Designing Connected Products

Chapter 8. Interface and Interaction Design

BY MARTIN CHARLIER

In this chapter, we will look at interface and interaction design for connected products. Many connected products involve web and smartphone interfaces. But there are many good resources available on these platforms already. This chapter will focus on the possibilities beyond point-and-click or touchscreen interfaces. This is for two reasons.

First, point-and-click and touchscreen interfaces dominate the majority of UX design work. But both interface types are less likely to be used on embedded devices like smart thermostats and or smart plugs.

Second, the Internet of Things provides an opportunity to redefine how we interact with digital devices. This point is brilliantly argued by designer Bret Victor in his “Brief Rant About the Future of Interaction Design.”^[105] Victor discusses the diverse and intricate ways we use our hands on a daily basis. He critiques the many concept explorations that, although looking into the future, still revolve around touchscreens. The aim of this chapter is to inspire designers to experiment with new ways of interacting with products.

This chapter introduces:

• Different interface types and their benefits and drawbacks (Types of Interaction)

• Specific interface design challenges for embedded devices (Multimodal Interaction and Interface Combinations)

• Ways to design accessible and universal interfaces (Universal Design and Accessibility)

This chapter addresses the following issues:

• Why having a screen ...