Photo by Lorenzo Herrera

Over the recent years, we’ve watched many unfortunate and overwhelming events all happening at once—the pandemic, wars, climate disruptions, and more. All these circumstances have prompted many of us to seek joy in everyday life. That desire has contributed to a proliferation of the nostalgia trend that helps us go back to the better times.

American Psychological Association defines nostalgia as:

“Longing to return to a place to which one feels emotionally bound or recalls as being better than the present in some way.” (Source)

Our memory is an extremely powerful and magical tool that, with photographs, everyday sounds, and even smells, can take us back to memorable moments we didn’t know we’d ever miss. With one song you suddenly hear playing from your speakers, you can move back in time and space, retrieve your past self for a moment, and instantly boost your mood. Thus, even though it may not seem like it, nostalgia is unquestionably a positive emotion that brings inspiration and optimism into daily life. On top of that, in uncertain times, it can give us hope for a better future.

Nostalgia as a Global Trend

Recently, we’ve been surrounded by nostalgic content across social media, seething with fashion, lifestyle, and music trends from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Because of the growing interest in evocative content, many companies started launching products resembling objects from our childhood and teenage years.

UX design has also been an area influenced by the nostalgia trend. If you look at some of the most recently successful digital products, many of them succeeded because their target users already felt an emotional connection to their concepts before those products launched. Let me delve into some examples that show how nostalgia has served as an inspiration for shipping successful user experiences around the world.

1. Pokémon GO

Photo by David Grandmougin

Pokémon GO is a mobile game introduced by San Francisco-based company — Niantic — in 2016. Shortly after its debut, it became one of the most popular and profitable mobile apps ever, having been downloaded over 500 million times by the end of the same year. The game’s concept is based on the original Pokémon story, where trainers (players) catch Pokémon creatures “in real life” using augmented reality and GPS.

Pokémon in the Past

Not many people know, but Pokémon first appeared as a video game for Game Boy in 1996. Its success later spawned the emergence of an anime TV series, which many of us Millennials and Gen Z watched.

Photo by Mika Baumeister

Pokémon Now

Whether you recognize all the species from the first series only or watched the subsequent series too, Pokémon GO is a game that undoubtedly helps players retrieve their childhood memories. The story of Ash Ketchum and his friends still resonates with many people around the world. On the other hand, if you’ve ever been a fan, you probably still recognize all the species, know what sounds they make, and how they evolve. That’s what served as the game’s concept and Niantic’s motivation to keep expanding the features.

Niantic has continuously improved Pokémon GO by regularly adding new species to catch, novel challenges for trainers, and incentives in the form of rare, shiny Pokémon.

Home Screen: Then vs. Now

While there were only 150 species originating from one single region when the game launched, today, you can catch over 1000 species from nine different regions. That proves how successful the mobile app’s become over the last seven years.

Pokédex: Then vs. Now

Apart from dividing Pokémon by species, the game allows players to catch legendary, shadow, purified, shiny, weaker, and stronger Pokémon. On top of that, the “pocket monsters” can have various genders and evolve differently depending on their gender.

Shiny, Rare Pokémon

New Features

Additionally, Niantic has recently introduced new features such as postcards (middle screenshot). As a result, players can send postcards to each other from all around the world and save them in their postcard albums if they wish. Also, whenever you catch a rare Pokémon, you can easily share Catch Cards with your friends (last screenshot).

New Features: Postcards and Catch Cards

The game’s nostalgic concept, combined with stunning visuals and encouragement to keep leveling up, helped the game conquer the world. Today, we have many Discord groups across the world that assemble players together and help them catch their dream “pocket monsters.” Moreover, every year, many cities organize in-person tournaments and festivals to gather all players in one location. As a result, Pokémon GO has become not just a nostalgic experience that can be enjoyed by one person — it’s also become a global community of trainers collaborating and competing against each other.

Loewe x Howl’s Moving Castle (Copyright © Loewe / Studio Ghibli). Image Source

If you love fashion, you may recognize Loewe as a luxury brand selling leather goods and timeless, artful clothing. If you’re a product designer, you may have recently heard of the brand’s collaboration with Studio Ghibli. In February 2023, they launched their third and last partnership, promoted by an interactive, nostalgic, and unique campaign on Loewe’s website.

In case you didn’t know, Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio that’s created numerous blockbusters, such as My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004). The story of the latter has been selected to promote the recent collaboration.

The Experience

Since February 2023, you can test out an experience on Loewe’s website that helps you discover which character from the animation you are. Although it may sound like a conventional idea, the entire interface is inspired by the original Howl’s Moving Castle animation created by Studio Ghibli. As a result, it’s filled with stunning illustrations and micro-interactions that many fans would love. The adventure takes you back in time to your childhood memories while bringing an experimental and modern touch to the entire user journey.

Loewe’s Homepage

The discovery experience consists of 7 steps in total, and all the steps are accompanied by sounds that you can turn on and off as you wish. During the journey, you can also skip steps if you want to jump straight to the results page. Let me walk you though the experience in more detail.

1. Spinning Wheel

As the first step, the user’s welcomed by a spinning wheel that starts rotating and generates results once you click “Spin.” After you get the results, the Moving Castle experience automatically takes you to the next step.

Step 1: Howl’s Garden

2. Select a Hat

In this step, the user has to select a hat. There are seven hats in total, and as you swipe, they smoothly move along your screen until you place your finger on your screen. Once you select your favorite hat, you have to keep pressing the screen until the object starts moving and you’ll be taken to the next phase.

Step 2:

3. Choose a Spell

Next, you have to select one spell out of four. Once you start pressing your finger on an illustration representing a spell, the pressed element bursts on fire. Once you stop pressing the screen and the spell has completely burned down, you’re taken to the next step.

Step 3:

4. Find a Trinket

As the fourth step, your role’s to find a trinket. As you start pressing the screen, you activate a magnifying glass, and the view starts to slightly move from left to right, depending where you guide the experience with your finger. Once you locate a trinket, you have to keep pressing the screen until it’s detected by the magnifying glass.

5. Feed Calcifer

In the fifth step, you have to feed a character called Calcifer. In the original story, Calcifer is a fire demon and the main character’s frenemy. He also changes color from red to blue depending on his mood and fuel level. Feeding him is simple — the user only has to throw an object into Calcifer’s mouth.

Step 5:

6. Catch a Shooting Star

The last step before the big reveal involves selecting and catching one shooting star falling from the sky. Once the stars start appearing on the screen, which takes a few seconds, the user has to click on any of them to make the selected star explode.

Step 6:

7. Results Page

Once you finish, you’re taken to the step where you open the door to see what character is waiting behind the door. In my case, it was the main character — Howl. Lucky me!

Results Page

From the user’s perspective, the discovery journeywas particularly unique and compelling because of all the beautiful micro-interactions displayed as I touched the screen and interacted with various objects. On the other hand, the user interface filled with anime-inspired content added a nostalgic charm to the entire experience.

3. Samsung + BMW M Edition

Galaxy S23 Ultra BMW M Edition. Image source: Samsung

In February 2023, Samsung revealed a limited edition Galaxy S23 Ultra “BMW M Edition” mobile phone. As the name suggests, the product is inspired by the legendary car — BMW M3 E30, produced between the 1980s and 1990s. In 1987, the car debuted in the racing scene, and even now, it’s been considered one of the most successful road-race cars in history, having won more races than any other model. As a result, it’s gained many fans and become the most iconic BMW model.

Even though Galaxy S23 Ultra “BMW M Edition” launched only in South Korea, and merely 1000 units were on sale, Samsung strived to deliver a quality, nostalgic experience to all customers dreaming of purchasing that device. Apart from BMW M-inspired packaging and accessories, the phone came with a UI theme inspired by the iconic car. What’s more, once the user turns the phone on or off, it displays a booting video that replaced a standard video revealing Samsung’s logo.

Galaxy S23 Ultra BMW M Edition. Image source: Samsung

4. Motorola razr 2022

Image Source: Motorola

In early 2022, an American telecommunications company — Motorola — has made a spectacular comeback to the mobile phone market with a new foldable phone — Razr 2022. The original Razr phone series was first introduced in late 2003. As soon as it launched, people fell in love with the new flip phone that looked modern, stylish, and edgy compared to its competitors. Its high demand and popularity allowed Motorola to sell over 100 million units worldwide in the early 2000s. Moreover, the product was widely promoted in numerous movies and TV series, which convinced everyone that it’s an iconic phone that everyone should have.

Motorola RAZR Promo Campaign Starring David Beckham. Source

Last year, the company introduced the 2022 edition of its iconic device. It’s still foldable like it used to be, and it’s still equipped with two individual screens — a 2.7-inch display on the front and the main 6.7-inch display inside. On the other hand, the company decided to compete with Samsung and refreshed the design of its flagship device by adding a foldable screen. As a result, Razr 2022 is a perfect combination of the recent market trends and nostalgic associations.

Key Takeaways

Even though various trends come and go, it’s easy to notice that people often return to trends from the past. That’s why many companies strive to build products based on previously known stories and concepts instead of introducing entirely new ideas to the market.

By incorporating aspects of the past, designers can give their works of art an emotional and sentimental value that resonates with their audience. On the flip side, nostalgia elicits warm, positive emotions that customers particularly seek in modern or uncertain times.

Furthermore, it’s crucial to remember that different generations can still have contrasting experiences and associations. That’s why, when you design nostalgic products, ensure that you know your target audience. As a result, you will be able to identify ways in which your brand can successfully connect to an aspect of the good old days.