5 Design Trends According to a UX Expert

Because what UX expert doesn’t keep up with and/or build upon the latest trends? Brought to you by WANDR, a top-ranked UX design firm in Los Angeles.

If you have read Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, you might remember the 10,000-hour rule.

“…ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything.” – Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, p. 40

Although there has been debate on whether or not this number is a scientific fact, it does remain true that if you want to be an expert at anything, you must put in the work.

A user experience (UX) expert, or UX specialist, has worked thousands of hours in UX, whether it is studying it or applying their knowledge hands-on in a project working as a UX designer, UX architect, or UX consultant (these all have blog posts written on them and are linked).

In this article, we will dive into what a UX expert does, what a UX expert review is, and the 5 current trends almost all digital products have that UX experts should know.

What a UX Expert Does

It is absolutely crucial for a UX expert to know the ins and outs of UX design. UX design is the creation of products that provide relevant, meaningful experiences to users. Typically, UX designers work with a team of developers and UI designers to create user-friendly applications, software, and websites.

It is important to note that UX design involves more than just the user interface (UI). While a quality user experience requires an easy-to-navigate interface, UX design focuses on every aspect of the product, from design to usability and function.

The UX designer is directly involved in every stage of development, often beginning with conducting user research and ending with testing different features. The designer also develops wireframes and the overall task flow based on the specific needs of the end-user.

Keep in mind, a UX expert is a highly skilled and experienced UX designer.

Expert UX Designer Job Description

According to Robert Half, the key responsibilities for an experienced UX designer are:

• Consulting with clients to understand their goals and explaining research results
• Conducting usability testing
• Creating wireframes, storyboards, sitemaps, and screen flows
• Creating product prototypes
• Developing personas and usage scenarios
• Analyzing user feedback and activity, and iterating to enhance the user experience
• Assisting with content development
• Conducting competitor and customer analysis

UX Expert Review

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, in the UX expert design review, the UX expert inspects a system (such as a website or application, or a section therein) to check for possible usability issues.

A UX review provides one of the most effective strategies for keeping customers. After reviewing the UX of your site or service, expert UX designers can determine the reasons behind customer drop-offs.

Here is what you can expect from getting a UX review from UX experts:

1. The UX review team you work with will conduct a usability review using a detailed checklist to examine each area of your interface.
2. You and the UX team will determine which areas fail to meet the expectations of your customers.
3. Once the UX review is complete, we’ll use the UX review checklist and the advice from the UX team to start improving your product or service.
4. The UX review team should provide a detailed summary of the issues they found. This will be your guideline in delivering a better user experience, thus reducing churn rates.
5. Improving the UX of your product may also lead to improvements in other metrics, such as increased brand awareness, engagement, and customer loyalty.
6. You may even experience fewer customer complaints and increased customer satisfaction.

5 Design Trends Every UX Expert Should Know

Because what good UX expert does not keep up with and try to emulate the latest trends?

1.Magic Links

No one wants to remember passwords and we all have access to our email. A magic link is a temporary URL that will log you into your account without having to type a password. They have been around for a few years, but we are noticing more and more services are adopting it.

2.  Sign in with Google or Apple

Similar to magic links, many digital products that require you to make an account are offering an option to sign in with familiar accounts you are already using. This not only allows you to use existing accounts but also helps you to avoid having to create a password. This method takes advantage of the fact that a lot of us use Chrome and are already logged into our accounts.

3. Pull Down Gestures

Popularized by Twitter back in the times of iOS6, this is a clean and intuitive way to add extra functionality when needed, but keeping it out of sight when not. Many products use it to show a search bar, especially chat applications.

Photo was taken from the article: iOS Pro: Pull-to-Search.

4. Dark Mode

The white color in the displays of our devices projects a glare that might be uncomfortable for a lot of people especially in low light situations. Given how ubiquity screens have become in our lives, we find ourselves using our devices longer. Thus, light conditions are not always ideal.

The dark mode uses darker colors to minimize the glare produced by our screens creating a more suitable visual experience for low light conditions. It also looks very cool. It’s gotten massively popular having major companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook offering options on their products.

5. Multi-Layered Navigation

This design trend emulates a physical paper-based environment to create continuity for contextual actions. Apple pioneered it many years ago in Safari and Preview on the Mac, and later in Safari for iOS. It gives the user a clear idea of where they are in a navigational hierarchy. This allows the user to quickly find their way out of or back from sub-sections. Apple Podcasts and Slack’s mobile app are great examples of this.

Last Thoughts

If you are looking to become a UX expert, keep learning, practicing, and mastering your UX design skills. Even though you don’t NEED 10,000 hours of experience, every minute counts so keep at it!

If you are looking to hire a UX expert, call us.