It is clear that with the constant technological evolution we are experiencing and the vast options that exist today (and those to come), there are significant challenges for user experience and user interface designers in the immediate future. There is a clear tendency to simplify traditional graphical interfaces more and more. But, with this commitment to a simple design, there has come the point where we cannot simplify them any further.
On the other hand, with today’s fast pace of life, there is a tendency to make interaction with devices more and more organic, without the need to take your mobile out of your pocket.
Although some of these technologies have already been around for some time and are well known to everyone, today I will tell you in this post about the trends in mobile interaction that will explode in the coming years.
Voice interaction
It is the most widely known and applied and is currently the primary trend because it allows users to interact while performing other tasks, improving productivity. Voice interaction will enable us to search and obtain information, make notes, and even play audiovisual content through interfaces such as Siri, Cortana, and Alexa. However, there are still many options to explore!
Most smartphones and new generation devices include the technology necessary for their use. It becomes a unique challenge for UX designers because it is essential to design a user-friendly, intuitive and practical experience that is not based on “classic” visual and touch interfaces.
The adoption rate of this technology is expected to reach 80% of users in the next five years.
Gesture recognition
Anyone who watches futuristic action or science fiction films can find characters interacting through gestures with holographic devices, operating interfaces and interacting futuristic devices. Well, although perhaps not in such an eye-catching way, this technology is already on its way.
Gesture recognition technology can achieve much more natural interactions than classic text and touchscreen interaction, in a very intuitive way, with reduced hardware requirements (one integrated video camera) and fully customisable to associate actions or tasks with static and dynamic gestures.
Gaze recognition
This technology is also based on recognising movements, in this case, and opens the door to interfaces outside a conventional screen, moving into virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR).
Although this change will not happen in a short time, and the transition will be gradual, interface designers need to be familiar with new 3D imaging techniques to drive the evolution toward augmented and virtual reality increasingly. It shares excellent advantages with voice interaction, as it is also customisable, user-friendly, convenient in situations where hands are busy, and highly useful for users with specific disabilities.
This technology will be available “on the street” in the medium term. However, these interactions require additional hardware, such as head-mounted devices like Oculus and HoloLens, glasses, or even contact lenses. “Smart” lenses, such as Mojo Vision lenses, can recognise all eye movements required for interaction, using movement patterns pre-set customisations. Still, they may face limitations for the time being.
Wearables
These devices, whose implementation is advancing by leaps and bounds, offer an increasing variety of types of interaction without the need to take your mobile phone out of your pocket. In the coming years, these devices will become cheaper, more functional and more independent of the smartphone so that they will multiply.
According to reports from Statista, between 2019 and 2022, the number of these devices is expected to triple to one billion. These devices will base their interaction on all the technologies we have just discussed.
The trends focused on interaction with CONTACTLESS interfaces, to which users will be very attracted; in which it seems that mobile devices will be relegated to the pocket, and designers and developers have to be attentive and adapt to these new needs.
Undoubtedly, brands betting on these trends will be vital in defining and delivering better experiences for their users. Do you want to know more about these trends and how to use them for your users? Email us at info@makingscience.com, and we will help you in your specific case.
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