With experience design sinking deeper into products, services, organisations, and the lives of those who interact with them, the next 12 months will be even more disruptive than the last. Web design is finally fading into insignificance, “custom-built” designs are declining in value and high-quality templates are easily accessible. So what needs to happen this year?

Our clients are now having to focus in on the product design business, and this involves designing and managing an ecosystem of touch points and services to deliver true value. We have been able to help our clients shift their focus towards unresolved problems, largely ones relating to the ‘overflow of information’. As our different clients strive to gain a competitive edge through the quality of the Customer Experiences that they can provide, we’re seeing shifts to new areas like emotional experiences. Both research and our latest successful placements prove that it actually emotion that has the biggest impact on customer loyalty, much more-so than ‘effectiveness’ or ‘ease’.

The habitually ‘left-brained companies’ have realised the need to improve their whole Customer Experience (CX) and have incorporated a more holistic approach in doing so. This is achieved by either bringing in external consultancies or by hiring a small ‘hub’ of Customer-Centred Designers internally to constantly innovate and create new concepts to radically change the norm.

The connection between digital and physical experiences is stronger than ever thanks to the rise of the Internet of Things and we are we are beginning to see a world where physical products are expected to come with a digital experience. What is most important here for service communications companies is the need to determine the actual user context. It now goes way beyond designing a ‘simple and clean’ user interface. Producing great brand identity and values will only result in loyal customers if the business is able to instil the most effective Omni-Channel experience.

MitchelLake are constantly networking within the UX and Design space attending meet-ups such as the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), Tractor Design School and we have spoken at the General Assembly (GA) advising students how to embark in a career in UX (some of whom we have placed with both start-ups and corporates). This is really just the tip of the iceberg of what we do in Australia, and with our presence in the US, Asia and Europe, MitchelLake helps provide advice and attract talent, to help you with your innovation aims.