State of UX in 2022

UI/UX designers have an incredible opportunity ahead of them in 2022. With a new generation of designers entering the marketplace, and new ways of collaboration becoming possible with technology, now is the time for the UI UX design industry to reset and rebuild.

Designers should look at the work they’ve accomplished in the past year and understand how to make things better moving forward. It is important to incorporate all that we’ve learnt since the start of the pandemic, and rebuild our practice with a new perspective. 

COVID – 19 disrupted life as we knew it, and it also brought in new trends and innovations in the tech field. UX design was not an exception. As companies experimented with new ways of attracting and retaining customers, the UX design process became a core part of their practices.

Organisations understood how impactful meaningful and eye-catching design could be, and how it could be used to attract and retain customers. Meaningful user experience will become a big priority for companies.

Here are some of the 2021 trends that organisations will continue to implement in 2022, and the big changes that will take place in UI UX design trends that designers can use in their practice.

1. Dark Mode

One of the most popular UX trends in 2022 will be Dark Mode. Dark mode was implemented by many app and website developers back in 2020. However dark mode only gained popularity once it was introduced by Instagram and Apple. Ind 2022, many mobile games will offer a dark design as an alternative option. As dark themed apps have many significant benefits, like improving battery lifetimes, and reducing stress on user’s eyes, more and more apps will continue to implement this feature.

2. Glassmorphism

This is a new visual style that will gain momentum in 2022. The features of Glassmorphism are;

• Transparency, background is blurred and looks like frosted glass
• Foreground objects floating on the screen
• Bright and saturated background colours highlight and shine through the transparent background. 

As this style is becoming more and more popular, designers are trying to incorporate this style wherever suitable. This visual style can be used to design separate elements of an app, create unique background designs or even create a whole different app layout.

3. Motion Graphics

Motion graphics are more likely to grab a user’s attention than a chunky block of text. Users are also more likely to retain a visual representation of information than a written one. Motion graphics can benefit UX design in multiple ways.

• They provide visual cues by guiding users through your app or website with animations that help them with navigation. 
• They focus the users attention on the most important elements of their screen.
• Motion graphics create cues for responsive elements that appear when users hover on them
• They hold user’s attentions while the page loads.

4. 3D Designs and Animations

3D animations make interactions on your website or app more immersive and exciting. Apart from being aesthetic, it also has a practical implementation. 3D animations can help UX designers display new elements on the screen without excessive transition and additional loading. In industries like retail, 3D animation can also help buyers make a decision about their purchase. With a 3D model of a product, users can take a look at it from different angles and get a sense of what the product feels like in real life.

5. AI

In 2022, artificial intelligence will become an even more integral part of UX design software. AI driven tools are capable of designing layouts and creating layouts without the need of a designers presence. A tool called Uizard offers an AI assistant that can turn simple sketches into editable designs, with which users can scan their draft from a piece of paper and get a ready made design in a matter of seconds. Another useful tool Khroma, handpicks colours for UX designers. 

6. Virtual and Augmented Reality

VR and AR will create a lot of new opportunities for what the UX design industry can do in 2022. From retail to fitness apps, features of AR and VR will change the way user experience looks and feels for mobile and website apps.

7. Advanced Personalisation

With personalisation algorithms, organisations can show users the most relevant and interesting content tailored to them. Personalised content is an important part of custom UX design because it shows your audience that you are on the same page as them and committed to providing a custom experience. From retail to e-commerce to entertainment, in 2022 more companies are likely to focus on advanced personalisation and make use of these recommendation algorithms.

8. Voice User Interface Interaction

Recent research shows that 65% of the audience aged between 25 to 64 use voice search at least once per day. That’s why in-app voice interactions have become one of the fastest-growing trends in design. Moreover, voice-search-enabled sales will reach $40 billion in 2022. That means e-commerce businesses that optimise their websites for voice search will get new leads and generate more revenue. As for retail, this niche can use voice commands to help users navigate through physical stores.

9. Inclusive Design

Inclusive Design takes into account the needs of different groups of people. This implies creating a UX design that cares about elders, children, people with certain disabilities, and so on. The best way to take into consideration everyone’s abilities is to learn from their needs. You’re creating a product for millions of people around the world and you have to make it accessible and comprehensible for each of them. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a great initiative that unifies methodologies of creating accessible web design.

10. UX Design Simplification 

UX design simplification isn’t just about removing excessive information. Repetitive operations, distractions that ruin the user’s concentration, a multitude of choices, and insufficient information about new software are making users feel uncomfortable with your solution. The best UX design in 2022 will be easy to use, make app pages accessible and deliver meaningful information.