Those who proclaim the death of UX fail to grasp the essence of media [1]. The Internet is not something new or separate; it’s a continuation of the media landscape. You can’t just freeze the internet in 2023 and declare, “This is it; there’s nothing more to discover.” If anyone wants to stand still, let them, but the world and UX are moving forward.
Currently, Nielsen defines User Experience as the entirety of an individual’s interactions with a company, its services, and products. But what does this mean for whom?
A Massive Wave of Business Transformation
After the COVID pandemic, businesses underwent a full digital transformation. Only those prepared to offer services and deliver products online survived. During the 2020–2022 lockdown, if a business didn’t digitize, it ceased to exist. Today, every business is a digital business.
Silver Tsunami
The fact that younger generations are entering the online consumer market is expected. However, no one anticipated the wave of seniors aged 55 and above. During the pandemic, they ventured into the online realm, and much of what this internet tsunami brought remains [2]. These are entirely new customers. They are the ones who, in their early days on Facebook, respond to every post in their feed because they think everything is directed at them. They are the customers who were previously targeted by TV advertising, particularly from the pharmaceutical industry. They are the customers for whom digital accessibility precedes usability. Because for something to be useful to someone, it must first be accessible.
Zalpha
Zalpha represents a micro-generation at the intersection of the two youngest generations (Alpha and Z) [3]. Born between 1999 and 2015, this generation is defined by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict. They are individuals who must define themselves in a digitized world amidst multiple crises. They are the generation of capital deglobalization and ecological globalization. They are an entirely new customer base that businesses must learn to reach. After all, without an influx of fresh blood, every business will wither.
Like earlier media before its decline, the internet has entered a premium phase. Just as television thrived in the 1990s while overshadowing traditional media, the internet now faces competition from newer forms of media [4]. We’re experiencing an Internet Crisis, not a crisis in user experience design. UX has not died; it has been reborn. Today, what we need is not just UX with a big ‘U’ but UX with a big ‘H’ for Humanity.
We’ve repositioned the pieces on the UX chessboard, and the battle has just begun.
[1] https://michalmalewicz.medium.com/golden-age-of-ux-is-over-403e4ea1e753
[2] https://infuture.institute/en/trends-map/
[3] https://infuture.institute/raporty/mikropokolenie-zalpha/
[4] https://johnkoetsier.com/marshall-mcluhans-4-laws-of-media/
