It’s that time of year when trend reports start popping up like mushrooms after a storm – and as a design studio that wants to stay on the cutting edge, we can’t help but pick them up, inspect them, and figure out if they’re the real deal… or not.
Let us help you cut through the mire and explore the top 3 UX/UI trends that will matter for you and your business in 2023. Let’s dive in.
UX/UI Trend #1: Enter the second reality
Arguably, people have lived parallel lives in the digital medium for a long time – so you might question why people are saying that the world is now moving towards living online. The proliferation of VR chat during COVID, Meta’s impact on the culture, and rise of digital experiences that merge the physical and digital have all played a role in this changing tide which seems to wash us all up on the shore of living our lives (mostly) online.
With more applications of AR/VR technology being developed as we speak, these solutions are likely to become more widespread and accessible in the near future. And this will, of course, have a huge impact on what users will come to expect and demand from all digital experiences. Some considerations to take into account before you jump onto the trend are:
- Is there a need for you to make your users’ experience more immersive?
- Are there ways of achieving this effect through design that don’t require AR/VR?
- Will adding AR/VR enhance your user’s experience, or over complicate it?
UX/UI Trend #2: Cross-device UX
You know the pain of having something on your phone that you can’t easily send to your laptop – or copying some element in one app that you can’t easily paste in another. Although in the past they were seen as something that came down to the limitations of technology, these little points of friction are now being attributed to service providers – because many platforms have now removed them.
Services such as Spotify or Canva are designing their experience with cross-device user behavior in mind – meaning that their users are now able to engage with their product from several devices throughout their journey, or even at one time. You can play music on your laptop and change the volume from your phone. You can edit the fine details of a design on your phone and finish it up on your laptop.
This new trend requires a well-seasoned and well-versed set of UX/UI designers (like us!), as they need to understand a user journey through varied mediums and devices, with the unique requirements that each brings.
UX/UI Trend #3: Neo-Brutalism
Unfinished. Plain. Raw. No – it’s not Gordon Ramsay’s review of the chicken you cooked for lunch, but a new design style that is taking the internet by storm. Neo-brutalist web design is centered on functionality rather than form, on ease of use rather than beauty. It’s also got a tinge of nostalgia, and the less polished visuals of the past: default fonts, gradients, and high contrast. Think of what websites looked like in the 90s – that’s exactly what neo-brutalism tends towards.
As customer-centric fanatics, we’re all for it – it makes the UX seamless, keeps the UI simple, and is all about creating the most frictionless experience for the user. We love it especially as neo-brutalism still ends up looking beautiful in its own way, through its simple and minimalist aesthetic.
Design your way into a successful 2023.
At Oak Theory, we believe that diversity fosters creativity and accelerates innovation. In design, centering diverse perspectives means that we think from the user’s seat and ultimately create a better experience for them.
As a dedicated design studio, we leverage our different perspectives, experiences and backgrounds to push the boundaries of design – in 2023 and beyond. If you’d like to benefit from our 20+ years of combined experience, then please reach out to us here. We’d love to talk.
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