Preface

Since the dot com boom, the internet has become an unstoppable force paving the way for super apps more intelligent and realistic than ever. Those who take advantage of the opportunity to create these apps have the power to disrupt traditional industries and help solve social and environmental issues. How’s that for dramatic?

Fiber internet, big data, AI, and virtual/augmented reality have had momentous effects on product and business success. These advancements can deliver personal, data-rich, and immersive user experiences through well-designed user interfaces on highly capable devices. Their experiences have become more powerful than real-life interactions.

Because of this we are continuously learning and adapting to meet the needs of app-reliant societal members in addition to meeting business goals of increasing user adoption, loyalty, and profitability. The cycle of user problems and feature development is a common process for meeting these needs and goals.

However, if this is enough to reach success, then why are so many apps failing to innovate and reach success?

Because this is not enough. Not even close.

It’s time to think differently or lose all of your people (users).

The Reality

What is the secret behind successful products from companies like Airbnb, Netflix, and Snapchat? How are these leaders driving user engagement, time devotion, and conversions through the ceiling? How do we model their success in order to prepare for the future as they have prepared?

Well, ask yourself these questions:

Do these companies implement popular pattern libraries? Are they implementing overused “premium” fonts? Do they have product experiences limited to the digital space?

No! Because they are innovating and understand the psychological power of utilizing environment models.

People will ditch your ancient 2D app experience for a product that offers an experience that extends beyond the digital space.

People prefer at-their-fingertip, instantly gratifying, enjoyable experiences from companies that empower their beliefs and ability to be successful in their material environment.

We are in the age of material and digital environment applications and consumers are demanding products that enhance their daily lives — enhance their reality. People prefer beautiful apps that make them feel the way they desire to feel.

Food for thought: How many terrible apps have you experienced? How many have used popular pattern libraries? Have you ever wondered if your app — that uses the same pattern library — reminds people of the terrible experiences they have had?

Answer: It reminds them of the terrible experience.

The future of product design is here

Do you have a technology vision of the future?

Successful companies do.

They create products that lead up to their vision of the future.

To visualize this: Imagine you’re taking a final exam in graduate school. First, you open the school’s app on 24-in upright tablet. Next, your watch pings you and you tap it to start the timed exam. The ipad pro next to you allows you to document your notes and arithmetic. You use the upright tablet to read through the exam and view videos and visuals. And whether you like it or not, your glasses are recording everything you’re doing to prevent cheating. This is a holistic environment experience.

A vision for the future guides intelligent and immersive product design. The vision helps designers create experiences that prepare people for future advancements.

This is where an environment model comes into play.

An environment model is a culmination of communication, psychology, and the digital and material environment with a goal to establish visceral appeal — create psychological connections with people.

In a nutshell, an environment model:

Sets the stage for user experience across devices and device peripherals. Identifies user motives and desired behaviors. Guides user interface design by setting forth a visual of the user’s desired environment Blurs the lines between the digital and material environment. Creates visceral appeal and sets the stage for designing emotional appeal triggers.

If you’d prefer to get to the meat of the article skip to the “The Psychology: How our environment affects us” section.

Otherwise continue for the full effect.

The first leap in environment design — Interfaces

Material Design. Google’s Material Design has painted millions of applications since it’s launch — brightening apps with rich color, swift motion effects, and the concept of light and depth working together throughout an interface. With material, no longer do modals, drawers, and popups appear abruptly and intrusively. They artfully ease in and out of view. Imagine your home’s front door. How would you feel if you turned the doorknob and the door flung open? You might feel like you’re in the movie Poltergeist and run for the hills! Material brings the graceful swing of a door to interface design. This was the beginning of environment models design. If not the first hybrid of skeuomorphism and flat design to represent a natural reality virtually. Material design brought science from the real world environment to user interfaces.

But why was material design a huge success? Why did it gain interface adoption by the millions? After all, that’s a rate angel investors would go “goo goo gah gah” over. I believe the success is owed to the design. Material design created a virtual, slightly immersive environment that gave the illusion of depth to screen. It created a completely new experience, the experience closer to that of our natural environment — giving applications the power to make experiences that felt more lifelike and realistic. Google is successful because they took the first step toward designing to environments.

Not a fan of material design? Fair enough. But we all can admit there is something to take away from material design. Microsoft learned a lot from Google’s innovation.

Follow the leader, learn from the best

Microsoft’s take on material design — Fluent Design

Microsoft released their take on environment design in early May 2017. Fluent Design amps up depth and motion in user interfaces. Fluent Design was created to build a consistent experience between modern devices and virtual reality devices. An environment model of reality.

The adoption of environment design is continuing to grow and evolve. It’s successful because of the science, psychology, and research that led to the innovative design.

Snappy Case Study — Snapchat:

Open Snapchat on your phone. Notice the first screen you land on. It’s the camera and what you see is the real world in front of you. Swipe to the stories and notice the transition. The header contains the camera’s view until the very last second. This is Snap’s environment design. The movements are fluid, smooth, and intelligently force a user to navigate through the camera view to view stories. This experience brings the user’s real world reality into the product design, resulting in a more natural, addictive, and enjoyable experience — Snap is no longer an app, it’s part of your eyesight. It’s your tool for capturing reality and joining the reality of others. Additionally, this experience increases the likelihood of engagement with the camera.