functions. The trend is towards cleaner and clearer layouts.

AI-based features

In recent years, AI technologies have found their way into mobile internet applications. The users most frequently use voice control and facial recognition. It can be assumed that both technologies will develop into the core application scenarios of AI and that further demand will arise. AI speech technologies are spreading rapidly and they are already gaining acceptance. More and more users are relying on voice interaction. The first technology companies are therefore already offering their own intelligent language assistants, have even switched to an audio AI interface, and bypass the touchscreen input.

Control by gesture

The devices of the new generation of smart phones are tending to get bigger and bigger. While manufacturers are investing in the size of the displays, they are saving on the (home) buttons. This applies to Apple as well as to Android devices. Gesture control could therefore become an important part of the devices in the future, which must also be taken into account in UX design. Google is currently pushing gesture control with its latest smart phone model, Pixel 4, which uses a radar sensor. "Motion Sense" is what Google calls this technology.

Develop for speed: 5G

Even if they are still not available in many countries, the networks of the future will be 5G. They will serve to improve data transmission speeds and latency. UX designers should therefore include these networks and their special features in their developments, because they enable more data exchange, which affects the design of functions and usage scenarios.

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