The sun rises on a new year, the lights on the machinery begin to flicker back on, and I’m looking at the next 12 months, wondering how the – yes, I’m going to use this word: unprecedented – year just gone has changed the digital landscape.
What has shifted? What has changed irreversibly? What new challenges might we expect when creating digital experiences?
The first change I’ve noted is among clients and decision-makers. As realities for businesses have shifted drastically and rapidly, the desire to entertain ideas that were hitherto difficult – or pitched far beyond current capabilities – is gaining a foothold. It seems that one early mover in the industry can prick the ears and peel the eyes of the rest. The possibilities suddenly don’t seem so daunting, and after all the talking, plans are starting to be put in place.
Of course, the same old habits die hard: gears will still take time to clunk into motion, and processes and protocols won’t change overnight, particularly within large organisations. Agility and nimbleness will continue to be a struggle, even if there is the will to adapt, react and strike early. Even so, the attitudinal shift among clients is a fantastic opportunity to create better, more engaging and effective digital experiences.
As most countries have returned to tighter restrictions or even national lockdowns over the winter, the vague summer memory of the physical, ‘real’ world opening up has faded. Among consumers, the proficiency gained during the first lockdown in completing end-to-end online journeys has continued to grow. Now that we’re back to working from home and being unable to get out there in the world, this reality has encouraged people to further embrace the good (and the bad) of doing almost everything online.
However, service design – where the offline to online journey is completely joined up – will be more important than ever, and will play an increasing role in digital design. In short, whereas brands might once have just considered it useful to have a frictionless journey, they’re now seeing it as crucial.
Why is this happening? Counterintuitively, you’d think that the physical to digital journey is less important now that the physical experience has been seriously curtailed by the various restrictive measures put in place to curb the virus. After all, users often now only have a single way of interacting with and buying from brands. But actually it’s all about confidence and familiarity; having a seamless experience that combines previously familiar methods of completing a purchase journey will push consumer confidence in the digital domain. And anyway, ‘physical’ will return, albeit in a slightly transformed state, so it’s important to welcome it back into the fold more integrated than ever.
As a direct consequence of the pandemic, designers are now working in a very different and sometimes challenging setting, logging on from their kitchens, bedrooms and garden sheds. For some, the benefits are myriad. For others, the difficulties with this new way of working are acute. Despite various ways to mitigate them (as I wrote in a blog post last year), things haven’t yet evolved to the point where all the benefits of communal working have been transferred successfully to the domestic environment.
It’s doubly important, too, to iron out these problems considering the proportion of people predicted to work from home in 2021 and beyond. Many people have already written about how the old status quo won’t return once the pandemic is over, and how we won’t have the same numbers of people doing the 5-day-a-week rat run to the office.
Protecting mental health, creating better, more immersive ways of collaborating, and improving the physical and practical aspects of working from home need to be overcome by employers and tech companies. This should – and I believe will be – a focus for them this year.
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So what can I conclude about the year ahead?
Leaving aside the wider world and the lasting changes Covid will have over our lives, the field of digital design will be permanently affected. Bold ideas have been accelerated and pushed into the open, and a more holistic and exciting approach is being embraced. People are also learning to collaborate differently, despite the challenges of working remotely.
So as the light shines a little brighter on the exit from the pandemic (despite the virus giving us one final – and massive – kick in the teeth on its way out), there’s a small glimmer of hope in our little corner of the world.