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      From exhaustive manuals to lengthy lines of texts with bright red arrows to fully integrated narratives, game tutorials became more complex as both available interactions and user expectations grew. An industry valued as a billion dollar market with over 2,700 companies located across America and completely saturated with customer options totaling at over 9,000 titles released on Steam in 2018 alone, is it any wonder that games would dedicate so much time and effort to the first entry point a user sees? Teaching users the skills necessary to master the basics isn’t only used in games of course. In UX design, we are more accustomed to calling this process ‘on-boarding.’ However, many products’ on-boarding processes are dry and overwhelm users by front-loading a ton of knowledge at once. In the words of A Theory of Fun for Game Design, Ralph Koster “game design is about clarity that teaches complexity.” The key word here is teach. As UX Designers, we need to treat learning as the equivalent to fun and game tutorials are an excellent starting point.

      As consumers, we expect our shopping experiences to be engaging and intuitive. More and more brands are going beyond traditional means of website and storefronts by opening temporary and permanent immersive retail experiences. What is an immersive retail experience? It is a highly instagrammable, interactive happening that is re-thinking traditional brick-and-mortar stores and taking over both the art and retail worlds alike. Some examples include Samsung 837, Sony Lost in Music, Ikea Play Cafe, Adias NDM, Visible’s InVisible, Dolby Soho...the list goes on and on. At their core, these immersive retail experiences are driven by good UX design. They attempt to connect with consumers by creating moments of empathy and personalization, immediately satisfying interactions and word-of-mouth marketing strategies. It may not be a website but all the same principles are applied.

       The standard Material UI color palette is extensive – and for good reason. If you’ve ever built a website or a software application, you’ll quickly realize that you need more colors than you could ever imagine.

           

       As we get further and further into the 2019 year, we are seeing more user interface design trends begin to solidify within the world of UX. One of those user interface trends that we see solidifying is the application of motion based-design. Motion-based design is the process of applying graphic design principles to a typical digital interface. Motion-based design elements can be manifested in various ways- from the use of films or videos to animations, animated texts, or the use of 3D depth. Motion-based design is an important and innovative addition to a typical user interface which can help to improve the overall user experience, all while making the UI engaging and dynamic.

       More and more the world of banking and investing is moving into the online and technological world. Terms like “cryptocurrency” and “bitcoin” have steadily been gaining popularity as user’s are finding ways to handle their finances in a way that matches today’s fast-paced, digital world.  In relation to online financial going ons, another term that is gaining a lot of recent attention is “blockchain”. Blockchain is not a new term, but it is generating increasing buzz since they will have a massive impact on the future of online banking, investing, digital identity, and more. 

     One of the big buzzwords circling UX and tech circles lately is “robotics process automation” or RPA for short. Robotic process automation is a big fancy way of talking about the process of using “software robots” or other specialized computer programs as a way to have repeatable business processes become automated, standardized, and ultimately, something that no longer has to take up actual human bandwidth. If you are reading this and thinking to yourself that this sounds like the beginning stages of allowing the robots to take over, have no fear. This is where user experience research and design comes in to save the day.

       
            There have been breathless articles written about how virtual or augmented reality is going to change everything for decades. Virtual Reality (VR) hardware (often glasses or goggles) allow the user to interact with a computer-generated immersive environment, where Augmented Reality (AR) devices overlay information onto the world without the processing power requirements of virtual reality. Costs are down, bandwidth is up, but it’s 2019, and with few exceptions, what Adam Draper of Boost VC calls “digital reality” remains a technology in search of a killer app.

      As our technological devices keep changing, we see that physical buttons are being replaced with smooth touch screens that instead invite users to tap, swipe, drag and more. Users are able to navigate and control their interface without having to rely on pushing physical buttons. Nowadays, as users, we are more and more interacting with devices by using gestures as opposed to pushing any kind of button. But, does that mean physical buttons are disappearing? And is this a good or bad change for users?

    Interaction with a product through a digital interface has become the standard across the industry, whether through a mobile app, desktop software, website, etc. it is the go-to for companies when creating a product to solve a problem. This is the reality we live in, but often users are not looking to add another interface or step to their routine. Users are instead looking to simplify a process. Zero UI looks beyond screens as the go-to solution and over to what would be a more natural and passive solution within a process to solve a problem. Not every process or product should be replaced by Zero UI. The design thinking behind Zero UI should be to approach every problem with it as a possible solution, but not the only solution.

    Virtual Reality today is truly off-the-shelf – the tools required for developing, disseminating and consuming a VR experience is available, accessible and affordable. This progress has enabled not only programmers but also technology novices to create significant immersive experiences. However, one of the major pieces missing in this field is a robust design and evaluation methodology that ensures that the experiences we create are not only immersive and interactive but also impactful.