Chapter 7. Embedded Device Design

BY MARTIN CHARLIER

This chapter is about the design of physical objects in the Internet of Things. In particular, the devices users interact with and that have embedded electronics. Compared to web or mobile UX design, thinking about physical objects requires an appreciation for some fundamental differences.

When reading or hearing about hardware startups, you’ll often hear that “hardware is hard.” This conclusion speaks to those fundamental differences to software. Designing software revolves around the ability to release early, iterate continuously, and easily address a global market. Hardware involves high upfront costs, can’t change once manufactured, and every market requires individual due diligence.

In this chapter, we will look at some of the basics of designing physical objects, what’s important to consider when designing physical connected objects, and how this is relevant to UX designers of an Internet of Things product.

This chapter introduces:

This chapter addresses the following issues:

  • Why physical device design is about more than usability ...

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