This document outlines 7 experience trends to watch in 2017 and beyond. It summarizes that 1) usability will become a commodity as design patterns are widely understood, and experience differentiation will come from micro-interactions; 2) responsive design will be assumed rather than noticed; 3) interactions will increasingly be conversational through chatbots and voice interfaces; 4) new technologies like VR will require new patterns of interaction beyond screens; 5) experiences will need to be seamlessly stitched together across multiple devices and platforms; 6) designers are well-positioned to drive innovation in companies; and 7) companies have an increasing ethical responsibility around diversity, accessibility, social impact, and reliability of information.

1. TOP 7 EXPERIENCE
TRENDS TO WATCH
@ J O E S A L O W I T Z
I N 2 0 1 7 & B E Y O N D

2. USABILITY AS
A COMMODITY
N U M B E R O N E

3. Today, bad designers can be good and good designers
can be great. Why? Because software design
patterns are widely understood and accepted.

4. Features are 99% the same, what’s the differentiator?

5. Features are 99% the same, what’s the differentiator?

6. Micro-interactions
C O N T A I N E D M O M E N T S T H A T R E V O L V E
A R O U N D A S I N G L E U S E C A S E
INTERACTING WITH A SINGLE ELEMENT (E.G. ICONS)
TRANSITIONS & REFRESHES
APPEARING & DISAPPEARING ELEMENTS
COMMUNICATING STATUS
CONTROLLING AN ONGOING PROCESS (E.G. MUSIC VOLUME)

7. Some examples of Micro-interactions: http://bit.ly/2iLcR9L

9. In 2017, designers should not be afraid of starting
from design patterns to cover the basics, and then
focusing the bulk of their time on the details that will
make experiences feel more relevant, delightful —
and therefore more memorable.
U S A B I L I T Y A S A C O M M O D I T Y

10. WORDS WE’LL
STOP NOTICING
N U M B E R T W O

11. R E M E M B E R W H E N
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
WAS OPTIONAL?

12. Google removed the label “mobile friendly” in 2016

13. RESPONSIVE
Words We’ll Stop Noticing
( N O T B E C A U S E T H E Y A R E N O T I M P O R T A N T ,
B U T B E C A U S E T H E Y A R E A S S U M E D )
MOBILE FRIENDLY
DESIGN THINKING / HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN
USABLE & INTUITIVE
BELOW / ABOVE THE FOLD
“X” CLICKS AWAY

14. EVERYTHING’S A
CONVERSATION
N U M B E R T H R E E

15. E V E R Y T H I N G H A S A L W A Y S B E E N A
CONVERSATION
H I N T , H I N T

16. HEY UBER, I
NEED A RIDE
OKAY JOE,
WHERE ARE
YOU?
HERE I AM!
JOE UBER JOE

17. YUP YOUR CAR
IS HERE
JOE UBER
READY TO
ORDER?
UBER

18. HERE’S YOUR
RECEIPT.
UBER
HOW WAS
YOUR RIDE?
UBER

19. C H A T B O T S , A I & V U I
CONVERSATIONAL UI

20. Chatbots: automated conversational experiences. Another
powerful touchpoint for brands and designers to utilize.

21. Order pizza from Facebook Messenger with Pizza Hut’s chatbot

22. VUI: navigating software using voice instead of touch. Yet
another powerful way to interact with a brand’s products.

23. T H E I N T E R A C T I O N S O F T H E F U T U R E
A R E N O T M A D E O F B U T T O N S O R S C R E E N S

24. BREAKING
THE GLASS
N U M B E R F O U R

25. L I M I T E D
SCREENS ARE:
T W O D I M E N S I O N A L
C O L D
C O M F O R T A B L E
(They’re just oh so familiar to design for)

26. DESIGNERS MUST START THINKING ABOUT
ESTABLISHING NEW PATTERNS OF INTERACTION
FOR ALL OF THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES

27. THE VOID
VR EXPERIENCE

28. PROJECT SOLI
MOTION BASED INTERACTION

29. AMAZON ECHO
VOICE BASED AI

30. I N T E R V A L S . P A U S E S .
I N T O N A T I O N S . C U L T U R E .
A G E . A C C E N T . G E S T U R E S .
B O D Y L A N G U A G E . P O S T U R E .
P E R S O N A L I T Y . N O N V E R B A L S .
T A S T E . E Y E M O V E M E N T .
P H Y S I C A L C O M F O R T . S M E L L .
V O L U M E . C O N T E X T & M O R E .
HUMAN
BEHAVIOR

31. In 2017, expect to see more
and more design teams hiring
psychologists, physiologists,
anthropologists, researchers,
and other specialists to work
with them on designing these
new experiences.
B R E A K I N G T H E G L A S S

32. STITCHING
EVERYTHING
TOGETHER
N U M B E R F I V E

33. 1 9 9 0 2 0 0 0 T O D A Y
1 D E V I C E
4 + D E V I C E SNO. OF DEVICES
PER PERSON

34. 1 9 9 0 2 0 0 0 T O D A Y
SOCIAL ACCOUNTS
PER PERSON

35. Brands that connect the dots of an experience seamlessly,
without friction, across technologies are winning.

36. CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING
Brands must map out the journeys their customers are taking
through an experience, then work to smooth the points of friction.

37. ECOSYSTEM MAPPING
Brands must create a holistic vision of how all of the devices
connect to create a seamless journey for customers and how their
business units collaborate to support the customer journey.

38. CONTEXTUAL
PROTOTYPE
TESTING
Brands must test their products as functional prototypes, in context,
observing real users to ensure that their product will delight.

39. T E C H N O L O G Y S H O U L D R E Q U I R E
T H E S M A L L E S T P O S S I B L E
A M O U N T O F A T T E N T I O N
A M B E R C A S E

40. In 2017 we won’t necessarily be designing
the whole ecosystem, but the ways people
transition from one touchpoint to the other.
S T I T C H I N G E V E R Y T H I N G T O G E T H E R

41. DESIGNING
INNOVATION
N U M B E R S I X

42. Designers and developers are in a unique spot to
drive innovation in companies because of the their
field’s innately entrepreneurial mindset and their
unique ability to envision a digitally connected world.
DESIGNING
INNOVATION
We were born to do this

43. WE UNDERSTAND WHY HUMAN
CENTERED DESIGN MATTERS
WE KNOW HOW TO PRODUCE GOOD
WORK IN A LEAN & AGILE MANNER
WE LIVE THE SILICON VALLEY MINDSET
WE CAN ENVISION A DIGITALLY-
CONNECTED FUTURE

44. AND THEY DON’T
( A T L E A S T N O T A S W E L L )

46. ETHICAL
RESPONSIBILITY
N U M B E R S E V E N

47. DIVERSITY
Companies are finding that
product teams with a diverse
makeup in race, gender, age,
and more produce better
results.
Example: AirBnB hired a
Director of Diversity in 2016
Products are better when
the team is diverse.
Products are better when
your team considers
audience diversity.

48. ACCESSIBILITY
Companies are focusing on
personalizing experiences for
the handicapped, different
aged users, different
languages, etc.
Most companies have a
digital presence already.
They’re focused less on
launching new digital
solutions and more on
perfecting their existing
offerings.

49. SOCIAL IMPACT
Companies have
traditionally separated
themselves from the impact
their user base creates.
In 2017, companies are
starting to take ownership of
the effect that content users
create has on the world.
Recent examples include
YikYak adding a reporting
system to counter bullying,
Nextdoor fighting racism by
adjusting the way you post
messages, and Reddit banning
hate-filled subreddits

50. RELIABILITY
Designers are starting to
explore patterns to help inform
users about truth, without bias,
and without limiting free
speech.
“Fake news” was the big
news of late-2016.
Products designers are on
the hook not to squelch or
bias content, but to provide
a mechanism of informing
users of the reliability of the
content being disseminated
in their products.

51. I F Y O U R C O M P A N Y I S J U S T
I N I T F O R T H E M O N E Y ,
M A Y B E Y O U S H O U L D L O O K
F O R A B E T T E R C O M P A N Y .
I T ’ S N O T Y O U R F A U L T , B U T
I T I S Y O U R R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y
A L A N C O O P E R

52. ON THE HORIZON
1. I N C R E A S I N G N E E D F O R S P A T I A L D E S I G N P A T T E R N S
2. I N C R E A S E D D E S I G N & W O R K F L O W A U T O M A T I O N
• S K E T C H P L U G I N S , Z E P L I N S P E C S ,
I N V I S I O N C O L L A B O R A T I O N , S L A C K
B O T S , A U T O M A T E D U S E R T E S T I N G
3. E X P A N D E D A N D M O R E S P E C I A L I Z E D E X P E R I E N C E
D E S I G N R O L E S

53. T H A N K Y O U