Next-Level Interfaces

Key Takeaway:

This trend emphasizes the strategic importance of personalization in customer engagement, with companies dedicating a considerable share of their marketing budgets to tailored experiences. This investment is paying off, as enhancing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by up to 95%. The advancement in technologies like neurotech and brain-computer interfaces is further enhancing this shift, allowing businesses to understand consumer intent more deeply and human-centrically, thus fostering stronger customer loyalty and significant brand growth.

Trend Type: Social & Business

Sub-trends: Intuitive Ecommerce, Interface Shift, Our bodies electronic, Human Interfaces, Personalization, Intelligent Applications, Brain Computer Interface, GenAI Search.

May, 2024 • Less than 4 min read

Personalization
As the global revenue of customer experience personalization and optimization software is projected to reach $11.6 billion by 2026, according to Accenture, companies are investing heavily in personalization strategies. In fact, many companies already allocate more than half of their marketing budgets to personalization efforts, recognizing its potential to boost customer retention and loyalty. According to a recent Brandwatch report, studies have shown that increasing customer retention by just 5% can lead up to 95% increase in profits in the long run. Personalization is proving to be a game-changer, with 60% of consumers reporting becoming repeat buyers after a personalized purchasing experience. Personalization not only makes customers feel valued but also boosts ROI, with 88% of marketers in the US observing growth in their brand as a result of personalization efforts. To stay ahead of the curve, brands must focus on incorporating personalization into paid ad journeys and utilizing targeting in more profound ways. The fact is, marketing personas are becoming obsolete, and marketers need to prioritize individualism within the customer journey.
 
Euromonitor International Survey 2023
Human Interfaces
In fact, “human interfaces” help to make this happen, by enabling businesses to understand people in deeper, more human-centric ways. By leveraging advanced algorithms, comprehensive sensor arrays, and emerging technologies, companies can now make the leap from merely recognizing what people do to understanding their intent. This shift is particularly evident in the field of neurotech, where neuro-sensing and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) hold immense potential for reading and identifying human intent. BCIs enable direct communication between the brain and external devices, opening up new possibilities for understanding and responding to human intent. In fact, Mordor Intelligence, estimates the global market to grow from 2billion in 2024 to over 7.5billion in 2033. Presently, the hardware component of the BCI market captures a substantial revenue share of 64.8%, reflecting its critical role in system functionality with the healthcare sector holding the lion’s share of the market, commanding a substantial revenue percentage of 61%. And while invasive BCIs typically offer higher resolution, external devices are expected to have wider market appeal due to their non-invasive nature and ease of use.
Multi-Device Ecosystem
On the other hand, as we move into 2024, a wave of new devices designed to harness the power of personalized deep-learning models will hit the market, ushering in a new era of visual and voice answers. As the smartphone market is experiencing a slowdown, particularly in developed economies, and therefore consumers hold onto their devices for longer periods, a multi-device ecosystem is arising. In this ecosystem, a new generation of wearables will be powered by multimodal AI systems, capable of combining images and other forms of data with text to create highly personalized experiences. For instance, companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft are developing smart glasses that incorporate AI for visual and voice answering, while MIT researchers are working on techniques that enable deep-learning models to adapt to new sensor data directly on edge devices.
Intelligent Apps Tailored to User Interfaces
In addition, intelligent applications, augmented with AI and connected data from transactions and external sources, are also playing a crucial role in this next-level interface trend. According to Gartner, by 2026, 30% of new apps are expected to use AI to drive personalized adaptive user interfaces, up from under 5% today. These applications leverage data from transactions and external sources to provide insights within the apps that business users already use, eliminating the need for separate business intelligence tools. AI-driven predictions and recommendations allow apps to be tailored to individual users, improving outcomes and advancing data-driven decision-making.
 
Euromonitor International Survey 2023
Search Interfaces
Finally, the impact of generative AI (genAI) on search is set to transform the way users interact with information. Despite early experiments by Google and Bing, the search market didn’t fundamentally change in 2023. However, 2024 is expected to see a significant shift as Google and others roll out broadly conversational search interfaces based on sophisticated multimodal models that can process voice, images, and other inputs in addition to text. These new models will supercharge existing trends, such as visual search, which already processes 12 billion monthly searches in Google Lens, and virtual assistants, used by approximately 43% of the US population – according to eMarketer. Retail and social media platforms, such as Amazon, Walmart, TikTok, Snapchat, and Meta, are also exploring chatbot-powered search, while chatbot platforms like OpenAI and Anthropic could potentially add advertising in the future.

Use Cases

Immersion Knows What People Love

Our Bodies Electronic: Immersion Neuroscience is a company using smartwatches and fitness sensors to measure subtle changes in people’s heart rate to predict their cognitive state. It has built a platform to measure what brains love using the smartwatches people wear every day.

An AI Agent For Visually Impaired People

Interface Shift: Be My Eyes is a generative AI-powered digital assistant that helps visually impaired people navigate their surroundings, complete tasks and live more independently.

Synchron: No Surgery Required

Brain Computer Interface: Synchron has implanted the stentrode in several patients, who’ve employed the device to navigate their phones, computers and be-yond using only their thoughts. The stentrode is implanted in a blood vessel near the brain’s motor cortex, where it detects the us-er’s intent to move and transmits it wirelessly to take the desired action.

Use Cases

Zalando's Customized Experience

Intuitive Commerce: :

Immersion Knows What People Love

Our Bodies Electronic

An AI Agent For Visually Impaired People

Interface Shift:

Synchron: No Surgery Required

Brain Computer Interface:

Sub-Trend Sources
Intuitive Ecommerce: Euromonitor Digital Shopper Trends
Interface Shift: Accenture Life Trends, Trend Hunter
Our bodies electronic: Accenture Tech Trends, Future Today Institute
Human Interfaces: Brandwatch Digital Marketing Trends, Statista
Personalization: Brandwatch Digital Marketing Trends, Statista
Intelligent Applications: Gartner Strategic Trends
Brain Computer Interface: CNET Tech Trends
API in AI-driven customization: Cisco Trends
GenAI Search: eMarketer Tech Trends to Watch

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