COVID-19 changed users
07-09-2020
People’s behaviors and preferences have shifted. The spread of the new coronavirus is dramatically changing people’s lives across the globe and this in turn changes how people use (digital) products and applications. Accordingly, users’ preferences and behaviors have likely shifted, and may be very different now than they were in 2019.
Exactly how people’s daily lives and routines have changed depends on the individual, their job role, living situation, and location, but consider some of the common shifts in the table below.
| Before COVID-19 | After COVID-19 |
| Commuting every day to an office | No commuting and working from home |
| Taking children to school or daycare | Homeschooling or caring for children at home |
| Exercising in a gym | Exercising at home, outdoors, or not at all |
| Socializing in large groups at bars | Socializing in small groups at home or outdoors, if at all |
| Buying products in stores | Buying products online (such as doing on-line groceries) |
| Going out to eat in restaurants | Ordering food to be delivered at home |
| Going to a movie theater | Renting a movie at home |
| Going on international vacations | Going on a local road trip |
| Visiting a doctor’s office | Using a tele-health app from home |
| Visiting a government office to complete paperwork | Completing paperwork online |
| Dressing up for going to work or going out | Dressing down for being comfy at home |
This article by the Nielsen Norman group, specialized in research-based User Experience, describes how research will help to figure out how users have changed and how a design or application needs to adapt accordingly.
