Over the last two years we have had several discussions with our clients about IoT and wearable projects, some more advanced than others. However, many of these projects never happen and there is a pattern emerging around why organisations are struggling to get these projects off the ground. In this talk I will share our experiences and the patterns we have seen, along with some key considerations for us on how to more effectively package these projects if we really want to do them.

1. The unfulfilled IoT Promise
Trials & Tribulations
September 2015
GIRL GEEK CONFERENCE
@LolaOye

2. Every-time a client says we need to get
into IoT, Kevin Ashton strangles a kitten.
“ Me, August 2015
Kevin Ashton, co-founded the Auto-ID Centre at MIT that created a global standard for RFID and other sensors. Source: Wikipedia

3. HeadLabs enables us to be professional tinkerers, playing
with technology that might not otherwise get built.

4. 4
Smartwatch App
We aim to evaluate
100+ technologies
a year
Arduino, Raspberry Pi & Particle Photon
Open Innovation Platform

5. Vote-O-MaticKinect Stroke Rehabilitation
Office Vibe
2012
Hack-O-Lantern “Scare Izzy”
2014
2015
Smart Beer Mat
2013

6. We’re currently experimenting with RoboLola - a
smart brace for soft-tissue knee injuries:
• We will be tracking flexion (angle of the knee
and) number of steps
• Particle Photon microprocessor (has WiFi)
• Meccano, 3D printing and a bit of soldering to
attach a Potentiometer (angle sensor)
• A bespoke app to track the data
• …operation planned for Dec 2015/Jan 2016

7. Most organisations are nowhere near ready
to create IoT services (or wearables!)

8. The logistics are always
more expensive than anyone
has really considered.
You can’t have IoT without a
micro-services architecture
approach.
No you really can’t have a
CMS with that.
1. 2. 3.

9. A large home appliances
manufacturer is presented with the
opportunity to connect kitchen
appliances to an influential and well
established music streaming service.
The pitch: Collaborative proof of concept
starting with a Hack Day
Scenario 1 - 2013

10. Why this project never took off:
• Physical product teams work in a very
different way to digital product teams
• Components are priced before they’re
placed - £0.02 cost increase can
become a £500k increase in
production cost
• Who owns the digital/cloud platform
that connects the appliance and the
music service?

11. A fast-growing OOH marketing
company tries to entice their
customers into a large scale beacon-
based marketing trial. They have a
captive audience (think transport)
so they just need the ideas.
The brief: Media buying teams don’t know
what to buy, we don’t know what to sell.
Scenario 2 - 2015

12. Why this project is risky:
• Hardware guys just want to sell the
hardware, they don’t come with services
• The OOH company have access to
users, but no access to their client’s
digital strategy
• Their clients are interested, but want
someone else to do the hard work
• First person to find a valuable use-case
gets the glory….but who will it be?
?

13. A small appliances manufacturer
wants to enter the market with a
connected cooking appliance.
They’re late compared to the
competition, but want to get this
right and scale fast.
The brief: Provide a safe way to enter the
market I.e. off the shelf
Scenario 3 - 2015
** This scenario is not about Crockpot, image is illustrative.

14. Why this project isn’t getting started:
• Best practice doesn’t exist, the risk is all
yours - as are the rewards
• Buy-in vs. build: figuring out a way
forward when you don’t have the in-house
skills
• IoT is not publishing and connected
doesn’t mean to the website!
• The board doesn’t speak geek, but they
are being asked to put up a lot of cash
?

15. As experience designers, our skills &
viewpoints need to be broader than just
the bit that interacts with the end user

16. 5 Competency areas for IoT Experience Design
Technology
Materials &
Engineering
Service Design Future-Gazing Hacker
• Development
frameworks for
connecting things (they
change all the time)
• Identifying components
and putting them
together
• Outline the big picture
and the impact across
different parts of the
business
• Envision where
behaviour is going and
help people get there
• If it can be broken,
break it
• Open-standards to help
with experimentation
• Exploring feel and
heavy usage
• Someone has to decide
what talks to what,
about what and when
• Look beyond what’s
possible and define
improbable outcomes
goals
• Once broken, what else
could it do?
• Awareness of how to
‘fake’ and what to
‘make’
• Wiring sh*t up! • Help connecting
current services with
this new way of
interacting with people
• Ask silly questions • Understand how to put
it back together again if
you need to
• Technical architecture
design
• Understanding cost
implications

17. You really can’t ignore these two!
Technology
Materials &
Engineering
Service Design Future-Gazing Hacker
• Development
frameworks for
connecting things (they
change all the time)
• Identifying components
and putting them
together
• Outline the big picture
and the impact across
different parts of the
business
• Envision where
behaviour is going and
help people get there
• If it can be broken,
break it
• Open-standards to help
with experimentation
• Exploring feel and
heavy usage
• Someone has to decide
what talks to what,
about what and when
• Look beyond what’s
possible and define
improbable outcomes
goals
• Once broken, what else
could it do?
• Awareness of how to
‘fake’ and what to
‘make’
• Wiring sh*t up! • Help connecting
current services with
this new way of
interacting with people
• Ask silly questions • Understand how to put
it back together again if
you need to
• Technical architecture
design
• Understanding cost
implications

18. “The path to the CEO's office should not be through the CFO's office, and it should not be
through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design.
Elon Musk (Co-founder of Paypal, Founder & CEO Of SpaceX & Tesla Motors)

19. @LolaOye
lola.oyelayo@headlondon.com
THANK YOU