The first area of focus for this project is researching and identifying key trends within the UX industry. This stage will form the foundation of my report, allowing me to explore current challenges, emerging patterns, and areas of opportunity in design. By analysing a chosen UX trend early on, I can shape the direction of my idea, inform my written research, and gain a clear starting point for developing a relevant and well-informed concept.
Trends are patterns or directions in which ideas, behaviours, or technologies develop over time, often influenced by changes in society, culture, and technology. They appear across many industries such as fashion, technology, marketing, and design, shaping how products and services are created and experienced. For designers, identifying trends is important as it helps anticipate user expectations and create work that feels relevant and informed. Understanding trends also supports better decision-making, allowing designers to apply them thoughtfully to enhance user experience rather than simply following what is popular.
UX trends are emerging patterns in how digital experiences are designed, shaped by changes in user behaviour, technology, and cultural expectations. They influence how designers approach usability, accessibility, interaction, and visual design, often reflecting wider shifts such as the rise of AI, personalisation, and ethical design. As these trends evolve, they help shape the UX industry by guiding best practices and pushing designers to rethink how products can better support and engage users.
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UX trends are evolving approaches and patterns in user experience design that respond to changing user needs, technologies, and behaviours. They influence how digital products are designed, interacted with, and experienced over time.
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Tackling this project through a UX trend report allows me to critically research and analyse where the industry is heading rather than designing in isolation. Writing the report helps strengthen my understanding of current and emerging UX practices, improves my research and critical thinking skills, and supports my growth as a designer who can make informed, future-focused design decisions.
To begin this project in practice, we carried out a group exercise in class where we individually noted down UX trends we were aware of and pinned them to a shared board. With Daniel’s guidance, these ideas were then discussed and organised into broader UX trend categories, helping us see clear patterns and overlaps across the industry.
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This exercise was useful as it encouraged collaborative thinking and introduced me to trends I may not have considered. Grouping them visually made it easier to see patterns across the UX industry.
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For me, this activity acted as a strong starting point for the project. It helped highlight what trends are currently prominent within UX ****and sparked early ideas about which areas I could explore further. From this foundation, I felt more confident moving towards selecting a specific trend to research and develop into a focused UX trend report.
Now that I have established a clear understanding of what trends are, I wanted to move into actively identifying and forming connections between different UX trends. This step allowed me to build on my existing knowledge while also helping me determine which trends would be most relevant and valuable to explore further within the UX industry. To begin this process, I decided to mind map current trends I see across UX, grouping related ideas to highlight patterns and overlaps. This approach, similar to our in-class exercise, helped me narrow my focus and identify stronger areas of interest that could be developed into a well-informed and relevant UX trend report.
To begin my research, I explored a range of generic trends within the UX industry to gain a broad understanding of what is currently shaping digital experiences. This stage was important as it allowed me to step back and look at UX from a wider perspective, rather than focusing too quickly on one specific area. By reviewing common patterns across products, platforms, and technologies, I was able to identify recurring themes such as accessibility, AI integration, personalisation, and simplicity in interface design.
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Exploring generic UX trends gave me a broad overview of the patterns shaping modern digital experiences. It helped me identify recurring themes and provided a strong foundation for narrowing my focus to key UX trends relevant to my report.
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