Designing Connected Products

Chapter 1. What’s Different About User Experience Design for the Internet of Things?

BY CLAIRE ROWLAND

User experience (UX) design and human–computer interaction (HCI) emerged in a world of desktop computers. But our experience of computing has changed radically in the past 10–15 years. Many of our interactions now take place on mobile phones, tablets, ereaders, and smart TVs. And it’s common to use one service across multiple devices with different form factors (Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-1. BBC iPlayer can be used on connected TVs, smartphones, tablets, PCs, game consoles, and set-top boxes (image: BBC)

We’re still figuring out the best ways to design for new devices and experiences. Interactions can happen in a wide variety of contexts, especially for mobile devices. They can happen on a variety of scales, from tiny wrist-tops, to smartphones, to TV user interfaces (UIs) viewed from 10 feet away. Even academic researchers in HCI have published relatively few papers on cross-platform design.

The “Internet of Things” (IoT) refers to the growing range of everyday objects acquiring connectivity, sensing abilities, and increased computing power. In consumer terms, some common categories currently include:

• Connected home technology (such as thermostats, lighting, and energy monitoring)

• Wearables (such as activity/fitness trackers and “smart” watches)

• Medical/wellness devices (such as bathroom scales ...