The Interface Design Evolution

A race that never ends

There is no doubt that with the advent and massification of computers and digital devices, the implementation and evolution of graphic interfaces and user experiences have developed exponentially for more than four decades, which has caused a high degree of specialization and updating in those who devise, develop and implement any digital product or service.

On the other hand, and no less important, there are also the users, today more than ever, it is necessary to think about the generation of digital natives highly familiar with user-device interaction, who demand immediacy and innovation at an experience level.

Foundations

Given the constant redefinition that has taken place in the last decade of the processes and strategies related to the User Experience (UX) and the design of User Interfaces (UI), it is worth stopping and resuming the fundamentals that make up these concepts.

UI
The term interface (from english interface, between faces) refers to the way a user interacts with an object; In the context of digital products and services, the graphical interface is the set of elements displayed in the visual area of a device, which allow the user to execute an action within an environment, system, or program.

With the standardization in the use of personal computers, the need to create new user-machine accessibility devices became imperative; In this context, the graphical user interface was born, as a consequence of the constant desire to spread the use of computers, an area previously reserved for engineering, and in general for exact sciences. And what better language than the visual representation of recognizable and intuitive forms, to achieve that understanding of the user with the device; for which the intervention of specialists in the resolution of communication problems began to be necessary from the use mainly of Visual language, which is based on the theoretical foundations of Perception, Proxemics, Color psychology, Semiotics, etc, fields already known within analog design methodologies.1

UX
At the same time, these first interface designers had to consider another key factor in the development of digital products, and this was the User Experience, where elements such as Interaction, Navigation, Use and Feedback were incorporated, which contributed to giving it a better experience, direction and effectiveness, and consumer ownership of those early digital products.

Late 80’s Gui Bonsiepe, (industrial designer, design theorist and academic) proposed a new vision of the designer, a kind of info-designer, in charge not only of the graphic part of the interface, but also of defining, structuring and testing the information presented, which would evolve years later into the definition of User Experience (UX), a term that was coined by Don Norman, (expert in design, usability, and cognitive science) and his expert team.2

Design an experience includes not only making the product easy to use, but also designing the other experiences associated with it, such as the marketing campaign, packaging, shopping experience, and post-sales support, to name a few. Because the most important thing in UX design is to offer solutions that address pain points and specific user needs. After all, Norman notes, “no one will use a product that is useless.”3

“The relationship between object and subject undergoes a transformation when an interactive relationship is established between them, in such a way that the design product (a digital product or service, for example) needs the user’s participation to close the communication / action.”

In this way, starting from the best design of a user experience (UX) and on the other hand from the resources and visual consistencies (UI), the learning curve began to be improved, as did performance speed, error rate in use, usefulness in managing information and, above all, the effectiveness of the requested service, from a simple link to a text to complex operations such as machinery operation or financial transactions.

“The decisions that are made during the UX / UI design will make the difference between a shy, immobile, and impassive user in front of the screen, and another receptive and participative.”

The next step in UX/UI Design

With more than 4.8 billion users with Internet access on the planet, the digital world continues to evolve exponentially to adapt to new forms of interaction and communication in the digital sphere.

As e-commerce grows and social platforms multiply, it’s clear that a digital native world is a reality. And it is not surprising that, with the demand for digital products and services, the need for innovation in technology and design is also growing. In this sense, the world of video games has a great advantage in the development of interfaces in this new era.

And as part of this evolution is VR/AR technology, which in turn is rethinking the user experience and its relationship with this technology based on digital immersion capabilities, therefore, today more than ever the UX has become an essential area of specialization for experts in virtual reality.

From this perspective, the current challenges in the evolution of the UX/UI in the new immersion environments are:

• Visual and auditory spatial proximity. UI
• Emulation of environments and analog spaces UX
• Resource optimization (More is less) UX
• Go from 2D to 3D, which covers retention and thought structure, making the user experience more immersive. UI
• More organic navigation with self-learning and self-customization of environments by the user. UX

The Metaverse Age

Technology journalist and digital marketing specialist Rebecca Barnatt-Smith4 raise the following insights to understand and adopt new UX/UI strategies in the Metaverse age:

Roll change: from users to players
Nowadays, designers must think of consumers as gamers rather than simply users of technology, with better choices.

To enhance the user experience on online platforms, UX designers must create a fully immersive experience that allows the player to live and interact with a virtual world, rather than just experience it. We then go from the emulation and synthesis of recognizable concepts to immersion in 3D spatial environments, where time and space will have a significant role.

The immersive design will need to apply to all kinds of UX, even outside of Metaverse world-building. This also applies to website design, content creation, and advertisements. As the line between the virtual and the real continues to erase, designers’ decisions must operate to insert a product, service, or advertisement into the metaverse. We know in advance that consumers are much more likely to engage with an experience design that feels natural, authentic, and user-focused.

Storytelling
The Metaverse is expected to expand in the coming years. With many users comes a large number of experiences across a diverse consumer group. The key for UX designers is to find a way to connect all these user experiences to create a compelling story that engages with the audience among the drivers.

So, it’s time to start prioritizing storytelling within the content. To gain awareness and exposure, telling a story with experience design will not only immerse your consumers but go beyond traditional one-way strategies to deliver a more natural consumer-led experience with your brand.

Observe direction
The Metaverse is still relatively new, so a smart first move for UX designers would be to just sit back and watch.

You can start with a detailed benchmark of the competitors to start with the user tests. Conducting an audit of your current engagement statistics, audience characteristics, and customer analytics is a great foundation for success.

Designers need to see how their audience is currently interacting with the metaverse and understand how their products will perform in a new virtual environment.

Use and know immersive environments
To design effectively for the Metaverse, UX/UI professionals are moving towards new 3D modeling alternatives like Tvori, SketchUp, or Thinkercad that offer modeling and prototyping capabilities in a 3D virtual world.

It is also important that UX and UI designers become more equipped with the new forms of VR/AR technology on the market. The use of virtual and augmented reality elements in daily life will allow designers to put themselves in the shoes of their consumers and visualize the image they want to create to achieve a successful immersion.

The Future

As we see that consumers change their role from users to players within the Metaverse age, it will be necessary to propose attractive user experiences, with emotional engagement, and spaces where the user increases interaction with others, and with their virtual environments, which is a big challenge for the UX, since the possibilities increase, but at the same time, it will be necessary to continue guiding and establishing the necessary points so that the user does not get lost among all the possibilities of his immersive experience. For this, it will be necessary to reconsider the traditional ways of approaching marketing, content design, and information architecture, to understand and generate new values and advantages with the use of the immersion experience.

Examples of this trend are starting to stand out, Facebook’s Meta 2021 and gaming platforms like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox are leading the way, with the Metaverse expected to transform consumer advertising and design experience in the next 5 years. Then the participation and technical training of UX and UI specialists will be essential, for immersive environments.

Times of change are coming, but they will also be good times for learning, creativity, and ingenuity. So, what do you think that is the future for interfaces?

1 BONSIEPE, Gui; Las siete columnas del diseño; Ed. UAM, Mex.; Cap. 6.1, El diseño de interfaces

2 NORMAN, Don; https://www.interaction-design.org/literature

3 BARNATT-SMITH, Rebecca; https://usabilitygeek.com/from-users-to-players-the-future-of-ux-design-in-the-metaverse/