Designing Multi-Device Experiences

Chapter 1. An Ecosystem of Connected Devices

What does it mean to design a product in a world where people own multiple devices and use them interchangeably? This chapter describes how we got to this multi-device era, and introduces a new ecosystem design framework to help us both navigate and influence this new reality.

We have entered a world of multi-device experiences. Our lives have become a series of interactions with multiple digital devices, enabling each of us to learn, buy, compare, search, navigate, connect, and manage every aspect of modern life.

Consider the hours we spend with devices every day—interacting with our smartphones, working on our laptops, engaging with our tablets, watching shows on television, playing with our video game consoles, and tracking steps on our fitness wristbands. For many of us, the following are true:

• We spend more time interacting with devices than with people.

• We often interact with more than one device at a time.

The number of connected devices has officially exceeded the 7 billion mark, outnumbering people (and toothbrushes) on the planet.^[2] By 2020, this number is expected to pass 24(!) billion.^[3] This inconceivable quantity not only attests to the growing role of these devices in our digital lives, but also signals an increasing number of devices per person. Many individuals now own multiple connected devices—PCs, smartphones, tablets, TVs, and more—and they are already using them together, switching between them, in order to accomplish ...