What will 2015 hold? What idea are going to start trending to mainstream and mass adoption, and what ideas are going to wither on the vine like the hyphen in e-mail?
Here’s our two cents.
Card design will reign supreme
Card design (like Pinterest or Instagram) will continue to be an integral design technique going into 2015. The natural convergence of flat design style and responsive design demands, cards have been a fixture on social media platforms for quite some time now.
In 2015, we’ll see the humble card expand enormously into apps and websites, as companies work to present information in a world where screen size in increasingly at a premium. Why? Because cards give designers an uncluttered infrastructure to work in, and users get a clear and easy way to look at the information they need.
Mobile apps will dominate
Multitasking is sooo 2014.
Through the new year, we’re expecting that enthusiasm for single-function apps will continue to soar. While there will be a space for responsive web design, if for no other reason than to appease Google search, mobile apps are going to take centre stage.
Consumers are already spending substantially more time using apps on their phone than browsing the web, and we expect that to continue throughout the year. In particular, we expect a huge expansion in the design and development of single-function enterprise apps, driven by demand for high quality enterprise programs, as well as the falling cost of app design and development.
UX will go corporate
Speaking of enterprise, 2015 is the year that UX gets a suit and tie. This isn’t the 1990s. Users are increasingly intolerant of poor experiences, and increasingly demand amazing ones. There’s no place for average in the current web development world.
But what we think is really going to push UX from a nice-to-have to a need-to-have in 2015 is that UX ROI. Teehan + Lax started years ago with the UX Fund, but other indicators tell the same story – companies that invest in UX go far.
2015 will also be the year when total customer experience (CX) becomes the rule, rather than the exception. With retail moving rapidly towards it with Bluetooth sensors for proximity-based messaging, and the sheer number of devices available to consumers, we can expect total CX to become standardized. Total CX might include:
- Seamless experience for the user, from online to in-store
- Specific messaging in store
- Focus on customer journey through the eyes of the customer (rather than a siloed/channelled approach)
- Continued integration of devices with in-store wireless networks and Bluetooth sensors
The rise of movement
Mark Zuckerberg is predicting that Facebook will be mostly video by 2019. That’s a little distant for us (although he’s probably right). We do, however, think that 2015 will see a huge uptake in movement on the web.
One example that we’re looking forward to is video taking the place of the hero image, like with PayPal’s site. Another trend we’re excited about is the rise of animated icons, which not only look super sleek, but also provide a great UX by clearly indicating what’s interactive and what isn’t. We also think that movement in general will become more normal, like Impossible Bureau’s contact page.
That’s our best crack at fortune telling for 2015. Check back in six months to see how we’re doing, and if you think we missed something drop us a line in the comments.
Have a great year!
