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Walter from Chicago, Illinois, asks: what are the top UX trends for 2023?

I love that question. Thanks for asking, Walter. This is UX Question number 23 and I am Ben Judy.

What are the top UX trends for 2023? I feel a bit silly answering this one.

The reason I feel silly is because every year—constantly, really—there is a barrage of blog posts and social posts in which everybody lists their ‘top UX trends’ for the year.

And they all plagiarize each other, to the point where there’s clearly no original thought anymore. And usually half of the trends they list were same trends listed last year, with a lot of recycling.

And half of the so-called UX trends aren’t about UX at all. It’s like, 3D imagery. Gradients. VR and AR and the Metaverse. Is that… are those UX trends? I mean. I don’t know.

That’s just… gradients are a visual design stylistic choice that have been used more or less forever. VR and AR have been a breaking ‘trend’ for well over a decade. So maybe let’s stop saying that.

(Sigh) I will attempt to comment on a few things I think are trending topics for 2023 that should be of interest to UX designers.

One: AI generated content and design. Now everybody is talking about this. AI is replacing human designers. My take on this trend is that proof that a design was created by a human, or how much was created by a human with how much AI assistance, will become important. As concern over AI generated content grows, demand for proof of who or what created that content will become a user need. We need new UX patterns for that.

Two: the line between product designer and UX designer will become more aligned with seniority. Where product designers are junior level roles, and UX designers are more senior level. This is because product design is increasingly about using UI design to drive short term business metrics; whereas UX strategy is more aligned to long term business outcomes and user needs. Wishful thinking? Maybe. Hey, this my trend list!

Three: an increase in device specific design. Think mobile-only, headset-only, wearable-only. Responsive Web design will still be important, but the pendulum of need will swing toward native, platform specific solutions. UX designers will need to adapt to this.

Finally, a prediction: around December and January we will see the floodgates open on blog posts and videos titled, “UX / UI trends for 2024” written by so-called Lead UX Designers with three years of career experience, the content of which articles are probably generated by Chat GPT.

(Sigh.) We’re doomed.

Keep asking your questions about UX. Next time, I’ll answer the question: Will AI replace UX designers?

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