2008 in Review: Developments that rocked the world of User Experience

When it comes to software, user experience can evolve very rapidly. This time last year, for example, multi-touch was a new term and software-as-a-service (SaaS) was still synonymous with Salesforce.com. Now gesture-based mobile devices are the norm, and most companies that provide services using software, are pursuing a SaaS strategy. So today I wanted to look back at 2008 and highlight some of the key developments that rocked the world of what users experience. To help get a broader perspective, I also asked some of Catalyst Resources’ staff (those working over the holidays!) to highlight what they saw as significant trends.

Gilroy: UX Designer
- OCR - It may sound like a simple thing, but the application of optical character recognition software to check scanning on ATM machines was a radical shift in how users interacted with financial institutions. Besides shaving time and adding assurances for the consumer, ATMs using OCR technology enable Day 0 or Day 1 check processing and completely eliminate empty-envelope fraud.
- SRT - Speech recognition technology such as goog-411, another way to give our hands respite from QWERTY keyboards. It’s an automated On-Star.
- Input diversity - from the iphone to the Wii to the Segway, we saw the proliferation of a variety of input mechanisms.

Regis: Interaction Architect
- Decline of static HTML - For well over a decade the languages and scripts used to code web pages has severely limited how users could interact with online content. Flash titillated users’ retinas when surfing brochure sites, but HTML tables’ sovereignty was never challenged when one had to check his bank account online. 2008 marked the end of that era, Flex, Silverlight, AJAX and other RIA technologies are blurring the line that used to separate desktop applications from online services. Check boxes surrender to ctrl + click for multiple selection, portlets can be dragged and resized on the fly and data flows more fluidly between clients and servers.

Jessica: UI Architect
- iPhone app store - Without a doubt the biggest thing to hit the world of UI was the iPhone 3G and more importantly the opening of the (virtual) doors to the app store. The world of mobile applications has exploded in volume, creativity and diversity and it will only get bigger. The sales model in which Apple takes a portion of the sales and passes the rest on to the originator has also opened the door to independent software design and development. Growth will be exponential.

Lulu: UI Designer
- Designer Tools - Adobe Catalyst (Flex and Air) and Expressions Blend (for WPF and Silverlight) will streamline the designer /developer workflow for building web applications. The process of passing work between designer and developer has always been somewhat challenging. These apps will help make iteration and version control simpler as well as showcasing the interactivity, animation, and functionality of the screens in quick prototypes along the way.

Paul: Managing Partner
- iPhone 3G - The iPhone set a new vision for what user experience can be.
- SaaS gains ground - Software-as-a-Service gained solid ground (about 80% of our engagements) and users now understand the values of SaaS including addressing the full customer life cycle.
- RIAs for mission critical services - We started seeing RIA implementations of mission and business critical applications. This has been a “step function” in UI and has the demonstrated potential to create much more effective and meaningful experiences that streamline business processes and increase productivity.
- The App Store - The first real venue that promises to make users’ phones go beyond being just phones. It provided a viable channel for sale and distribution for low-cost, focused software.
- Vista’s failure - The failure of Vista proved that consumers and enterprises were no longer completely dependent on the latest offering from Microsoft. This opened the door significantly to SaaS, as well as devices such as the iPhone, Blackberry Storm, etc.

Although the above list is certainly not exhaustive, it is safe to say, that 2008 was even more significant than previous years in terms of having long-term impact on the “experiences” user will have. If you can think of some other big Ux trends for 2008, please comment and let us know your thoughts at our blog (linked below).

Associated Link: More from the Catalyst Resources SaaS Blog

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The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
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Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
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In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

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Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
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It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
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A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.