The State of UI/UX in 2022 and Beyond: 6 Things You Need to Know
Tags: ui, ux, website, designer
Published: 2022-02-14 11:42:30

---
title: The State of UI/UX in 2022 and Beyond: 6 Things You Need to Know
published: true
description: 
tags: UI, UX, website, designer
//cover_image: https://direct_url_to_image.jpg
---

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">UI and UX have never been as important as they are in 2022, when ensuring your digital home is top-notch is no longer optional. Users simply expect better experiences and are no longer as willing to trust brands with clunky websites.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In this post, we&rsquo;ll look at six facts to bear in mind when it comes to the state of UI and UX in 2022, which will hopefully help you provide your users with the kind of online relationship they are looking for.&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">New Kids on the Block</span></h2>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">UX design is now considered to be&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/List/Best-Jobs-in-America-LST_KQ0,20.htm" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">one of the best US jobs</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. As the position comes with an average salary&nbsp;</span><a href="https://builtin.com/salaries/design-ux/ux-designer" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">upwards of $90.000 a year</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, it&rsquo;s no wonder that more and more people are honing their skills in the UX department, looking to score a lucrative position.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">As Google has also launched&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-ux-design" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">its UX design course</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;(among others) on Coursera, it has never been easier to enter the field.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">All of this translates to an influx of a younger workforce, ready to take on the job market and leave their mark on the industry. As a veteran UX designer (or someone who is yet looking to make a name for themselves), you need to be mindful that the competition for every job will increase and that you will need to hone your skills further in order to compete.&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Speed Is King</span></h2>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Optimizing for website speed is another trend that we expect to become even more important. As our average attention span&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.wyzowl.com/human-attention-span/" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">keeps getting shorter and shorter</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;(and as goldfish all over the world rejoice), if a website fails to load fast and transitioning between pages takes more than a couple of seconds, most users will simply click off.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In terms of UX, this trend highlights the importance of light design, pre-loading, and on-page&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">optimization. UX designers will either need to become better acquainted with the intricacies of website development and technical SEO or partner up with those who are able to speed things up significantly.&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Hierarchy Matters&nbsp;</span></h2>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">How a website is structured impacts everything from how it will rank to how pleasant of an experience it will offer to its visitors. Gigantic menus that are impossible to navigate, pages that are important but placed too far from the homepage, and internal navigation that makes zero sense are all a thing of the very distant past.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">When you&nbsp;</span><a href="https://blog.optimalworkshop.com/anatomy-website-website-architecture/" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">begin to contemplate website architecture</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, you need to be extremely mindful of the tastes and needs of its target audience. What do they look for most often, and what kind of navigation are they used to?&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">How old a user is, the device they are using, and their search query will all play a vitally important role in navigation and page architecture. That means that there&rsquo;s no embarking on a design project without proper research.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Research Is Key</span></h2>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">That brings us to our next trend: research.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">To offer good user experiences, you now need to devote a significant amount of time to getting to know your client, their audience, and their competitors. What were once considered industry standards are no longer enough, and you need to lend a personal touch to each project.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">This will naturally&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.purrweb.com/blog/ui-ux-design-cost/" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">lead to increased costs</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and clients will need to be made aware of the extent of the project and what they can expect to get for the price they are paying. This means UI and UX designers need to become more adept at project management and proposal writing in order to demonstrate the value of their work and the results a client can expect.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Accessibility Matters More</span></h2>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The number of cases brought against companies failing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act&nbsp;</span><a href="https://info.usablenet.com/2020-report-on-digital-accessibility-lawsuits" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">has been on the rise</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;over the past couple of years. They&rsquo;re especially prominent in a semi-post-pandemic world.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">For a UX designer, this means that accessibility, especially in certain niches, needs to become your top priority. Considering how users with different impairments will likely use and navigate a website thus becomes paramount.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">There is, however, more to accessibility to consider. Something as simple as placing a &ldquo;call now&rdquo; button outside the reach of a smartphone user&rsquo;s thumb can result in poor UX and lose a valuable lead. Designers need to vigilantly optimize for various screen sizes, operating systems, and traffic sources.&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Localization and Personalization Keep Expanding&nbsp;</span></h2>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Personalization has been a marketing trend for a while, and it will only&nbsp;</span><a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/data-personalize-marketing-li" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">continue to impact</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;the way users expect to interact with a website. While it is more impactful in the world of ecommerce, even content-based websites need to consider how they serve their posts to different audience segments.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Furthermore, localization &ndash; i.e., personalizing content and other website elements based on a user&rsquo;s location &ndash; will become even more important, especially for brands that have brick-and-mortar premises across a wide range of locations.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">UX and UI design will thus need to dive even deeper into customer, client, and visitor psychology in order to better understand, for example, what someone from Italy is looking for, as opposed to a visitor from the States.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">While certainly a lengthy and potentially costly endeavor, personalization and localization done right can significantly boost a website&rsquo;s bottom line.&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">To Sum It Up&nbsp;</span></h2>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">By taking note of these six points, you can ensure your website is the best it can be in terms of interface and experience. Your visitors will certainly appreciate it!</span></p>
<p><br></p>
<p><br></p>