With new technologies coming into play, the digital world is constantly evolving. As our industry is still in a period of experimentation, learning and knowledge-sharing, new experiences for users are continually finding their way into the mainstream. So, here are some of our top predictions for what will be big in 2012…
In 2012, I’m looking forward to using ‘Experience Mapping’ as a UX tool to thoroughly define and document the customers’ experience of a service and the needs that arise on their journey towards their goal.
Nikolas Head, Information Architect.
With more and more different types of devices on which you can browse the internet becoming available, I think responsive design will have a greater role to play in 2012 in order to create great interfaces that work across multiple platforms. 2011 saw the beginnings of this but I think 2012 will be the year when more focus is put on displaying content that it relevant to the device, which you are viewing it on.
Nathan Parris, Designer.
2011 saw brands really embracing the idea of storytelling, and I look forward to seeing how this will evolve further. I will also be watching technologies such as mobile computing, gesture control and augmented reality, as I expect their growth in the industry will continue to soar, bringing with them exciting new brand to consumer experiences.
Melissa Bennett, Copywriter.
Mobile Commerce has been growing fast and I believe it will be bigger in 2012… Most people never leave their mobile and with longer working hours and people having less free time to actually ‘go to the shops’, browsing and buying via a mobile device or tablet is starting to fit into people’s lifestyles naturally – Bring on 4G!
Georgie Pares, Project Manager.
With online games starting to popup using Canvas, (such as Cut The Rope www.cuttherope.ie) you can really see how Canvas is easily as good or better than Flash on a performance level, without any need for a single browser plug-in, purely native, along with being GPU powered it really is quite good. JavaScript is becoming almost real-time in processing, due to the latest browsers JS engines’ precompiling code on load to really speed things up, they make a great partnership in what will be the mainstream medium for graphically rich websites.
Joe Angus, Senior Developer.
2012 is the year of the first digital Olympics. In the UK, the BBC will stream 2500 hours of digital coverage of the games for TV, desktop, mobile and tablet, allowing users to personalise their Olympic experience via the media platforms they use. I predict social media will play a big part in this. Allowing users to act as commentators through real-time posts and tweets. This simple yet personal experience will hook the interest of even the uninitiated and encourage digital media consumption to rocket in the future.
Nia Lonergan, New Business Co-ordinator.
If Microsoft releases Windows 8 with their own app store and with IE 10 (which is planned for this year), to fully support all HTML5, it will be huge step for mankind and it will rapidly increase the standardisation of HTML5. There is still long way for HW acceleration for advanced graphics and 3D. But most of the microsites and apps on the web are not using that much graphical effects so people will turn to HTML5, which would work on most devices and doesn’t need any additional installation (unlike Flash Player).
Stefan Vadocz, Creative Developer.
2012 will be the year of the Smart TV, with us accepting the digital world into more and more aspects of our life, counterbalanced with it being (I think) the year Facebook crumbles!
Simon Beale, Designer.
Agree or disagree? Let us know what you think will be big in 2012!
