Experiences: Future User Experiences

As UX designers, along with the rest of the world today, we’re hyperaware of the impact and momentum of generative artificial intelligence (AI)—so much so that we’re now wondering whether people might be focusing so much on a few trees that they’re forgetting to consider the forest. Allow me to explain. While AI is undeniably a sea change in computing, it ultimately represents a much broader revolution in which technology is becoming more human centric and human conscious. Essentially, technology is now learning to adapt to people, as opposed to people needing to learn and adapt to new technologies.

As part of this shift, technology is expanding not only its cognitive abilities but also its sensory, social, and ethical capabilities. Within the expansion of technology’s sensory abilities, we’re seeing advancements and growth in spatial computing. Spatial context and movement within three-dimensional spaces are core human-sensory abilities, and thus, likely new growth areas in humanizing machine interactions. Spatial computing has emerged as one of the most compelling paradigms that are melding with AI—so compelling that we can consider it the third wave of interactions in personal computing. Read More

Design is an intrinsic part of human culture, reflecting our ability to shape and improve the world around us. Whether we’re considering the architecture of our cities, the products we use daily, or the digital user interfaces that connect us globally, design is the language through which we express our creativity, solve problems, and envision the future.

Design encompasses multiple disciplines, including UX design, graphic design, industrial design, fashion design, and interior design, among others. Each of these domains contributes to the aesthetics, functionality, and user friendliness of the products and environments with which we interact. Read More

Welcome to the first edition of my new column: A Better Future: Designing for good in a changing world. My hope is that this column will be a natural extension of the two series I’ve previously written for UXmatters, “Understanding Gender and Racial Bias in AI” and “The State of UX Design Education.” My goal is to continue educating myself and this community on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the future of design, with a focus on the perils of designing in an artificial intelligence (AI)–powered world and what we, as UX designers and researchers, can do to address these challenges.

To get us all on the same page about capital G, good design, I’m kicking off my column with a discussion about design ethics. This topic feels particularly relevant given the recent news from Menlo Park, California. As I write this, The Wall Street Journal has released The Facebook Files, investigative research that concludes what many of us have suspected for years: Facebook has some special rules for elite users. Instagram is toxic for teenage girls. Facebook is an angry place and makes the world an angrier place. Read More