User Experience is Changing

 

Unlike older generations, that are not really so good with technology, Generation Y has grown up with the power of the Internet at their fingertips, expecting simplicity and instant gratification with every interaction.  As a result, companies have realized that the user experience (UX) is one of the most rapidly developing areas in the modern age. 

 

We should still give Generation X credit, because they adapt very well to fast moving technology. They use emoji’s while chatting, and make video calls with us. According to recent research, brands realize these developments and care about user experience just as much, or more than sales and pricing. Research shows that this subject is the most important factor to increase profit and brand loyalty. And where are these improvements going now? How far can they go?

 

In the past few years, we’ve come to understand the importance of UX design in digital marketing. Its aim is providing a simple, fast and problem-free experience for the users. A successful UX design requires caring about the customer first, knowing them very well and creating consistency; it also brings huge profit to the brand, at the same time trying to break down barriers.

 

There are many examples of high quality UX. Take for example loyalty programs. They are ubiquitous now. The key point is keeping users on the platform as long as possible, strengthening their connection to the brand. It also brings benefits for the users, awarding bonus points just to sign up for a site, even before buying the product or service. We get rewarded in online competitions, which also increases loyalty. 

 

Improvements in mobile payment systems are another important element of UX.  As a result, we can pay by credit card in a fast and easy way. It will end the ‘I don’t have cash now’ problem completely. These systems also keep information about the users and give them a chance to re-use the service, which was a problem in early attempts at UX design. 

 

The Stripe application is one good example of a mobile payment system. In the last few years, it has seen success because it lets users customize the app according to their needs. It can also be integrated with many other apps. This is one of many companies now focusing on UX, so these techniques very commonplace today. 

 

What’s coming next? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one area that is sure to have a huge impact on our daily lives in the coming years.  AI will play a huge role in digital marketing, where machines are able to perform tasks that used to require human intervention. The main point of using AI is creating a “human-less” UX. 

 

We all know that smart watches or voice control devices are not so exciting anymore. We want more and it seems like we are close to getting what we want. We know from different sources that Amazon is experimenting with human-less stores. You can imagine going to a store, with no shop assistants. The application on your phone will manage your cart and you will be able to leave the store without waiting to pay. 

 

The app will do everything for you, including payment before you leave the store. We can give lots of examples on this topic. It is possible we will see this implementation in restaurants or in markets soon. There is no doubt that other big companies will follow Amazon in this human-less UX topic.

 

It seems like in the not so distant future, we will see much more in human-less user experience. UX design will be based on our thoughts, rather than our physical movements. Try to imagine shopping, ordering or paying bills, only by thinking about it in your mind. It doesn’t sound bad at all. We will not even need voice commands because we will send signals from our brain to the devices via the Internet. It is actually being studied nowadays. It seem futuristic today that technological devices will be able to perceive, learn and do whatever we think, but it is happening now, although it’s still in the early stages.

 

In conclusion, human-less UX will most certainly be the next “big thing”. On one hand, these developments will be very helpful in making our personal and business lives much easier. On the other, there will be negative reactions as a result of the fact that it will eliminate some jobs, and reduce the number of human interactions. There is one thing to do: we will wait and see what happens next. And of course, we will follow the developments closely and let you know, too.

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