The Future of Usability

I recently spoke at the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) about the ROI of usability, as well as sharing some usability best practices. During the summit, I was supposed to be part of a panel, entitled "Ask the Experts." But, because I could not plow through the mass of bodies in front of me, I did not end up on stage. During the session, some good questions were posed about the future of the online space and its direction. One question in particular stood out from the rest: "What is your prediction for the future of online marketing as it pertains to your respective discipline?"

Interestingly, the way the panel answered this question provides tangible insights into the future of online marketing. Each member of the panel included an increased focus on "the user" in their assessment of what the future holds. Furthermore, the fact that all 5 panelists represented a specific sector of the online marketing space (PPC, CMS, SEO, Web Analytics, and Email Marketing) is indicative of the fact that this new user-centric approach to online marketing is not confined to any single discipline. Rather, the user is set to become the central component in the evolution of Web 2.0 and the future of online marketing.

From the human-computer interaction perspective (the parent discipline of usability), there is always a "people" problem and a "technology" problem when it comes to the user experience. Therefore, these predictions will either pertain to a people problem, a technology problem, or both. Here are my predictions for the evolution of the Internet.

1. User driven everything.
2. AJAX will be misused.
3. Technology scaffolds.
4. Contextual information becomes more important.
5. Trust, Authority, and Popularity become pillars of information organization.
6. Offline and Online user behaviors become enmeshed into one another.
   

I will create a post for each of these items shortly...