Maja Mitrovikj · Follow
Published in · 13 min read · Jan 30, 2024
With 2024 ahead of us, the field of UX/UI design is about to undergo an interesting revolution. Drawing inspiration from the previous year trends as motivation, let’s not only walk but also jump into the possibilities that lay ahead in this blog article. Handpicked and carefully curated we believe the following trends are going to shape the digital landscape at least in the next eleven months, and even longer. With the dominative presence of AI reshaping operational efficiency across all organizational units, impacting UI and UX teams is almost certain.
With the stage set and anticipation in the air, let us start with some of the most exciting and transformative trends eagerly waiting to be tried, tested, and embraced.
Retro Groovy Typography
In recent years, the design world has witnessed the dominance of big and bold typography in the UI realm, strategically placing text at the forefront to command attention. 2024 is also ushering in a fresh wave of creativity by reimagining the aesthetics of the old eras in exciting and innovative ways, like going retro, groovy, and bubbly all the way.
The idea behind this trend is to evoke memories from the 70s and 80s vintage and vibrant designs while making it feel timeless and fun. This design style is influenced by the past and gives contemporary interfaces a nostalgic feel reminiscent of vintage designs. To make their user experiences memorable and unique in the overcrowded digital landscape, designers are increasingly using this aesthetic as a link between the past and the present. Retro Typography is a trend worth watching in the ever-changing field of UX/UI design because it allows designers to create experiences that connect with people deeply by marrying the old and the new in a timeless manner.
The majority of industries can benefit from using retro groovy typography, but retail, cosmetics, and fashion brands can benefit the most from this trend.
Deconstructed hero sections
The hero section is the first greeting the user gets when visiting a website and making it a bit different and out of the ordinary makes it memorable at first glance. The deconstructed hero section trend will take center stage in the following year, pushing the boundaries of conventional approaches to enhance memorability.
The essence of this trend lies in the deliberate act of deconstruction — a departure from the ordinary. Designers are reimagining hero sections by incorporating content snippets, bold typography, and unaligned images, fostering an environment of intrigue and curiosity. By questioning the conventional, designers can create unique entrances that not only grab users’ attention but also set the tone for the entire user experience.
Whether the design is minimal or overcrowded by shapes and colors, the deconstructed hero sections will leave the users intrigued to know more. Do not be afraid to play with the elements and the white space, to create a perfect harmony of the unusual.
Off-white is the new white
In the modern digital era, where screens dominate our daily interactions, a shift in color aesthetics has emerged — a departure from the glaring pure white that tends to strain our eyes. This shift has given rise to the “Off-White is the new white” trend, an aesthetic choice aimed at enhancing the overall user experience.
This has inspired the off-white aesthetic that adds a touch of warmth to the designs, giving them a chic yet classic look. The soft background acts as a canvas, removing the severity of a stark white background so that other design elements can stand out.
As designers have realized the emotional significance of color on the user experience, the move towards off-white tones is a deliberate decision to achieve harmony between modernism and a hint of classic refinement. This style makes the designs seem not just contemporary but also friendly and approachable.
In essence, the off-white aesthetic is more than a visual choice — it’s a strategic decision to evoke a sense of warmth and approachability in design.
Reinventing the cursor
The cursor is the one thing that is always there, but we do not pay attention to it most of the time. And the designers are all about changing that, by elevating its functions and enhancing the experience with an additional degree of interactivity.
Unlike the custom cursors of the late 00s, this reinvention is not just for fun and gimmickry; it prioritizes enhancing the user experience. Gone are the confusing and purely decorative custom cursors; instead, designers are exploring innovative ways to make the cursor both useful and delightful.
There are endless possibilities to make the cursor useful, amusing, and practical at the same time. It has become a fluid element that can change and morph itself and the background while hovering over different objects around the website.
Whether it changes shape while hovering buttons, making the background color change while moving the mouse, enlarging certain elements, or anything else you can imagine — it elevates the experience and the whole design of the project. But, of course, as for most things — less is more. The key is moderation — avoid overwhelming effects. Select a few cursor options thoughtfully, maintaining consistency across the entire project for a refined and user-friendly design.
And remember, this is a desktop-only option and it would not show on tablet or mobile (or any other touchscreen device). So, treat the cursor as a way to enhance the desktop experience for the user, but not to corrupt it on mobile.
Data visualization
It is not a novelty that today’s fast-paced world is dominated by data and a LOT of it. Hence, data visualization is a technique of presenting complex datasets using graphic elements in order to simplify the communication of insights much more effectively and quickly.
Thanks to the rapid advancements in coding and UX/UI design, the era of cluttered charts and tables is fading. Instead, simplified and user-friendly approaches to visualizing datasets have taken center stage. The repertoire now includes graphs, counters, images, and interactive maps, offering an array of possibilities.
Apps like Spotify, Headspace, or Apple Health are going for bigger and improved personalization, that offer simpler and much more insightful data that the users actually need. From their favorite songs and genres to health and fitness insights — the data gives them something to work on and motivates them to be better every day.
Beyond personalization, businesses leverage data visualization to highlight features and achievements. Key points are summarized into clear visual graphics, effectively conveying information to users or stakeholders. In this age of information, data visualization emerges not just as a tool for simplifying complexity but as a powerful means to engage and motivate users or communicate business success.
AR/VR Immersive Experiences
All of the fast-paced technological innovation has brought Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) closer to the masses more than ever before. This spatial concept has created new design challenges and approaches to seamlessly blend the real and virtual worlds for the user.
The use of these interactive and immersive experiences grows larger day by day. From healthcare, entertainment, gaming, and retail, to education and collaboration — AR and VR have the power to revolutionize how people interact with the digital space and content.
These technologies enable designers to think beyond the boundaries of conventional interfaces. Designers have an opportunity to experiment with advanced storytelling techniques, sound, animation, and 3D objects while designing for extended experiences.
AR and VR can make digital content more inclusive for individuals with impairments. Designers can create user-friendly designs with technology for motor and visual impairments. AR technology can guide visually impaired individuals through a facility, increasing independence. Advanced technologies can simplify the user interface by enhancing interactivity.
Prominent examples of these advancements include Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest Pro, and Meta Wayfarer. Apple Vision Pro, with its cutting-edge AR capabilities, showcases the potential for seamless integration of digital information into the user’s physical environment. Meta Quest Pro and Meta Wayfarer redefine immersive gaming experiences and virtual interactions, illustrating the diverse applications and innovation that AR and VR bring to the forefront of design considerations. As these immersive realities become increasingly integral, the possibilities for innovation and inclusion continue to expand.
Voice User Interfaces (VUIs)
Speech recognition technology known as voice user interface, or VUI, enables voice commands to be used to communicate with a computer, smartphone, or other devices. They are becoming increasingly popular, from smart home devices like Alexa, and smart assistants like Siri, to the voice search option on YouTube and Google.
Smart home devices like Amazon’s Alexa, for instance, respond to voice commands to control lights, play music, or provide information. Siri on Apple devices engages users in natural language conversations, performing tasks, and answering queries. Platforms like YouTube and Google enable users to explore content vocally, enhancing accessibility and convenience.
The demand for more effortless and hands-free interaction thanks to the development of gesture control and voice assistant technologies, gives more opportunities for UX designers to focus on creating simple-to-use and effective voice interfaces. This helps ease the user’s interaction with the digital space without using conventional input methods like a touchscreen, mouse, or keyboard.
As the world embraces the harmonious marriage of speech and technology, VUIs stand at the forefront of this transformative wave in user experience design.
Multi-Modal Interfaces
Addressing the various types of interfaces separately in the previous 2 topics brings us to the multi-modal interfaces that combine a range of inputs, including touch, manual gestures, pen, and speech.
Examples from our discussions on AR, VR, and VUI often embody multi-modal characteristics. Apple Vision Pro, Meta Wayfarer, and voice assistants like Alexa exemplify the fusion of touch, gestures, and speech, providing users with a rich and diverse interaction experience.
In the words of Diana Deibel and Rebecca Evanhoe in their book “Conversations with Things”, multi-modal interactions align more closely with human interaction patterns, acknowledging the diversity in how individuals engage with the world. This approach allows users to choose and combine input modes according to their preferences and needs.
They reflect the chosen interaction style of the user and facilitate the flexibility to mix and match modalities easily or change input styles to see which one works best for a given job or situation. These options increase accessibility and give the user the independence to work with various input types and flows.
As we delve into the era of multi-modal interfaces, the focus remains on crafting experiences that cater to the dynamic and varied ways in which users connect with technology.
Generative AI
AI is undoubtedly one of the biggest topics in this past year, from all its benefits to all the hindrances it can create. It has proven to be a powerful tool that can take us places we couldn’t even imagine before and can be used in many fields.
By connecting user experience knowledge and the machine learning algorithms that AI can offer, we can create deeply personalized, user-centric, and engaging experiences. If used mindfully and responsibly this combo can push the frontiers of UX design so it can produce much more accurate, inclusive, and innovative experiences by overcoming the barrier between people and technology.
The question arises: How can we harness the power of AI today to enhance user experiences? Here are key aspects where AI proves to be instrumental:
- Ideas Exploration: Test and analyze your ideas and concepts by exploring all possible contexts.
- UX Research: Learn about new topics, asses new workflows, ask for resource suggestions, draft and upgrade user questions and protocols, analyze data faster, and provide better reports.
- Data-Driven Decision-Making: Much more in-depth and comprehensive data will lead you in the right direction to create captivating user-centric design decisions.
- Personalization: Use this technology to help you dig deeper into the preferences and needs of each user to create tailored experiences.
- Accessibility: Since AI has the ability to explore all circ*mstances and scenarios, it can be of great benefit to help you create accessible and inclusive decisions and designs.
- User Testing: Evaluate the methods you’ve used so far, explore new options, and conduct much more explorative user tests.
…and many many more!
If you are interested in the topic further, this is the go-to article for you!
A Balance Between Personalization and Privacy
Personalization and privacy are like two ends of one rope. Personalization on one end, gives the user the sense of understanding their needs and wants and additionally simplifies their interactions. On the other end, for personalization to work as well as it does it needs user data about their behaviors, habits, and needs.
In order to balance the rope, designers are tasked with a few challenges to satisfy both ends in the interest of the user and their experience.
Approaching this intricate challenge requires a strategic combination of empathy, education, and objective goal-setting:
- Empathy: When we empathize with our users, we can more clearly see their side and have more respect for their context, feelings, fears, and wants. Additionally, it gives us a broader view to take into account important aspects like accessibility, usability, transparency, security, and many more. Gathering regular feedback from our users can help us understand their points of view much better.
- Education: We can not expect our users to know everything about privacy and data collection. It is our job to educate them about all the advantages and disadvantages of personalization, all the ways they can control their data privacy, and give them options to change their setting whenever they wish to do so.
- Objective goal-setting: Last, but not least is the question “What goals are you trying to accomplish for your users and the business with personalization?”. If you have a clear vision of the exact needs and uses, most of the inappropriate and intrusive situations can be avoided.
In navigating the tightrope between personalization and privacy, the synthesis of empathy, education, and objective goal-setting emerges as the guiding light. This strategic approach not only preserves the user’s sense of agency but also fosters a design ethos rooted in respect, transparency, and the shared pursuit of meaningful goals.
Digital Wellness
As an honorary mention this year we chose to cover the topic of wellness in the digital era. Technology has revolutionized the world, making it more connected, and has increased accessibility to news and information while also changing how we work and learn. But, we can all find ourselves consumed by it both at work or in our personal lives, which can occasionally make us feel like we are in an unstoppable overwhelming vortex. The rising concerns about our relationship with technology have made us question how mindful we are about what, when, and how much we consume tech daily.
That is why native apps like Apple Screen Time and Google’s Digital Wellbeing are tools made intentionally to help us increase our awareness and reexamine our digital habits. They offer a variety of statistics and options to help you use technology mindfully, including daily app limit timers, do not disturb mode, pausing distracting apps, bedtime mode, and more.
There are also apps out there that are made with the intention of promoting overall well-being and mindfulness in the digital space, like:
- Headspace: Helps you practice mindfulness, intentional breathing, and meditation.
- F.lux: Makes color changes to your display depending on the time of day by making it warmer in the nighttime and cooler during the day.
- Sleep Cycle: It monitors your sleep cycle and wakes you up when you’re in light sleep for a more restful morning.
- Evernote: Save all of your ideas by typing a written note, or adding a picture, voice recordings, and drawing to help your mind be more organized and decluttered.
- Pocket: Save what you want to read, listen to, or buy from all over the internet and access it in a clutter-free and calming space.
In today’s world, it’s crucial to prioritize user well-being when designing. Simple tweaks and changes can lead to a whole new experience for users and change their behavior toward our products.
In our selection of trends for this year, our primary consideration was to inspire designers to break free from conventions, rethink user interactions, and inject creativity into every pixel. From the embrace of nostalgic vibes to the integration of cutting-edge innovations like AI and AR/VR, the future of UX/UI design is poised for an exciting evolution.
It’s crucial to emphasize that this curated list of trends goes beyond mere predictions; it serves as a blueprint for the transformative evolution of digital experiences. These trends are not just suggestions but powerful tools for designers to shape the way users engage with technology.
So, as we conclude, we encourage designers to embrace boldness in their creations, to let their imagination run wild, and to be at the forefront of innovation. The canvas is vast, and the innovation potential is boundless. Design boldly, and let the spirit of innovation continue to flourish. 🪴
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