By Inge De Bleecker, Sr. Director of User Experience at Applause

Accessibility and Personalization Become Standard for Digital Experiences

A brand is separated by the quality of its digital experiences. And with the digital world expanding, more and more customer interactions are becoming influenced by digital, if not entirely dependant on it. With this broadening footprint, accessibility will finally become a top priority and personalized experiences will realize their full potential.

1. Customer experiences have rapidly evolved in recent years, thanks in large part to advancing technology. In 2020, this trend will continue as the digital world becomes accessible to everyone.

The evolution of experiences has driven organizations to make digital products and services easy to use, enjoyable and helpful. This goes beyond meeting the demands of a generation that has grown up using smartphones, laptops and tablets for everything from booking doctor's visits to checking their finances. UX and design teams are looking for ways to deliver accessible experiences to all consumers - and they do benefit all users, not just those with physical or cognitive impairments - and in 2020, they'll make it happen by testing with real users leveraging real assistive devices.

2. Personalization has been an important concept for a long time, from simplistic iterations like film suggestions on streaming services, to email newsletters that begin with your name. In 2020, personalization will reach a new standard.

With recent advances in artificial intelligence, among other technologies, we will take a leap toward true personalization, focused on the individual, and working in real-time.

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About the Author

Inge has been designing and testing web, mobile, voice and multi-channel experiences for more than 20 years. She builds and leads UX teams and evangelizes customer experience principles throughout organizations. Her mantras are "design for everyone" and "test early and often." As Sr. Director of User Experience at Applause, Inge heads up the UX/CX and Voice practices. She holds an MA from the University of Texas, Austin.