It’s hard to believe 2022 is right around the corner. After a torturously long 2020, it felt like 2021 flew by 💨
As we head into another New Year, we’re pausing to take stock of the field: what are the hot new trends at the intersection of Technology + Design?
Here’s what you should be keeping on your radar.
Design
Adobe Creative Cloud (XD)
Like a Swiss army knife of creativity, Creative Cloud is Adobe’s collection of more than 20 apps for photography, video, design, web, UX, and social media.
This can be a really helpful tool to boost your creative collaboration, keeping you connected to colleagues and clients no matter where they are located. Its features allow teams to simultaneously edit the same files and provide feedback in real-time, just like you’d do with Google Docs.
Creative Cloud helps for working on distributed teams with hybrid workflows, using various devices and platforms, and working across different time zones. Stay connected and share ideas to accelerate the speed of business.
The COVID-19 pandemic made virtual collaboration an absolute necessity, and the concept is here to stay even after the pandemic ends. Adobe has beta versions of Illustrator on the web with basic editing capabilities, Creative Cloud Spaces, and Creative Cloud Canvas.
Development
AR/XR
2022 could be a turning point for this long-hyped technology. Our smartphones are increasingly more powerful (plus, 5G is really, truly a thing now) and there is now enough momentum to make this a feasible solution for many projects.
Google’s WebXR is one project you should be watching closely. As you can see from WebXR Experiments, it’s about more than just viewing 3D models. You can actually measure and interact. The fact that there’s no install is a massive change. With WebXR in Chrome, you just open your browser and it’s ready to go.
We have helped clients reach their customers through the magic of Extended Reality, or XR. Makeway launched osxr.com with a unique 3D browsing experience to help put XR agency services on the map in a big way.
Be sure to stay up to date on XR as you work to connect brands to audiences.
Metaverse
Of course, in this context, we’d be remiss not to mention the metaverse. It’s one of the year’s top concepts in the business world, highlighted most visibly by Facebook changing its name to Meta Platforms. 2022 might be a tad early to see much materialize here, but Meta’s $10 billion investment makes it hard to ignore the significance. It’s even touted Horizon Workrooms, which is business-focused.
Overarching
Death of Internet Explorer
Our dev team is particularly excited about this development in 2022 🥳
For all intents and purposes, Internet Explorer has already been replaced by Microsoft’s Edge browser. IE has only survived this long because of legacy sites. But the actual death of IE is a big milestone in the continual evolution of the internet.
What does this mean for you? Well, hopefully, it means nothing because you’re not using that browser, right?! But if you are, you should prepare for the fact that IE will no longer be supported. Any websites/web applications here should be transitioned over ASAP.
To mark the occasion, here’s a “Death to IE” countdown clock for you 😎
Clearly, there are a lot of exciting things happening at the intersection of technology and design—and at the intersection of our physical and digital worlds. We couldn’t be more excited about what’s in store!
As we head into 2022, you should spend some time familiarizing yourself with these concepts. They will allow you to better collaborate with your team, connect with your customer base, and move your business forward.
What particular developments are you looking forward to?
If there’s anything you’d like to discuss, drop us a line and we’ll be happy to brainstorm with you.
