In today’s landscape, it’s not enough to be on time. You need to be ahead of time. Financial services are outdoing each other to make up for years of brick-and-mortar arrears. They did it. Now, they are innovating. The new and exciting trend in design is a great example of that philosophy. Meet Anticipatory Design – the way to simplify the user’s life by reducing obstacles and enhancing user experience.

What is Anticipatory Design?

Like any other buzzword, Anticipatory Design took the market and the user experience (UX) world by storm. It’s not new, but with today’s technology, it exploded. It was first introduced in 2015. Since then, we have witnessed a rise in user interaction trends in web design, specifically towards the conversational interaction between a user and the media they are accessing. Anticipatory Design is a response to the more complicated world we live in and the oversaturation of content, apps, and tools. It’s also a way to simplify choices.

Usually, UX design teams use a five-phase process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. It’s a great tool to create any app. In this article for Fast Company, Huge CEO Aaron Shapiro introduces Anticipatory Design as “Design That’s One Step Ahead of You”.

It goes a step further into the process of creation and bases it on a few ideas:

  • the principle of least effort
  • the feeling of being understood as a user
  • the desire to feel important
  • the amplification of experience through surprise mechanisms
  • the reduction of cognitive load while using or browsing the contents of the app
  • the prediction and responding to users’ needs ahead of time

With Anticipatory Design, less is more. The user is presented with a clear-cut UX/UI experience where options are clearly shown but limited. It’s about simplification of use through the reduction of choices imposed by cultural and consumption habits while anticipating future choices and designing the app around them. By reducing redundant choices, consumers are presented with what they truly want.

And what do they want? A renowned psychologist, Barry Schwartz, introduced The Paradox of Choice. This TEDx manifesto was used by Shapiro to create the concept of Anticipatory Design. Today, we can finally use it. Shapiro defines it as a method of simplifying processes by responding to needs one step ahead of the user’s decisions, i.e. responding to user needs they haven’t expressed yet.

This is possible because Anticipatory Design is based on these mechanics:

  • data collection
  • machine learning
  • automation
  • on-the-fly UI change
  • data security
  • methods of interaction
  • user-behavior prediction methods
  • user experience design
  • user interface design

As Shapiro has put it:

„The goal is not to help the user make a decision, but to create an ecosystem where a decision is never made — it happens automatically and without user input.”

Benefits of Anticipatory Design

Done right, the method goes way beyond personalization. It changes the UI on the fly, eliminates any extraneous information, and presents only the most relevant options in a timely, simple, and efficient manner.

The main benefits are:

  • The reduction of cognitive load. It’s the mental effort needed by a user to do something. Anticipatory design decreases this effort by reducing or in some cases eliminating the number of decisions the user has to make. The less users have to think about what they need to do to achieve their goal, the more likely it is they will want to achieve it.
  • User interface simplification. Fewer choices available on screen means that interfaces can be designed to be, cleaner with less clutter. This should make online user experiences more intuitive.
  • Time saving. The method ensures that users can find what they need or make decisions faster, saving them time and allowing them to do more.
  • Increased conversions. Personalized recommendations create opportunities for upselling, especially for fintech and healthtech companies who hit the wall with basic services and need new revenue streams.
  • Meaningful personalization. 71% of consumers expect personalization. Anticipatory design can tailor experiences to individual preferences and needs by analyzing user data and behavior patterns.
  • Proactive problem-solving. Instead of waiting for users to encounter issues, anticipatory design preemptively addresses potential problems. For example, it can remind users of forgotten tasks or suggest actions based on past behavior, thereby reducing frustration and enhancing usability.

Challenges of Anticipatory Design

This is complicated since there are many potential pitfalls in a few areas. To make it more “interesting”, all of them are crucial. From an architectural point of view, through software development, marketing, and customer loyalty standpoint.

You should think about:

  • Privacy concerns. The biggest ethical concern surrounding anticipatory design is over data security and privacy. This is due to the fact that a lot of very personal data (e.g. online profiles, messaging, and location) is required from users and access to this data may concern some users. User data should be protected and not used in an invasive manner.
  • Loss of control. Users have less control over what they see. Some users may not want this and so being transparent and providing users with the option to opt out of pre-made decisions may be necessary in some cases.
  • A.I. overreliance. Trusting artificial intelligence too much is not a sign of business prowess. If we decide to use it, we need to establish protocols of control and make decisions based on data, not hand them over to a machine.
  • Restrictions. Algorithms can create a loop of events, actions, and activities that can trap users and limit them from discovering new experiences. This has been termed the ‘Experience Bubble’. This can be more of a concern with children who are more easily persuaded.

Examples of Anticipatory Design in FinTech

Fintech is actually a perfect field to implement Anticipatory Design principles and get ahead of the competition. Just look at that. You can use:

The possibilities are endless. There are a few noticeable fintech companies that you can take as benchmarks in the Anticipatory Design area.

Oportun (formerly Digit). The company connects to users’ bank accounts and assesses their financial habits along with data about their income and expenditure to make intelligent choices about how much they should be saving each month. It then automatically takes this “safe” amount and moves it into a savings account. Oportun doesn’t completely remove all decision making but users can adjust its saving aggressiveness.

Superfluid utilizes Anticipatory Design to offer modular and open-source solution for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Since Superfluid is an asset streaming and distribution app, the UX has to be smooth to display and process data that is understandable to the user. It’s money we’re talking about, there’s no room for misinterpretation.

Anticipatory Design is good for business and growth. Especially in the context of cross-selling and upselling. Many traditional banks and fintechs alike struggle with cross-selling and upselling for one simple reason: they aren’t able to deliver what their customers need, when they need it. The good news is that almost 90 percent of customers own a deposit account with a global retail and commercial bank, so they already have the customers in-house.

It’s a matter of creating growth within their existing customer base by anticipating customer needs, and leveraging insights to determine their interest and wants. In doing so, banks can dramatically improve their cross-sell and upsell rates and increase overall customer engagement.

How to effectively design anticipatory experiences?

There are a few crucial concepts and steps on this road:

  • Forecasting analyzes past trends and data to predict future outcomes, helping businesses anticipate user needs.
  • Backcasting starts with a desired future outcome and works backward to identify the steps needed to achieve that goal.
  • Balance automation with user control. Integrate features that allow users to adjust or override automatic decisions. This approach, part of the broader strategy of anticipatory design, ensures that users do not feel overwhelmed or controlled by the technology.
  • Minimize cognitive effort. Design interactive interfaces that simplify complexities without demanding much mental effort from users. Aim for intuitive designs that guide users’ journeys without confusion.

With this mini-roadmap, you can safely say you’re ready for the adventure.

Summary

Anticipatory Design is based on data. Artificial intelligence and machine learning. As an Angular development services company and outsource React JS development company, we understand the value of foundations. Our technology stack and AI tools are built around the skills of our centaur developers – specialists utilizing AI to create better products.

We are the missing ingredient in your fintech and healthtech dish. Let’s make products happen. Together.