Technological Development and Its Impact on User Experience
As I have previously written, technological development has always been and will continue to be a driving force behind many changes. It initiates new habits, behaviors, and needs. In the provided article, I also outlined how motion recognition technology and the development of connected devices impact today’s reality. Therefore, today I would like to discuss additional technological trends, their significant importance, and their influence on the work of User Experience Researchers. So, let’s get started!
Augmented Reality
AR is currently one of the most rapidly evolving technological trends. It allows us to expand our existing perception and enrich our surroundings with valuable information. It can warn us of danger or provide real-time directions, ensuring we never accidentally turn into the wrong street again. Augmented reality is much more than just Pokémon GO. It is primarily about usefulness. For example, IKEA has introduced an application that allows you to place the furniture you’re interested in in your room before purchasing it. This way, you can not only design the interior but also practically see if you still have enough space to move around in it. I probably don’t need to mention Snapchat or Messenger, as many of us have, out of curiosity, put a dog’s face on their own. Instead of a guidebook in hand, you have a smartphone that directly displays information about a particular monument, such as a short animated film. Furthermore, there are already many shopping apps that allow you to try on clothes without leaving your home — quite practical!
UX researchers and designers will need to delve into what makes these experiences not only exciting and fun but also useful. With the development of AR-based games and educational applications, UX designers will conduct more research involving children, analyzing their thinking, learning, and perception of the world. For UX/UI designers, creating low-fidelity prototypes will no longer be reasonable, as only high-fidelity mock-ups for these applications will facilitate the research process. This will require better animation skills, using motion technology prototyping tools. From the user’s perspective, AR and VR need to be further improved to make life more comfortable and easier.
Cloud Computing
The evolution of cloud computing has led to the emergence of serverless computing. By adopting this model, companies can apply a “pay-as-you-go” payment structure. These plans are more flexible and allow organizations to have greater control over cloud hosting expenses. In short, this allows both users and businesses to run software without installing it, ensuring stability and security. Cloud computing eliminates the need for purchasing and maintaining hardware, providing access to content from virtually anywhere. Employees can now fully work from home! This makes running a company more cost-effective and does not require extensive technical knowledge. Furthermore, cloud products are designed for businesses of all sizes. This is an advantage for UX designers who choose to work from home and collaborate with multifunctional teams of programmers. I probably don’t need to add how much this technology has developed during the pandemic. Companies in this field have experienced a significant increase in resource consumption and interest. Remote work has become a daily reality for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
However, how does this affect UX research? In the case of traditional desktop applications, all the computing power and data used to be on the user’s device. Thanks to cloud computing, your friends and colleagues can share mock-ups, interactive prototypes, ideas, and chat whenever they want. There are hundreds of cloud-based tools suitable for UX designers and developers, including UserInterviews, HubUX, Dropbox, InVision, Sketch Cloud, MURAL, Google Suite, Figma, and Adobe CS. Cloud-based tools, such as Figma and Sketch, enable effective communication and collaboration among designers, engineers, and other stakeholders in the team. MURAL allows efficient communication for entire agile teams: planning, discussions, working towards a common direction, and reaching agreements on product and team-related matters.
All of this leads to a new challenge: collaboration. This is the key word. Soon, we will need to adapt to a new situation where, when we turn on our computers, we won’t be alone with a project but will join collaborative work on the best solution.
ML Enhancing AI
We increasingly hear about new possibilities in artificial intelligence, such as Tesla predicting driver behavior to prevent accidents or the Chinese government shifting from facial analysis (which can be easily obscured) to recognizing people based on their characteristic walking patterns. You might have wondered: “What can artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) do in the field of user research? Can it improve user experiences and, if so, how?” Well, it can, and in several ways. For example, there’s a powerful platform called iMotions that supports research processes using AI. How is this possible? The more data fed into artificial intelligence, the better machine learning performs. Data is collected using various sensors like EKG and EEG (which read brainwaves), eye tracking, biometric breath sensors, endodermal reactions, facial expression analysis, and muscle micro-movements. All of this provides incredibly valuable emotional insights for research analysis.
AI technologies have already been integrated into our online shopping experiences, at least in their early stages. You can order a product through Amazon Echo with voice-only interaction. What does this mean for researchers? Gathering user data can be complex and ethically questionable. You can obtain customer consent to use this data, but the legal and ethical consequences are still apparent. Personalization or adjusting preferences before using a service with AI implementation will require complex opinions and user involvement. For example, if you want to buy a house through an integrated AI-powered device, providing information about your credit history, work history, and other relevant documentation to a digital real estate broker can be a challenging task. However, as this technology develops, this cumbersome process will become less burdensome over time. The advancement of AI learning can reduce the need for on-screen interactions and give priority to voice interactions. An agent won’t be necessary, only artificial intelligence, whose role will be to analyze various parameters and draw analytical conclusions, rather than assessing human beings. Researchers will have to study user responses to interactions with the device, especially when it is equipped with only a voice interface. How questions are asked, how the device confirms receiving a response, and the fundamental question: whether the device understands the user’s response or request. We don’t know the answers to these questions yet.
In summary, we’ve gone through the dominant technological trends that directly affect changes in user behavior. It’s an exciting time for UX researchers! Human behavior is evolving, and with the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, which affect how we use devices, there is a growing demand for engaging user experiences. In this rapidly changing technological landscape, some aspects of UX design will remain unchanged, while others will require adjustments. Whatever happens, user needs will always be paramount. UX researchers will continue to discover and analyze them, and UX designers will continue to design solutions tailored to specific target audiences, with a constant focus on designing the most appropriate user experience. All the technologies I mentioned are interconnected — the development of cloud data processing allows designers to share complex motion-related design work that they couldn’t previously conduct.
