As the world continues its march of digitalisation of things, it is the websites and applications which are becoming all the more important today as part of marketing efforts of brands and platforms. And in the larger scheme of things, it is design’s role in interfaces which is becoming indispensable in the modern contemporary times.
Recognising the value of the same and the growing usability and transformation capabilities of Artificial Intelligence across all marketing spheres, the third edition of LS Digital’s Challenge The Now In:Sights Series highlights the future trends in AI Enhanced UX Design.
Speaking to Marketing Mind exclusively on the launch of the same, Santosh Shukla, the Co-founder and CEO of F1Studioz which was acquired by one of India’s leading Digital Business Transformation Companies- LS Digital in late 2022 and has now been elevated to the role of Co-Founder and CEO, LS Digital Group, mentioned that the origination of terminologies like User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) in itself were created for digital interfaces as the digital boom across the world began in the late 1990s.
As per several reports, in India, the general public access to the Internet started in 1995 and by 2023, the country had over 900 million plus internet users.
Hence, sharing his analysis of how the UI UX arena has evolved over the years in India, Shukla mentioned that the market today has evolved multifold with regards to sensibilities and perception, both.
“Earlier on the case was such that UI UX both were thought of or even worked upon after the entire app was engineered just to beautify the application merely. But today, the needles have moved beyond ‘afterthought’ to being a part of interfaces since the ideation stage itself. When you are thinking about how the interface needs to look, convey and cater to what the users want today, the right way to go about it is that engineering of the solution or interface should follow User Experience. This chronology can indeed help save a lot of money in the lean-startup world that we operate in today,” he said.
Elaborating on the larger approach for UI UX Design in the current times, he suggested that it should always begin with Why and What- ‘Why should the user care about it and what is the need of the user that one is solving’. Once both these questions are answered, the professional can try to see how the product fits in his/her story and then correlate the same with what emotion does he/she want the users to have when associating with the product.
Commenting on the role of design in the modern contemporary and digital times, he highlighted that it plays the ‘most pivotal’ role in today’s scenario as design is what matters when any user interacts with any interface as it solves for three main purposes- helping users understand what the interface is, to engage with it, and to be able to think of what possibilities does it open.
In addition to design, Shukla also emphasized that color plays a very important role in human psychology and in influencing what emotions the user feels when looking at a particular interface.
To explain the rationale behind the same, he said, “When we work with companies and brands, we make it a point to include color in the branding stage discussion itself and quiz the brand team on what emotion do they want users to have when engaging with the interface, and basis that one can easily derive what shades to use in the design palette via colour emotion chart.”
Once the two are defined, the designing for UX begins and companies begin borrowing inspirations and ideas adhering to the brand guidelines and keep the brand colour at minimum, he added.
With this he also busted the misconception of art and design being the same and pointed out that the primary difference between the two is that art is for self-interest and hence it doesn’t matter if the world understands it or not. On the contrary, design, in his viewpoint, is done for the larger masses- i.e- users with empathy inbuilt in it so as to ensure that users gain value from it.
Some of the key highlights from LS Digital’s third edition of #ChallengingTheNow In:Sights series are as follows:
UX Designers in a Tech Driven World
The ever-evolving technological landscape presents UX designers with a constant challenge: staying current with rapidly emerging technologies like AI, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), and Voice User Interfaces (VUIs). This need to adapt coincides with the delicate task of balancing business objectives, such as conversions, with user satisfaction.
As technology becomes more pervasive, the ethical dilemmas around privacy, data collection, and the algorithmic bias become increasingly significant. Designing for personalisation is crucial, but it must be done with respect for user privacy, avoiding the pitfall of over-personalisation and user discomfort. Effective collaboration with developers, product managers, marketers, and other stakeholders is also essential for creating successful user experiences.
AI Revolutionizes User Experience (UX)
AI is rapidly transforming UX across industries. From personalized recommendations in entertainment products and services to the conversational interfaces in banking and AI-powered sales assistants, AI streamlines workflows and also empowers the users
The Future of Personalized Experiences
The cutting-edge AI technologies promise a future of personalized and intuitive experiences. Also, the immense advancements in artificial general intelligence (AGI) and ambient intelligence hold an immense potential for UX design.
AI Tools Empower Designers
Existing AI tools empower designers throughout the design process. They help with the style transfer for creative inspiration, user behavior analysis with heatmaps, and prototype creation. These tools streamline design tasks and provide valuable insights to support design decisions.
Mitigating Bias for Ethical AI
Mitigating bias in AI algorithms by using diverse datasets that accurately represent the user population is crucial for ethical use of AI for enhanced user experience.
Human-Centered Design Remains Key
Human-centered design (HCD) principles remain paramount for user research, empathy, and creating engaging experiences with AI. Explainable AI builds user trust by allowing users to understand AI outputs and control data usage.
The Way Forward
As the world navigates through the era of UX 3.0, the symbiotic relationship between AI and UX design is becoming increasingly evident. Hence, the reciprocity of AI and UX is very practical approach that is reshaping the future of user experiences. In fact, AI is becoming all the more instrumental in enhancing UX by providing hyper-personalised experiences and predictive insights for the users.
Conversely, the quality of UX design influences the effectiveness of AI. A well-designed UX provides a rich dataset from which AI can learn, leading to more accurate predictions and better user experiences.
To read the full report, click here.
Apart from the report insights, Shukla also talked about how LS Digital’s geographical expansion to Australia by setting up its office in Melbourne falls in line with the DBT company’s ambition to become the first independent network from India to expand globally.
The idea behind this expansion plan, as explained by him, is to ensure that customer centricity continues to remain one of the key elements as LS Digital opens its bouquet of services to the world, keeping in mind the needs and demands of customers.
“The whole thesis of LS Digital is that we have the capability to solve the problem of our current and prospective customers holistically across all areas, hence the focus is on leaning in and meeting the demands of whatever market we enter since every geography has a different nuance to it. And it also depends on the capability of the team. So, yes, we want to cater to the entire set of services- starting from providing consultancy to ending at client delivery right there, but for carrying out the execution of the bulk of it, we do have our India office in place,” he mentioned.
Furthermore, he also highlighted that since F1Studioz (part of LS Digital Group’s UI/UX division) has been catering to the US Market for quite some time now, he is confident of delivering optimum results and value in Australia as well since the design sensibilities and principles of Australia are quite similar to that of the US- simple, intuitive and minimal interfaces.
At the end of the day, he pointed out that all interfaces- be it of brands, platforms and so on and so forth, need to have a specific identity that must be relevant to the space and audience it caters to.
“Till an interface meets all of its utility (functionality of the app/website) and usability criteria, craft is a blank canvas that you can paint as you want because only then will you have the ability to tweak things as per the taste of your users and give them delight while evoking emotions,” he stated.
