Researching current and upcoming UX trends

I decided to do some research int the latest and upcoming UX trends before beginning this project. I used design blogs and online research to find out this information and I have noted down some trends that I have found intriguing below…

What did I learn from this?

Doing this type of research is always beneficial to see how this industry is changing and adapting and it always is, very fast might I add. It is important to me that I stay on top of trends and what is popular within my industry. It was fun to read about these trends and how to achieve them with your own design work. I particularly enjoyed the part about dark themes and how brands are taking this trend and running with it, for all those night owls out there. For example Spotify, Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube are already dark-theme ready. The reason is that people typically use these entertainment channels later in the day, I have never worked with dark mode before so I think that this is something I want to practice and utilise in my future designs.

The rise of the video was a topic that I am aware of due to Tik Tok global rise this year. Therefore making this trend not a random fact for me, I can see the apps I use everyday using more and more video within their features. This is something I should consider when designing in the future- that users across the world now are addicted to video and short clips and enjoy them within their apps. I learned that-

The video will comprise 80% of all internet traffic by 2022.- Cisco

I also learned that the ‘hamburger menu’ design feature which has been popular for many years now is beginning its downfall, designers say that this is now a poor UX design choice by designers as it hides features and information behind a nondescript icon. This is the type of information I would never know or find out unless I go looking for it which this exercise allowed me to do and I have gained a lot fo knowledge from this. This is an exercise that I will continue to do as I think that the benefits of taking the time to do this research is extremely advantageous and on the plus side I actually did find this type of research fun!