{"id":12844,"date":"2019-02-21T05:15:15","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T05:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clone4.10pearls.com\/?p=12844"},"modified":"2026-07-30T06:40:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T06:40:25","slug":"rethinking-user-experience-in-the-era-of-mixed-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/10pearls.com\/uk\/blog\/rethinking-user-experience-in-the-era-of-mixed-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking user experience in the era of mixed reality"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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It has been at least two decades since User Experience (UX)<\/a> became a prominent focus area in\u00a0technology.\u00a0 It certainly existed even before then, but web design<\/a> and mobile apps<\/a> have been crucial in elevating UI\/UX to a starring role, as a central component of any product design process.\u00a0 Every interaction between human and machine \u2013 every click, page and user flow\u00a0\u2013\u00a0is analyzed for efficiency, clarity and consistency.\u00a0\u00a0Designers even describe interfaces as being joyful.\u00a0 But despite all the high-mindedness, the basic elements involved have generally been the same \u2013 data, screens, mouse-clicks, key\u00a0presses or touches.<\/p><\/div>

Along the way, users acclimated to new concepts,\u00a0and\u00a0grew tired of others.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Apple\u2019s\u00a0Skeuomorphism\u00a0gave way to\u00a0Microsoft\u2019s Fluent and\u00a0Google\u2019s\u00a0Material\u00a0Design,\u00a0putting more focus on efficiency rather than familiarity with older paradigms.\u00a0Instead of designing for one type of screen, designers now had to provide consistency across web browsers, phones and tablets, incorporating touches, pinches, gestures\u00a0etc.<\/p><\/div>

Now, the emergence of Virtual Reality – and its descendants, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality – is redefining both the design and elements involved in how a user interacts with software.\u00a0 First, let\u2019s sort out the vocabulary.\u00a0\u00a0Virtual Reality (VR)<\/a>\u00a0provides a completely simulated environment with a familiar way of interacting with it.\u00a0\u00a0Augmented Reality (AR)\u00a0incorporates virtual elements into a physical environment, for example a Snapchat filter that superimposes a moustache on your face.\u00a0\u00a0AR and VR fit within the culminated spectrum of\u00a0Extended Reality\u00a0(XR)\u00a0\u2013 an\u00a0immersive,\u00a0three-dimensional, multi-media experience that is touched, felt and experienced rather than simply navigated.\u00a0Mixed Reality (MR)\u00a0is the end-product of these technologies; it\u00a0is a\u00a0seamless meld of the real, the augmented and the\u00a0simulated.\u00a0Pokemon\u00a0Go\u00a0is one of the most famous examples of MR; it uses the physical world as a canvas for both augmentation and entirely virtual objects.<\/p><\/div>

Those of us in the software design world pivoted from the term \u201cInterface\u201d to\u00a0\u201cExperience\u201d many years ago, on the notion that software applications shouldn\u2019t just be a flat two-dimensional world. Back then, it was more aspirational than literal. But now that MR and XR finally deliver on that vaunted goal, what does this mean\u00a0for the UX designer?\u00a0 Or for the enterprise thinking about a holistic customer experience? Everything, as it turns out.\u00a0 Here are three important considerations:<\/p><\/div>