How to Design Products for the Next Generation

Anna O'Connor at UXDX Community: Mastering UX Metrics and Creating Products for Tomorrow. Video: https://youtu.be/0rcI3PJIft0

Readable transcript: edited from the recording's captions for readability (fillers and false starts removed, punctuation and section headings added). Wording is the speaker's own. Timestamps are positions in the video. Names marked [?] could not be verified against the audio.

Successful products evolve

[00:00:00] Anna: Awesome, thank you, Rory. Thank you, UXDX, for having me. Super excited to be with you all today. Like Rory mentioned, my presentation will be focused on how to design products for growth and the next generation. Before we get started, I'd like to give a brief introduction about myself, as well as spend some time talking about market trends and consumer trends for 2024, and how that can translate to designing for growth.

[00:00:28] A little bit about me. Like Rory mentioned, I'm a lead experience designer at Verizon. Prior to joining Verizon, I also had the opportunity to work at both Paramount and Lowe's. I have over ten years of experience designing both B2B and B2C products, ranging from wearables to digital apps as well as journeys. My passion lies in team collaboration, as well as scaling design teams and driving product growth and innovation.

[00:01:08] Before we get started, I'd love to ask a few questions, and for those that are listening live, I'd love to hear from you in the chat. I'd like to ask you to think about a product or service that you use on a regular basis. This could be something you use every day, perhaps every week, or even every other week, but something that you use quite regularly. And I'd like to ask if you used that product five or maybe even ten years ago. And if you did, was it the same experience that you know today? Most likely it evolved in some way.

[00:01:54] I think when we think about successful products, especially product evolution, whether that's over a five to ten year time period or perhaps even greater, the most successful products are the ones that adapt and evolve. And so that leads me to say that successful products do evolve in a meaningful way. To the right I have a GIF of the bike's evolution. The bike, for those that don't know, was invented in 1817, so a little over 200 years ago, and believe it or not, it didn't have pedals. It was just two wheels and a wooden frame, so not too much. But over time this evolved into the bikes that we know today, which are used for recreation, fitness, transportation. So when we think about successful products that evolve, I think the bike is actually a really good example of a product that's simple, efficient, but also adaptable.

[00:02:58] The products of today may not be the products of tomorrow. How many of you have used floppy discs, or know what a floppy disc is? I'm sure I still have a collection somewhere in my closet of floppy discs that I used when I was in school. But again, going back to product evolution, some products may become obsolete if they are not evolving. Floppy discs, eventually going from that to flash drives and portable hard drives to now cloud storage, are an example of a product that became obsolete.

[00:03:35] Incremental change does contribute to product growth. Rather than focusing on radical changes in a short period of time, it's key to focus on the small, continuous improvements over the long term that can eventually lead to substantial benefits and sustained growth. By taking that incremental approach, we have the ability to consistently refine, optimize and ensure that our products remain competitive in the market.

Market trends: AI across industries

[00:04:04] Which leads me to talking about market trends. AI is a very hot topic, and I'm sure it will continue to be quite a hot topic. We're seeing that there's a lot of investment happening in this space across various industries. While this was initially valued at $60 billion in 2022, there are projections that investments in AI will reach over 300 billion by 2026. So there's definitely a priority from organizations across various industries to invest in the adoption of AI.

[00:04:45] We're seeing that as well when it comes to enhanced interactions. Thinking specifically about NLP, which stands for natural language processing, this has enabled sophisticated, humanlike interactions. We think of ChatGPT or even Google Assistant; these are some examples of products that are using AI, specifically NLP. As well as industry adoption: AI has expanded and will continue to expand across various industries, with healthcare anticipated to lead the way by 2030. And some of the ways that AI is coming to be are, like we talked about, natural language processing, but also personalization and recommendations, design, healthcare, as well as customer service.

[00:05:38] When it comes to NLP, this encompasses humanlike interactions, really to provide valuable assistance and seamless interactions to customers. Think about ChatGPT, which I'm sure most of you are hopefully familiar with, Google Assistant, and Amazon Rufus, which they also recently introduced and which is in beta. As this technology continues to evolve, I think we can expect to see more sophisticated and personalized interactions moving forward.

[00:06:10] When it comes to personalization and recommendations, again, I think AI is definitely dominant in this area, and we're seeing that in particular across Spotify, Meta and Google Photos. Spotify has actually introduced AI for their playlist curation, as well as DJ recommendations based on your listening history, genres, and even the time of day that you're listening to certain music. Meta's AI focuses on easy-to-access recommendations right from their search tool. And Google Photos has actually integrated AI recommendations based on your photo collections and memories, helping customers title their content.

[00:06:55] When it comes to design, I think this is a relatively new breakthrough. We're seeing that there are tools utilizing AI to actually help designers, through text to UI as well as image to UI, and Galileo is one of the examples. This image is just helping to demonstrate what that looks like. By writing out what it is that we're trying to create, whether it's a checkout screen or a profile page, it's actually able to generate images to highlight that. Figma as well: I think this was introduced recently at Config a few months ago. In a similar fashion, they're also looking to introduce text to UI.

[00:07:42] When it comes to healthcare, Aidoc in particular specializes in assisting radiologists, providing advanced diagnostic solutions for medical imaging, and they're accomplishing this through AI-powered image analysis. Think about CAT scans, MRIs, x-rays, to detect a wide range of conditions. This is really helping radiologists in terms of the severity of the findings, but also bringing efficiencies through time management and trying to minimize human error. So there's definitely a lot of opportunity within the healthcare space for AI to grow.

[00:08:23] And lastly, customer service. Zendesk in particular has designed AI to help organizations streamline their customer support operations, as well as improve customer satisfaction. This includes providing automated and tailored responses using NLP, providing 24/7 support, and leveraging customer feedback to address any pain points or issues. So across these various industries, we're really seeing AI grow and make headway in various spaces.

Market trends: connectivity and consolidation

[00:08:59] Another market trend that is coming up is growth in connectivity, particularly when it comes to smart home and smart home products. There is increased investment in this space as well, with forecasts projected to reach over 150 billion by 2025, so this is definitely a growing market. In terms of interoperability, we're seeing that these ecosystem integrations really help provide universal connectivity and device management, so keeping all your products and managing them in one place. As well as centralization: being able to control all your home devices remotely, as well as automate some routines, like turning off lights, adjusting thermostats, locking doors. So even while you're on the go, you have centralized access to managing your products.

[00:09:53] Some examples of this would be Google Home. Google Home is actually utilizing a voice-activated AI assistant to interact with customers. This could be on a wide range of functions, including home automation, entertainment and more. Its compatibility with a variety of smart home devices makes it appealing to customers who are looking for seamless integration and connectivity. Their product suite includes the Nest Mini, Home Max and the Nest Hub Max. Similarly, Apple HomeKit allows for centralized control of various devices, such as an Apple TV, iPad, iPhone or even HomePod. Remote access also gives customers the ability to monitor and manage their home even when they are physically away.

[00:10:43] And lastly, consolidated subscriptions and services. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has multiple subscriptions and services simultaneously. But we are seeing that there is an expansion to really consolidate some of the offerings that are being presented to customers. When we think about providing an expanded offering, that has the opportunity to appeal to wider audiences that may have varying interests. Cost savings and retention is also another area to note: really looking to minimize some of those individualized costs through bundling services, in order to provide customers with more value for their dollar. Customers who see the value are less likely to cancel.

[00:11:29] Lastly, choice overload: managing cognitive overload for customers by minimizing the array of options they have into consolidated and distinct experiences. Some examples of that are within the food, travel and entertainment categories. Like I said, I am guilty of having more than one of these subscriptions and services. But again, there are a lot of options, and it really makes it challenging for customers to choose which products they want to use. So when we think about bundling and consolidation, in particular with Apple One and even Disney, they've made it crystal clear to help customers in their choices, with cost savings and retention, but also giving these distinct choices for customers to make an easier decision.

Consumer trends

[00:12:23] Now let's spend some time talking a little bit about consumer trends, which also have some direct influence on the market trends we just talked about, starting with personalization. Again, we're seeing that consumers are really looking to use products that help drive some of their experiences in terms of tracking their behavior, their interests, their preferences. A couple of examples I've included here are Netflix and Spotify. Consumers are really looking for tailored experiences that cater to their specific needs and behaviors.

[00:13:04] Value and affordability as well. Thinking about value for the dollar and retaining customers, I think consumers, especially now more than ever, are really equipped to compare prices and products and find the best deals before deciding on what product or service they want to use. By providing high value and high impact, customers are more likely to stick with and choose your product. A couple of examples here are Walmart+ and Amazon. They've both incorporated different reward systems that really entice and enable customers to keep using their products, but also know that they're getting something in return. So that's definitely important to note.

[00:13:57] And lastly, trust and transparency. I think especially now, with the incorporation and adoption of AI, and the growth in technology overall, consumers do have growing concerns over privacy and data security as technology evolves. That's something that, as designers and experience professionals, we definitely need to keep top of mind. Products and services have an important role to play, not only in being transparent, but in helping to build that consumer trust. A couple of examples here are Google and Chase, really giving tips to customers, but also educating them on how they can keep their data safe and secure.

[00:14:42] Just to summarize: brands need to adapt to remain competitive, as consumers seek meaningful, affordable and ethical products. Especially as we're looking at market trends as well as consumer trends, the products that successfully evolve are keeping those things top of mind, paying attention to consumer behaviors, but also addressing the needs of today and anticipating the needs of tomorrow.

Designing for growth

[00:15:12] So how does this translate to designing for growth? Well, I think as designers we need to know when to pivot and change direction. The products that we're working on are not meant to be stagnant. I think we all have a responsibility to keep on top of everything that's happening around us, and really leverage that and understand what should be influencing our products. As well as paying attention to the market and determining our strategy, keeping those things top of mind to influence the products that we are working on and creating.

[00:15:55] As well as designing for growth and scalability. We should have a growth mindset regardless of the things that we're working on, short term and long term. We should always be thinking forward and incorporating that into anything that we're working on. While realizing that changing customer needs are natural: the pain points that customers have today may not be the same pain points they have tomorrow. So again, thinking about product evolution, those things need to be kept top of mind.

[00:16:31] Some principles for enabling growth, like some of the things we just talked about: being able to adapt to an ever-changing market, so being flexible, being able to see what's happening around us and how our products fit into this space. Solving for evolving customer needs and expectations: like we talked about, customers will change their behaviors over time, and we need to be able to address that, but also adapt to those changing needs and expectations. As well as factoring in the adoption of new trends, so keeping that in the back of mind as well.

[00:17:14] And lastly, preserving the core identity of our product. Regardless of whichever way, shape or form that takes, we need to know what value our product brings, what are the problems that we're trying to solve, what are the goals that we have. By being able to answer those questions, we can easily evolve our product to continue to grow and be successful.

[00:17:41] And lastly, a shared vision is key to product growth. In order for us to continue our product strategy and evolution, we have to partner with our teams, on the technology and product side as well as design. Without that shared vision, it's very hard for us to be successful. So that's something we always have to strive towards: building that partnership, in addition to being aware of market trends, being aware of consumer behaviors, and knowing the goals and value of the products that we're working on. And that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to connect on LinkedIn for those that are interested, and I'm happy to answer any questions that may come through in the chat.

Q&A

[00:18:32] Rory: Excellent, thank you very much, Anna. I really enjoyed the bicycle, and a few of the examples of how things have changed. It's interesting to think about it over time.

[00:18:44] Anna: Yeah, definitely. Over 200 years, it's crazy. But there are so many good examples of products that have changed and evolved over time, and it's really interesting to see that evolution.

[00:18:59] Rory: Brilliant. As Anna said, if you have any questions, post them on whichever platform you're watching this on, and I'll pass those questions through to Anna. But I'm going to start with one, because what I've noticed, and maybe it's just me getting a bit old, is the trend towards what they're calling enshittification, where products are evolving, but not necessarily in a consumer-friendly way. I think it was Cory Doctorow who coined that term. It's like YouTube's unskippable 30-second ads, or Amazon's product catalog seeming to get cheaper and cheaper in quality but more expensive. So all these things that brought these products their initial glory are now being chipped away at. Is there anything there, in designing for the future, where designers can try to help against that, or is the economic value always going to win out?

[00:19:58] Anna: Yeah, that's a good question. I think this is where building those partnerships is really important, because to me that sounds like business goals. But also, to your point, Rory, we have to keep the customer top of mind, and what's right for the customer in that situation. So I think building partnerships is key, as well as understanding what is the core value of our product, while also keeping in mind a growth mindset. So how can we grow our product revenue-wise, but also how are we, as customer experience professionals, strategizing our product to improve or enhance it in the future? It's very difficult to answer that question, but I would say building partnerships is key, as well as prioritizing the things we're trying to accomplish short term and long term.

[00:20:58] Rory: The way I think about it as well is that it opens the door for new entrants. These companies are so big, I guess they think they're untouchable, but by making their service worse, it gives an opportunity for a more customer-focused competitor to make inroads.

[00:21:20] Rory: On consolidation: your slide there with all of those different options. To me, it's not consolidating at all; it's in fact fragmenting more. With food delivery, there are so many food delivery options, and it seems there are more continuously cropping up. Every so often some of them merge. Similarly, I've now got Netflix, Disney, all of those separate ones. So they're consolidating within regions, but do you see the trend being more market consolidation, or will we still see that heavily fragmented approach?

[00:22:00] Anna: Yeah, that's a good question, and that is a good point. I think the slide with the categories is the opposite; that's not consolidated. But I think in particular with entertainment and home products, we are seeing that consolidation. So I would expect that this may cascade into some of the other categories, just based on what we're seeing in terms of consumer behavior and cost saving. This is an assumption based on what we're seeing, but I think it could very well happen, given the consumer behaviors and what we're seeing in both the entertainment and home product categories.

[00:22:42] Rory: Okay. And there's no magical insight we can get into Verizon, if they're launching something here?

[00:22:49] Anna: I don't know how much I can speak to that, but I will say that within the Verizon ecosystem we do support a wide range of categories of different products, and that is something that we are looking into. I'm not sure how much more I can say on that topic, but I think it is exciting that there are so many products and different product categories, and to see how that evolves over time.

[00:23:19] Rory: Brilliant. I was hoping it was worth the shot. You mentioned meaningful, affordable, ethical. One of the things that always pops to mind when I hear that is that it's one of those things where, if you ask somebody in research what's important to you, they'll say those kinds of things, but behavior is often very different to what people actually say. So how much of that are you seeing as real trends? I use the example of fast fashion, which is the fastest-growing segment of fashion at the moment, and that's the furthest thing from ethical, yet most people will say, oh, ethical is very important to me.

[00:24:05] Anna: I'm taking a moment to think about your question. Sorry, Rory, can you repeat the question?

[00:24:17] Rory: Sorry, I'll phrase it in a different way. When you're saying the trend is towards meaningful, affordable, ethical, is that actually just people saying, oh, this is how I think I'll behave, versus when you observe their actual behavior, it's not in alignment with what they're saying?

[00:24:40] Anna: Yeah, I think that is always going to be something that comes up, and I've seen this with testing as well. I think the behavior is what's key, and how different it is from what customers are actually saying. Is there a big difference? Is there any correlation? At a broad level, that needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis. But I think seeing what customers are actually doing is key, because those are the actions that they're actually taking, regardless of what they're saying. So I think both need to be taken into account when we think about brands and how they need to evolve to address some of these consumer behaviors, like value and affordability, being ethical, and providing that trust and transparency. We should be paying attention to consumer behavior and seeing how it correlates to what customers are saying. Is there a big gap there, or is there a relationship there?

[00:25:46] Rory: Brilliant. It always reminds me of an ice cream study. They asked people, and people said, oh, my favorites were these fancy flavors. Then they said, just take an ice cream on your way out, and everybody went for normal vanilla-style ice creams when they were able to just choose whatever they wanted. But I think that actually brings us pretty close to time. Thank you, Anna, for sharing. It's always great to really think about what's next, what this is going to enable, particularly with a lot of the generative AI and tools that are out there. There's just so much possibility about what could happen in the future.

[00:26:30] Anna: Absolutely. And I think we can help drive that change and drive that growth, and we should definitely always be looking to what's to come and what's in the future. Thank you so much, Rory, for having me, and thank you, UXDX. I hope to have the opportunity again in the future.

[00:26:47] Rory: Excellent. And just as I was talking, we actually got another question in, so I think we could fit one more in, even though I've already said no more. This is from Naomi, and she said: as we prepare for our products to grow, and as our users continue to grow in their skills and familiarity with the product, do you have any insights on balancing efforts for growth for new users versus expert users?

[00:27:16] Anna: That is a good question. By expert users, I'm assuming this is referring to current users, current users of the products that we have. Going back to one of the first slides I shared, which was talking about incremental growth, I think that's key to product growth. I don't believe that we should be doing these radical changes, personally. I think successful products should gradually evolve over time. So thinking about current users, expert users, as well as new users, it gives us the ability to build relationships with new customers, as well as retain and introduce these new experiences to current customers. So I think there's a balance that needs to happen there, and by taking that incremental approach, it gives us that opportunity.

[00:28:14] Rory: Brilliant. Yeah, people don't like that open-up-the-application-and-everything's-changed shock. So yeah, definitely a learning curve. Well, now we are actually at time, so I want to thank you again, for the final time this time, Anna, and thank you for sharing.

[00:28:33] Anna: Thank you, Rory. Thank you so much, everyone.