As a result, companies across the globe have undergone drastic changes, both in their internal treatment of their employees and in their external communication with their customers and the public in general. Several business sectors that may not have prioritized user-centered product development in the past have redirected their design process in recent months to ensure that they are releasing a friendly, inclusive product that goes beyond just accomplishing the task it promises.
Accommodation Rentals and Sales
For example, there are numerous startup companies using UX designers to create apps that could help eliminate problems in the rental industry. These apps will connect landlords with their tenants via platforms that help facilitate conversations about common problems like overdue rent or unresolved property damages. Coyote Rental Solutions is one company using UX to help develop this product, as seen here in this Red Academy UX consulting project write up.
Airbnb, meanwhile, has included a humanitarian component to their company’s product provision, removing service fees from apartments rented in areas stricken by natural disasters, as well launching a design toolkit to keep their designers mindful of vulnerable audiences as they build products and webpages for the company. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have all begun emphasizing inclusive design kits as well.
Knowledge Transfer
GoogleDocs, Folio, Abstract, Kactus and Plant are just a few of the companies that have changed their information sharing platforms to better manage multiple simultaneous contributions to a project or document. They are allowing for more efficient real-time collaboration without design hang-ups that eat contributers’ time and inhibit the flow of ideas. Designers have improved options for screen sharing between multiple devices, organizing details with visual cues, and compartmentalizing information on a platform without losing minute changes in the process.
Political Activism
Political activism is only as strong as the people supporting the movement. Therefore, political campaigns and individuals are using UX design to create more communicative websites that provide information about meetups, rallies, and local elections that community members might not know about otherwise [3]. These tools will keep people engaged and well-versed about issues without requiring them to sift through bureaucratic text or navigate antiquated, sterile websites.
Artificial Intelligence Design
Most designers acknowledge “AI” as the most talked about buzzword of the year. In the future, “smart algorithms” are anticipated to change the entire process of design and product development across every industry in the world. However, UX Designers and AI coders have to ask questions about the limits of technology, identifying which advancements would actually be beneficial to humanity as a whole. UX Designers and user-based methodology and research will be at the center of this ethical interrogation as these advancements progress.
From Airbnb to Microsoft to Target to Patagonia, large corporations with very diverse purposes have begun incorporating genuine human interest into their products, providing the public with a service that opens doors for people of all demographics, backgrounds, and abilities. In the future, we hope to see more and more companies incorporate these principles in their design process.
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