EuroIA16 keynote.

1. UX for
connected
products
Claire Rowland / @clurr
EuroIA, September 2016
Practical differences designing for
systems combining software and
connected embedded devices
www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/launch-plans-for-serving/2410778.html

2. •Product/UX strategy consultant
•Specialising in IoT, particularly
connected home/energy
management
•Lead author of Designing Connected
Products
Me…

3. We’re putting computing power, machine learning,
sensing, actuation and connectivity into ever more
objects and systems in the physical world
autonomoustractor.com
grenzebach.com sjm.com august.com

4. http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/heck-internet-things-dont-yet/
- …
Visions of IoT often look like this

5. …but the reality is often new ways to fail
‘It’s a bit glitchy but it’s OK, you just have to be in the
room at the same time’.
Actual review of the Wink hub

6. State of play
•Technology is still maturing
•Lots of products of dubious value
(especially in consumer realm)
•Interoperability is poor
•Software and physical things are very
different in terms of product
development and user expectations
•We’re still figuring out business
models, security and privacy
“We are experiencing some
minor difficulties with a 3rd
party server.”
petnet.com

7. •Sense making?
•Distributed information?
The IA angle?
Image byTodd Huffman from Wikipedia

8. Today, we’ll focus on:
What’s it like
working on
connected
products?

9. Myths of connected
products
Via Pinterest, source unknown

10. Myth 1:
Magic is a helpful design metaphor
Magic is a thing we don’t understand and can’t control
Image via http://everystevejobsvideo.com/steve-jobs-speaks-at-the-academy-of-achievement-1982-audio/

11. “People used to think
electricity was magic and
then it just became normal.”
Ann Light

12. A design model for IoT

13. Facets of IoT UX
Screen layout. Look and feel
Most
visible
Least
visible
Conceptual model
How should users think about the
system?
Interusability
Interactions spanning multiple
devices with different capabilities
UI/visual design
Platform design
Technology enablers spanning
products/services
Industrial design
Physical hardware: capabilities and
form factor
Interaction design
Architecture and behaviours per
service, per device
Service design
Customer lifecycle, customer services,
integration with non digital
touchpoints
Productisation
Audience, proposition, objectives,
functionality of a specific service

14. UI and interaction

15. A variety of modalities
smarttthings.com, amazon.com, lutron.com, 3dsystems.com

16. Myth 2:
Zero UI is feasible and
desirable
“Ubiquitous systems must contain
provisions for immediate and transparent
querying of their ownership, use, and
capabilities. Everyware must, in other
words, be self-disclosing. Whether such
disclosures are made graphically, or
otherwise, they ensure that you are
empowered to make informed decisions as
to the level of exposure you wish to
entertain.”
Adam Greenfield (2006)

17. Lots of ‘IoT’
mostly or
only has
web or
mobile UIs
onfarm.com

18. Industrial design

19. The process is very
different from
digital
seymourpowell.com
Practical and technical things
considered at the same time as
aesthetics and ‘superficial’ things like
branding, visual impact etc.
Extra considerations for connected
things: not blocking radio signals,
fitting in electronics, adequate power

20. Form is only loosely related to function

21. Interusability:
coherent system UX
Cross-Platform Service User Experience: A Field Study and an Initial Framework
Minna Wäljas, Katarina Segerståhl, KaisaVäänänen-Vainio-Mattila, Harri Oinas-Kukkonen, 2010
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221270744_Cross-platform_service_user_experience_A_field_study_and_an_initial_framework

22. Deciding how to distribute functionality between devices/UIs
Composition
tado.com
hivehome.com

23. Appropriate commonalities and differences between devices/UIs
Consistency
nest.com

24. Continuity
- The flow of interactions and
data in a coherent sequence
across devices
- Continuity helps the user feel
as if they are interacting with
the service, not a bunch of
separate devices
Image: Kei Noguchi via CC licence

25. Myth 3:
IoT interactions are
seamless
Image: Nissim Farim
We don’t (yet) expectThings to behave like
the Internet

26. Latency
……………………………………………..
“Oh never mind”
[ding dong]
Nicolas Calderone via macsources.com
Delays between user request and
system response

27. Intermittent connectivity
19
2 min delay
21
Devices are often designed to connect only as needed and can get out of sync

28. Conceptual model

29. Value
proposition
Conceptual
model
Interaction
model
What does it do? How does it work? How do I use it?
3 part diagram:
Image: Instructables Image: How It Works Daily

30. How does it
work, how
might it
break?

31. How much does the user need to know?
What actually happensAll you need to know

32. Service design

33. Often the service is more salient than
the things
Myth 4:
IoT is all about
things

34. Holistic service offering
vivint.com

35. Service
design tools
are useful for
balancing
holistic and
touchpoint
design
adaptivepath.com

36. Productisation

37. Product Tool
In areas where they don’t have expert knowledge or are short on time
consumers need products, not tools

38. Does the value of the product outweigh
its risks?

39. Platform design:
technology enablers

40. The UX you
want to
create will
depend on
technology
enablers
solstice.com

41. •…
System architectures matter for UX…

43. •…

44. •If APIs are too coarse you can’t get
the detail
•If they’re too granular, you’ll have to
make lots of calls and do front end
processing: this can be slow and risk
inconsistencies
•If they’re the wrong structure this
can also slow things down
You can’t create
the right UX
without the right
APIs
“Uh, that new
homescreen of yours
is about 150 API calls
on our current
platform”

45. •App
•Cloud service
•Device firmware/software
•You need to know who to talk to
about the functionality you want to
build
UX decisions can
impact code all over
the system
Room:“kitchen”
Device:“oven”

46. The cool stuff (for IAs) is smart
coordination between devices and servcies
Add to: lighting controls?
security system?
both?

47. 1. Data about device capabilities
To be smart we need:
•I’m a lightbulb
•I can be on or off
•I can be x% dimmed
•I can support x colours
•My brightness is measured in
lumens
•I have been on for 600 seconds
•I have used 10 Watt hours since
my last reset

48. 2. Data about the context of specific devices
•I’m in the living room
•I’m being used in the floor lamp

49. 3. A system/domain model

50. 4. An understanding of the wider context of use
http://www.apexselfdefense.com, My Mommy Manual (viaYoutube)

51. ainsmag.co.uk

52. •Has to learn
•Might get it wrong
•May be annoying or dangerous
Machine learning Ontologies
•Effort to create
•Will anyone use them?

53. Tesler’s law of the conservation of
complexity:
As you make the user
interaction simpler you
make things more
complicated for the
designer or engineer
LarryTesler, formerVP of Apple

54. Thank you!

55. Want one?
Tweet @clurr and say
I want a book #euroia16
First 3 win!
@clurr | claire@clairerowland.com
www.designingconnectedproducts.com