The year 2017 has seen the rise of complete Digital Transformations and the purveyor of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Voice User Interfaces (VUIs) in its development stage over the internet with complex new innovations in UX designing. User experience (UX) has changed the way people use the online market in a whole new pattern.

Digital Commerce is the primary mode of shopping for almost more than 50% of the entire population as per January 2018 ( Source : TechCrunch) and, online retail has been simplified, personalized and defined in a way that people achieve what they want by spending lesser amount of time in a website rather than searching through columns and rows of time-consuming categories.

With the onset of highly- advanced Artificial Intelligence showcased by Siri of Apple, Ok Google by Google, Cortana by Microsoft and Alexa by Amazon, people are expecting more advanced seamless web experiences with every single invention. Answering a machine about what you need and getting the result is much more preferable than having to navigate through various menus and sub-menus. Ecommerce is the largest shopping sector, with an estimated retail sale of about 2.3 trillion in 2017 and is expected to reach a whopping $4.5 trillion by 2021( Source : Shopify Infographics about Global E-commerce trends).

According to Tony Haile, the CEO of Chartbeat, you have an average of 15 seconds to capture the attention of your viewers, and when it is related to e-commerce, cart-abandonment rate is high when the user is not able to navigate or find what they need through your site easily, but a well-planned, simple yet crispy design with easy navigation and personalized search options by observing user-behavior can turn the same user into a lead, irrespective of the service-line in a matter of few minutes. People want everything in the now, and having experienced seamless interactions with the help of AI, VUI they are most unlikely to settle for anything less.

According to Tony Haile, the CEO of Chartbeat, you have an average of 15 seconds to capture the attention of your viewers, and when it is related to e-commerce, cart-abandonment rate is high when the user is not able to navigate or find what they need through your site easily

Augmented and Virtual Reality is the New UX Reality!

Virtual Reality is complicated to design, yet it’s estimated to be cheaper than many other methods. You can actually make your customer feel the product experience through Virtual and Augmented reality. It was estimated by TechCrunch that the AR market will reach an exciting $83 Billion by 2021.

A good implementation of AR would be the facility by a well-known brand “Ikea” that the customers can visualize furniture in their home with the use of AR through their website or app. Such a brilliant advancement in technology is making its way into every retail category helping customers experience the physical as well as the comfort of shopping online.

It was estimated by TechCrunch that the AR market will reach an exciting $83 Billion by 2021

 

Omni- Channel Retail with smooth UX

The Retail industry which was conjectured to fold under the growth of a digital uprising, has grown rapidly thriving on innovation and the digital disruption. People prefer methods that are easier to transact than the painstaking approach of handling multiple channels differently. UX that fails on any channel is a poor reflection of the overall user experience.

Omni-channel retail offers innovative opportunities of transforming UX across multiple interactions through the customer journey that was seen surging over the past year, and, is expected to show its head more often above the water this year. Ideas like Amazon-Go get a big nod among people for its time-saving shopping and payment methods. The 3D visualization of product try-outs and personalization of people’s tastes are an advantage to the multi-shopping experience. People prefer to browse what they are looking for in a matter of few minutes, and simplifying the digital retail experience is a way to win the heart of the consumer.

 

Artificial Intelligence based UX

Artificial intelligence is at a nascent phase, which along with UX design could make intuitive design structures. 2017 and the years before that saw the usage of Artificial Intelligence with UX design, which, with proper coding can make complex functions as simple ones by collecting tonnes of user data and makes processes easier and more personalized for every user.

AI involves studying people and designing by trying out new possibilities every time and AI supports its experimentation as it can be reshaped smoothly to accommodate the user experience environment.

Artificial intelligence in UX paves the way for a complete user centric environment by observing their emotions and behavioral pattern, which then responds according to the collected data, just like in the case of Chatbots placed in most of the sites by retail and customer service to handle their day-to-day businesses. For example, AI is used for the pricing method by Airbnb which is a brilliant work of algorithm.

This combination of AI in UX is being experimented repeatedly by top Digital Commerce sites to provide the best experience for users, along with increasing their conversion rates by personalizing with ways unimaginable.

 

Personalization – Making the User’s Job Easier!

Personalization in a site is done through collecting thousands of user data, and predicting their online behavior through Data Analytics and Big Data, which in result will provide the user an intuitive experience with tailored ads that matches their personal taste, to making them a prospective customer by providing relevant micro-interactions which in turn will make them feel well-informed as well as save time.

Personalization helps customers browse easier and faster with relevant product suggestions or to interact with like-minded people in the case of Facebook or Instagram.

 

Design Trends

In terms of Design trends, flat design with more white space is the recommended trend for this year. People want a clear navigation and a vivid experience, hence using full blown videos or typography designs with noticeable white spaces are more trendy and welcoming. The Hamburger menu type is expected to be at an end as it takes more time to reach your search goal. In terms of layout, Grid layout as usual must be tweaked to disappear into white-space and is the suggested layout this season which makes the user select from ample amount of products while avoiding overwhelmed listing.

 

Voice User Interface (VUI)

The voice search interaction has opened up a lot of opportunities and possibilities for customers in terms of Retail shopping. The markets are stormed with the buzz of Siri, Ok Google, Cortana and Alexa that provides the best experience for users, with Next-gen Intelligence and making life easier. Voice Search is flooding the UX market for website innovation in almost everywhere as possible, to make the user addicted to the site. VUI is expected to hit a $2.5 Billion market by the end of 2019 according to a recent survey report by TechCrunch. VUI and The Internet of Things (IOT) together make the best possible collaboration that changes the lives of people entirely. This is the most expected design that has been anticipated to hit more markets over the mid-2018 or towards the year-end.

 

Next-Gen UX Technology Holds Great Promise for 2018!

With the uprising of design such as VUI, AR, VR, and AI, the year is bound to be surprising every month with whole new innovations that will improve the lives of millions by catering to the comfort of great User Experience. It’s a nail-biting year for designers as they would have to keep on top of everyone else by coming up with new ideas and successful implementations.