THE EVOLUTION OF DESIGN

THE EVOLUTION OF DESIGN

We’re nearly halfway through 2018, and the ever-evolving world of design continues to embrace new shifts, twists, and turns. As the capabilities of the industry continue to advance, designers, AI experts, developers, and tech specialists all predict that alternative industries will become increasingly more design centered.

Consider politics. Samuel Adaramola, who is a lead designer at Our Revolution, a political organization inspired by Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential work, notes that the political sphere will begin to see more of a shift that prioritizes the user. UX design will be paramount, especially in way of grassroots political organizations. In this day and age, most groups, from institutions to social clubs, manage an active website that serves as a primary resource to elicit action. Adaramola suggests the basic functions of these web pages will evolve, with the audience at the center of every change. We’ll see more activity that promotes elections, offices, open roles, and opportunities for people with passion to get involved. Designing more extensive programs and resources plays a key role in getting more people involved, whether those audiences have access to technology or not. Expanding the bandwidth of what these resources can do will bring about more face-to-face interactions, translating as a profound impact in the world of politics.Inclusivity is another rising trends that leading brands across different industries are taking note of. From architecture to city planning, and even retail, a thorough exploration of the human experience is at the crux of design thinking. While the traditional norm has been to approach design as a solution for one standard set of needs or abilities, we’re beginning to see more of a shift that does a better job of catering to the comprehensive needs of a diverse audience.

We’re seeing all types of industries embrace this shift. One example includes a statement made by Satya Nadella, a father of a son with cerebral palsy, and Microsoft’s CEO. The multinational tech leader has publicized their dedication to creating a range of different products that are increasingly more accessible to all types of people with various needs. And they’re not the only ones. Competitors like Apple, and even Facebook, have demonstrated their intent to follow suit. Not to mention that top-tier retailers including Target and Tommy Hilfiger are diversifying their efforts to offer their consumers significantly more variety in way of products, sizes, and more. Many of these brands must get creative to implement meaningful solutions that allow them to align with the inclusivity trend, but it’s work that’s well worth it.

As the potential of design continuously expands, the execution for it is evolving, too. The world of digital is reinventing itself by advancing beyond flat-design and experimenting with dimensional design instead. With experiences claiming the forefront of innovative marketing strategies, there’s a rising interest among consumers to interact with design in a way that allows them to feel, see, and touch. In an effort to defy the standard of two dimensional design, enhancing the physical components and emphasizing defining visual elements work to bring more differentiation to the final product, and gives consumers a new way to engage.

Another arguably obvious shift we’re seeing is the intersection of data and artificial intelligence. Data is going to be exponentially more accessible, giving everyday consumers that ability to view information that will allow them to better visualize spaces they aren’t physically in. Through mobile phones and technological advancements that allow us to actually wear our devices—think the Apple watch—we’ll be able to gauge the length of the line at the grocery store without actually being there. Experts illustrate this by referencing the tracking capabilities on the Uber app as a baseline. In the same ways you can see where your Uber driver is even when they’re not yet there, the future of data and AI will be able to show you the things you can’t physically see. As it becomes more and more normalized to access data from credit cards to spending habits to health data from our Fitbits, designers will work to innovate a new way for consumers to interact with this data in a highly effective way.

What other trends do you predict we’ll see in the remainder of 2018?