As I’m helping to create a new website, I’m looking into the latest product design trends. This article ( https://www.inc.com/young-entrepreneur-council/business-leaders-think-these-7-product-design-trends-will-be-big-in-2020.html ) by Young Entrepreneur Council cites several studies done that highlight what patterns business professionals have seen in new products. I thought I’d take a moment to share some of the interesting patterns encountered.
1.) Inclusivity- A lot of companies are taking extra steps to ensure that their products can be used by as many people as possible. This includes making products accessible to those with disabilities.
2.) Merging functionalities- The example they provided in the article was the combination of a camera, phone, computer, calculator and GPS in what is now the average smartphone. And with how widely adapted those have become, it’s no wonder combining functionalities like that has become a trend in product design. This is a tough one for me, because I also see the value in keeping things simplistic and user-friendly. At what point have we added to many features to a single product?
3.) Simple design- Another interesting one that has more to do with style of the product rather than functionality. I’ve been seeing this trend a lot, especially in the tech world. Lots of companies are opting to go with a very simple design that catches the eye and doesn’t overwhelm. This is something I’ve been working to improve on personally since I’m someone that loves to fill a whole page with information, colors, animations, etc. I guess flashy is out??
4.) Security- This is another big one, especially with everything in the news related to data breaching, etc. We have several places in our site that describe exactly what we do with the data we have. Transparency is everything these days!
5.) Nostalgia- As a 90’s kid that spent a few hours playing his old N64 last night, I can’t agree more with this one. Millennials especially, in my opinion, make a lot of their purchase decisions based around the concept of nostalgia. Definitely interested in getting other takes on this in the comments as to why that might be?
6.) Customization- This was an interesting one. In my opinion, customizing something to be your own might come at the cost of keeping things simplistic (point number 3!). What ways can you make sure a product is specially tailored to a specific customer while maintaining these other points?
If you’ve read all of this, thank you for indulging me. I’d love to hear your thoughts!