Artificial intelligence is here, and it’s getting better every day. Opinions are diverse on whether the growing prevalence of AI is good or bad, but there is no denying that it will have a significant impact on upcoming technology. We’re already seeing the impact of AI in the app and web design space. In particular, AI is having a tremendous impact on the way we think about UX.

I know, many of you are thinking about the ramifications of AI getting so good that it replaces your job entirely. We’re not there yet, and that doesn’t appear to be where we are headed any time soon. Rather than thinking of AI as a human alternative, think of it as a helpful friend that is really good at data analytics and decision making. AI can focus on helping you with the data-driven tasks, while you focus on the aspects that require a touch of humanity.

Here are just a few ways the future of UX design is or will be impacted by AI and human collaboration.

1. Chatbots

When customers run into difficulties with the products or services of a business, they’re often forced to contact customer service. This may involve a phone call, which is often a frustrating experience, or it may entail the user filling out an email form. Then they wait, unsure if they’ll get a timely response.

With AI, powerful chatbots can be implemented as part of a website or app’s UX design. A well-developed AI chatbot can answer the vast majority of a customer’s inquiries, which provides a far better experience than a phone call or waiting for an email. There is nothing more satisfying to the user experience than having a question or concern resolved immediately without navigating away from the website or app.

These chatbots are already widespread, but they’re almost sure to be included in nearly all business websites or apps in the next few years.

2. AI-driven A/B Testing

When designing a website or app, it is time-consuming to manually design multiple UX options. Many designers will simply stick with one UX option throughout the design process and fine-tune it as needed. Others will accept that the time taken to develop variations in their design is necessary to get the best possible result, even if it means the project takes longer.

However, with the help of AI, this A/B testing of UX design can be simplified. The AI can quickly and efficiently generate multiple variations of the UX for the designer to choose from, drastically cutting down on the amount of time required to settle on the optimal choice. This will ensure that your design is highly-optimized to receive the best response from your users.

3. The Human-AI Connection

There is a lot of value in creating an AI that users connect with and associate with your brand. For example, millions of iPhone users have grown to rely on and feel comfortable with Siri as their AI voice assistant. Siri’s deep integration into Apple devices brings convenience and familiarity to its users, helping to make their daily tasks more efficient. There is also a fast-growing trend in the use of AI-powered smart speakers.

In the future, much of the UX design we will see is likely to be AI-centric. The proof of concept has been highly successful with Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa, and it is only a matter of time before more third parties begin incorporating their own AI-powered virtual assistants into applications. This may be similar to a chatbot, but with capabilities expanded beyond answering customer service inquiries.

AI that feels as though it has the personality to connect with its users will greatly enhance the user experience.

4. User Personalization

One of the most effective ways to create a great UX is through personalization. Everyone has different tastes and different needs, so tailoring the experience to each individual user can really help enrich your website or app. But how can we do this? Through data, of course. Lots and lots of data.

Machine Learning (ML) and AI are great at analyzing large amounts of data and making optimal decisions. This can be leveraged into the UX design by allowing the AI to make decisions about what each particular user is most likely going to want to see based on the data. Netflix is a perfect example of this, as they use AI to customize each user’s home screen in the app based on their previous history.

By personalizing the experience for each user, a company can show its customer base that they are all viewed as unique individuals. This provides a positive feeling and builds a strong brand reputation.

5. Data Collection and Analysis

Data collection is important for a business to know exactly what its customers or users want. This is a necessity to create the best possible UX. While there are some less-than-ethical ways of collecting user data that some large corporations use (not naming any names here), there is also a better way that is more respectful of user privacy, which is a hot topic right now.

Instead of traditional data collection methods, questionnaires can be generated by AI to gain an understanding of the user’s wants, needs, and pain points. The AI can then analyze this data and make suggestions on how the user experience can be improved based on user response.

6. Choice Optimization

If there’s a single best way to negatively impact the user experience, it’s by providing the user with too many choices. Users are likely to become overwhelmed when provided with a large number of choices and will take longer to make a decision. This is a negative experience that could alienate certain users. It is also problematic if you are selling a product or service, as indecisiveness may result in users choosing to not make a decision at all.

AI can quickly process the data to narrow the user’s choices down to a more manageable number. By consuming data that considers user profiles and historic trends, the AI can arrive at a small number of optimal choices to present to users. This will greatly enhance the experience.

AI Can Be a Designer’s Best Friend

Many have a negative impression of AI. The more cynical among us fear that AI will eventually make their human-driven job obsolete. Or maybe the words “artificial intelligence” conjure images of Skynet eliminating the human race altogether. The reality, though, is far more optimistic.

As a UX designer, AI-powered tools can be highly beneficial to your productivity and efficiency. By analyzing data to arrive at optimal decisions at a rate that far exceeds the capacity of humans, these tools can help enhance your UX to bring it to another level.

If you’re still struggling to understand where to go with your design and how all of the modern tools available can be implemented, you may want to get the help of a professional company. Camber Creative has years of experience in web and app development and can help make your next project a success.

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