Thinking about new platforms in 2015? Virtual Reality, Google Glass or the next thing in wearable tech? I have 8 tips to get you started. Tips and ideas direct from the designers and developers who work with the technology. Enjoy, Ryan Bousfield Creative Director

1. 8 QUICK DESIGN TIPS FOR
2015 TECH
Ryan Bousfield
Creative Director
Digital Annexe

2. FIRST PRESENTED AT DAU2014 EVENT LONDON, NOV 2014
THE NEXT
5 YEARS
IN DIGITAL DIGITAL ANNEXE UNIVERSITY 2014
@digitalannexe

3. TOPICS:
• Why?
• Wearables
• Google Glass
• Virtual Reality
• Wider considerations
• About me

4. Why?
We like to tinker with new things, some so new they’re still not
out yet. The benefit is we find out what works and what doesn’t
early on.
So here are some of the things we’ve picked up about the tech
coming out over the next year.

5. WEARABLES
1. The user is in
control, keep it
that way.
When your most intimate
“Heartbeat connected”
communications are
controlled by a watch,
buggy-slow apps or the
“blue screen of death”
simply won’t cut it.

6. WEARABLES
2. Keep it short.
Watch screens only allow
limited content over a
limited time.
Create a simple hierarchy
and keep the content
short. Users can always
connect to different
devices to follow up on the
message.

7. WEARABLES (GOOGLE GLASS)
3. Utilise voice
command.
The built in voice
recognition system in
Google Glass is pretty
astounding, easy to
implement and it can
even understand a hybrid
Yorkshire/Geordie accent
like mine.

8. VIRTUAL REALITY (VR)
4. One button
for all.
A one button
“contextual” action
works best to allow
simple exploration of a
virtual world.
E.g. “Open the door?”

9. VIRTUAL REALITY (VR)
5. Episodes.
It will take time to get used
to VR content and the
hardware is still pretty big.
Keep content short and
produce episodes of
content.

10. VIRTUAL REALITY (VR)
6. Don’t break
the spell.
Virtual Reality is believable
because movements are
tracked to match real life.
As soon as the VR glitches,
slows or stops, the
immersion is broken.
Don’t take people out of
this for menus or ads.

11. WIDER CONSIDERATIONS
7. Link with
other things.
The “Internet of Things” is
happening already; link
your service to others.
If you can, go even further
and put your service on
IFTTT.com, so anyone can
officially hack your product
or service into their day to
day lives.

12. WIDER CONSIDERATIONS
8. Speak to people,
don’t shout at them.
Wearable tech places us
closer to users, don’t ruin
that intimacy with shouty
advertising…
Instead, to integrate into
users’ lives as something
more.

13. About me.
I'm a Creative Director from a
Graphic Design background who
jumped in to digital back when it
was called multimedia.
Some years on, and I have
produced apps, utilities, tools,
games and countless web sites.
I also like Moccasins and Mr. T
@ryanbousfield

14. THANK YOU