Emerging trends in User Experience Design
1. Leveraging knowledge about the human brain and the human condition
2. Two-way conversation format for a more human experience
3. Engagement loops (habits + a meaningful journey)
1. Leveraging knowledge about the human brain and the human condition
To design delightful product experiences that make life easy, most product designers actively research how relevant people think and behave via exploratory research and usability studies.
But more and more, we are learning the basics of how information is perceived, retained and used by our brain. We are learning about our own cognitive biases as designers and those of our users. We are learning about people’s core needs, how they make choices, how behaviors emerge, why they sometimes don’t act.
- Perception:
Visual perception
Gestalt psychology
Visual Hierarchy
Selective Attention
Cognitive lode: Brain gems for decision-makers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo - Retention (attention works as a gateway to memory): Memory and Mnemonic Devices
Types of Recall (memory)
Daniel Kahneman- The riddle of experience vs. memory
Peak–end rule - Information Processing:
Cognitive bias
Working Memory Capacity And The Wandering Mind
Types of Choices
Cognitive dissonance
Learning theory (education)
———————————————— - Core Needs:
Fundamental human needs
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - How behaviors emerge:
BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model
Stages of change — Transtheoretical model - How behaviors can be sustained:
How to Manufacture Desire: An Intro to Hooks — Nir and Far
Tiny habits- 5 Tips for Turning Your Tiny Habits into Big Results - Motivation:
BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model — Motivation
Self-determination theory - Persuasion:
Robert Cialdini’s principles of persuasion
Want To Hook Users? Drive Them Crazy. (An Intro to Variable Rewards) — Nir and Far
strategies of persuasion
Storytelling- 22 Guiding Principles For Storytelling From Pixar By Emma Coats
Pixar’s story structure: GDC 10: Pixar Knows How to Tell a Story — IGN
Using The Minto Pyramid Principle (SCQA Technique) for effective storytelling / presentation
2. Two-way conversation format for a more human experience
We intrinsically value the human aspects of our lives. Leveraging this principle, designers are creating more relatable and empathetic products, in contexts where it makes sense. They are learning from guiding principles used by great personal trainers and life coaches.
They are writing out scripts for the conversation a product will have if it were a person before they design screens. Employing this tactic will enrich the interactions a user will have with future products.
The goal of designing is one of the following:
- persuade to act
- educate
- impart happiness
- simplify a task
- take less time to do a task
In the first 4 situations, a product’s impact can be improved, by having a more human conversation that resonates with the user.
Hana Schank’s thoughts in this article are quite noteworthy on this topic-
UX Design as a Two-Way Conversation
3. Engagement loops (habits + a meaningful journey)
Users engage with most products in ways that evolve over time. What motivates them to come back every day might be different from what keeps them coming back for weeks and months. Designers today are becoming more aware of
- Identifying these habit loops that exist in products and create new ones
Mapping existing and creating new short term, medium term and long term engagement loops is helpful in getting users back to the product and extracting more value out of it on a regular basis. - Mapping features and personas to the loops
Figuring out how existing features motivate different persona types can help inform the product development strategy. - Graduating users from shorter engagement loops to longer term over time
- Habit design and behavior change frameworks by BJ Fogg and Nir Eyal are note-worthy.
BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model
How Habits Work — Charles Duhigg
How to Manufacture Desire: An Intro to Hooks — Nir and Far
Self-determination theory
PENS, The Player Experience of Need Satisfaction Rethinking Carrots: A New Method For Measuring What Players Find Most Rewarding and Motivating About Your Game
