Will UI Infrastructure Companies Emerge?

Subtitle

Thinking of screens that differ by company as a common social interface

Introduction

We touch screens many times a day.

Self-checkout at convenience stores.

Bank ATMs.

Hospital reception desks.

Train station ticket machines.

Parking lot payment machines.

Hotel check-in.

Restaurant ordering terminals.

E-commerce sites.

Administrative procedures.

They are all screens.

However, they are all slightly different.

The position of the back button.

How to cancel.

Payment screens.

Confirmation screens.

Error displays.

Font size.

Colors.

The order of operations.

We have to relearn them a little bit every time.

We think this is normal.

But is it really normal?

Chapter 1

Why do operations differ by company?

Companies want to differentiate their services from others.

They want to express their brand identity.

They want to unify their design.

They want to create uniqueness.

This is understandable.

But from the user's perspective,

I have to relearn because it's a hospital.

I have to relearn because it's a bank.

I have to relearn because it's a supermarket.

That is not a valid reason.

What the user wants to do does not change.

Identity verification.

Selection.

Confirmation.

Payment.

Completion.

Asking for help when in trouble.

This flow is surprisingly similar in every industry.

What is different is the company, not the human.

Chapter 2

We do not ask for company-specific rules on roads

Let's imagine for a moment.

At one road company,

you go on a red light.

At another road company,

you stop on a green light.

The position of crosswalks also differs by company.

Some companies have right-hand traffic.

Some companies have left-hand traffic.

Such roads would be chaotic.

That is why roads are standardized.

There are traffic rules.

Signs are also common.

The licensing system is also common.

Companies are competing with each other.

However, they are not competing on how to use the road.

That is because roads are social infrastructure.

Chapter 3

UI has also become life infrastructure

In the past, the number of people who operated screens was limited.

That is different now.

Children use them.

The elderly use them.

Foreigners use them.

People with disabilities use them.

They use them dozens of times every day.

In other words, UI has become,

not a tool for special people,

but a foundation for life.

If it is a foundation for life,

rather than company-specific uniqueness,

it should be prioritized that anyone can use it without getting lost.

Of course, the brand remains.

The colors can be different.

The photos can be different.

The worldview can be different.

However,

where to go back,

how to cancel,

confirmation screens,

payment screens,

error displays,

how to call for help,

could these basic parts,

like road signs, be standardized?

Chapter 4

The idea of a UI infrastructure company

What would happen if, in the future,

a company appeared that specializes in designing UI itself?

That company would,

not operate supermarkets.

Not build banks.

Not manage hospitals.

Not provide administrative services.

However,

it would only create screens that anyone can use without getting lost.

Button placement.

Font size.

Design for the elderly.

Accessibility.

Error displays.

Confirmation screens.

Voice guidance.

They would research these for decades.

Just as a road company maintains roads,

it is a company that maintains UI as social infrastructure.

Companies would place their own services on top of that foundation.

In other words,

the brand is created by the company.

Ease of use is shared by society.

Perhaps such a division of roles is acceptable.

Chapter 5

UI has parts that compete and parts that are shared

Companies must compete.

However,

if you get the place to compete wrong,

the learning cost for society as a whole increases.

A different back button every time.

A different cancellation method every time.

A different payment method every time.

A different error screen every time.

Users,

before learning the product,

are relearning how to operate it.

Rather than companies competing with each other,

it can be said that they are forcing learning costs onto the user.

What should be competed on is,

product quality.

Price.

Service.

Experience.

Support.

Philosophy.

You may compete greatly there.

However,

is it necessary to change even the basic human movements every time?

Chapter 6

A common UI is needed more than ever in the AI era

From now on, AI will begin to enter every service.

Hospitals.

Government offices.

Education.

Finance.

Shopping.

Work.

Consultation.

AI will likely be incorporated into most services.

Then, for the user,

the time spent touching the entrance to the AI will be longer than the AI's performance.

In other words,

the AI era is also the UI era.

No matter how smart the AI is,

if the entrance is not understood, it will not be used.

Conversely,

if the entrance is natural,

it can be used without being conscious of advanced technology.

The foundation that supports AI is,

not just GPUs.

The entrance that humans can touch without getting lost is also,

social infrastructure.

Chapter 7

UI will no longer belong only to companies

When it comes to this point,

UI is closer to being a shared asset of society,

rather than the property of a company.

Of course, corporate philosophy remains.

Corporate identity also remains.

Worldview also remains.

However,

the freedom to increase human learning costs every time,

is not something companies need to have.

Just as roads are common.

Just as the shape of power outlets is common to some extent.

Just as keyboard layouts are similar all over the world.

In UI as well,

there is a possibility that common social etiquette will grow.

At that time, companies,

might change into companies that provide their own unique value,

on top of a common foundation called UI,

rather than companies that create UI from scratch.

Final Chapter

Ease of use is not a competition, but a culture

A convenient UI is not,

that the buttons are pretty.

It is not that the screen is flashy.

It is that no one gets lost.

It is that no one is left behind.

Even if you touch it after many years,

it is that you can use it naturally.

If in the future,

a UI infrastructure company is born,

what that company sells is not a screen.

It is the peace of mind that humans can connect to society without getting lost.

Just as roads connected cities.

Just as communication networks connected the world.

Just as power grids supported life.

The next infrastructure to be developed,

might be the "interface" that connects humans and information.

UI is not a design for companies.

It is an entrance for humans to participate in society.

And I think that the more a society has such an entrance open to everyone, the more technology will approach people.

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