UX Design for Emerging Technologies
In our
everyday lives, we often witness people feeling not very clever while understanding
a new technology or while handling various technological devices. This is
especially true when it comes to the latest technological advances that take
place. People find it difficult to grasp how the new technologies work as they
are not habituated to it yet in their everyday lives. This happens because
typically people working on developing these technological advances have been
working on it for a considerable amount of time to perfect it. Thus due to this
perception gap technological advancements come across as technological marvels
to people. They are hesitant to use it because of the perceived notion that it
will be — ‘complicated to use’ than what they routinely use. They also are
cautious about trusting these new technologies right away.
The marvels of
our age are plentiful. Computers, the internet, and mobile devices have
primarily have served to quicken the advances in the way people communicate,
collaborate, and conduct business. We may notice that many prevailing models of
interaction have been enhanced, rather than transformed. This was made possible
by moving from the physical to the digital domain, making products, services,
and processes cheaper, faster and better. For example, people are watching
movies in theaters but are buying tickets via a mobile app. They eat restaurant
food but often order a takeaway online. They book a cab, reserve a hotel room,
make flight reservations, pay their bills and a multitude of other things
online with the help of their digital devices.
Since UX
Designers are the ones who are enabling technologies to make the lives of
people easier, the onus of staying up to date with technology lies with them.
They need to stay continually updated about the technological changes happening
in the world. When we are designing products to WOW people, the usage of latest
technological advances make all the difference. They not only aid in creating
the Wow factor but also make the products interesting and saves time &
effort. Thus UX Designers have to constantly step up their game and serve as
intermediaries for connecting newer technologies with people. Thus UX Designers
should be enablers of bringing out products that are equipped with newer and
emerging technologies in such a manner that it becomes easy for new users to
trust and use them with ease. After all, these advances in technology are meant
for the benefit of people and to create a conducive environment they can thrive
in.
To achieve
this UX Designers have to understand the business, design, and technology and
to make way for human responsive technology. This does not mean they have to
eliminate the complex, but they should try to make the complex more
approachable and intuitively understandable. As John Maeda, the celebrated
designer & technologist articulates ‘Simplicity is about subtracting the
obvious and adding the meaningful.’
Emerging
Technologies
Recently there
have been tremendous advances in the following technological fields such as
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Robotics, Augmented Reality
(AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Blockchain, 3D Printing and the Internet of Things
(IoT). These disruptive technologies have impacted the design of products,
services, and experiences for people they may require. UX Designers should
study these technologies and examine the transformations they have brought
about and explore further possibilities.
With the use
of these technologies, we are talking about robots assisting us everywhere — in
restaurants, at airports, in offices or just being a friend to hang out with.
Imagine our sunglasses showing us directions as we walk, drones carrying our
parcels, use of holograms for advertising, residences built with 3D printing,
banking revolutionized by blockchain, taking a trip on an exotic island through
VR, smart houses, public spaces & offices enabled with IoT and many more.
These scenarios are already a reality in many parts of the world.
To
understanding the newer technologies and tame their potential uses within the
social & ethical boundaries, to study how they will impact people in the
short & long term will require education & collaboration between the
innovators, technology experts, and UX Designers. UX Design fraternity and the
Colleges/Universities who teach this discipline, also need to continually
nurture this innovative mindset. This exercise may even result in new design
& technology specializations, many of which we have not yet thought of. It
is also likely that in the near future, we will see the blurring of boundaries
between design and engineering for software, hardware, & biotechnology.
Therefore the overlapping and collaborative trajectory of the careers of
industrial designers, computer engineers, UX practitioners, and scientists will
take them into unexplored spaces. Just as the farmers who moved to the cities
participate in the industrial revolution and had no idea how their lives were about
to change, it is difficult for us at this juncture to envisage completely the
outcome of the collective work of such teams.
However, we
can safely conclude that the convergence of these technologies will be far
greater than the sum of its parts. If UX Designers are prepared to take on such
challenges, the sky is the limit!!
Interested in
UX Design? We have so many other interesting UX Blogs on Design Thinking and UX /
UI Design
By Priya Dubey
24 April, 2019
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