NEW RESEARCH: THE USER EXPERIENCE OF THINGS
Why Ubiquitous Sensing and Software Require a New Approach to User Experience Design
Research Overview
Our interactions with technology are shifting from laptop to mobile, and increasingly across other devices as well. Consumers’ expectations are shifting too: always on, always accessible, and always easy. We’re now entering an era where screens become secondary, and other modes of interaction like voice, gesture, and motion are converging with data-driven networked services. Meanwhile, product organizations are struggling to create sustainable IoT experiences and service models. Colliding technological, social, and economic forces are demanding companies re-think the role and development of UX. To effectively design any connected product or experience is to design the coordination of a whole system – not just a product.
New research conducted by industry analyst, Jessica Groopman explores the often overlooked market dynamics redefining user experience (UX) in a connected world. Including inputs from 23 ecosystem leaders, this report addresses the following key questions:
- What’s different about UX in the Internet of Things?
- Why is UX an essential foundation of digital strategy?
- Who owns UX? What is the role of product?
- What are trends and forces are re-shaping UX
- What are notable examples of companies redefining UX with hardware and software innovations?
- What steps can we take to develop exceptional UX in the Internet of Things?
Research Features
- Research inputs from more than 23 ecosystem participants
- Case examples from companies across industries
- Frameworks to support connected product/service design
- Best practices and recommendations for product manufacturers, designers, brands, service providers, and innovators
Who needs this report?
- Chief product officers, product leaders, product managers, product developers
- CMO, CIO, CDO, customer strategy leaders
- Digital strategists, Innovation leaders, “change agents”
- Brands and enterprises developing connected products and services
- Enterprise software providers, hardware and firmware manufacturers
- Agencies involved in product strategy, development, positioning
Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- What is User Experience? (UX)
- Why is UX Different in the Internet of Things?
- Trends & Forces Impacting User Experience Design
- Connected Form Factors Are Proliferating
- New Interaction Modalities Are Emerging
- Back End Innovation is Transforming Front End Experience
- The Rise of the Faceless & Formless Interface
- In the Internet of Things, UX Design is Strategy, Not a Tactic
- 12 Best Practices for UX Design in the Internet of Things
- Re-define User Interface
- Design Systems & Solutions by Assembling Multi-Disciplinary Teams
- Design for User Centricity within Each Interaction
- Embrace Design & Technology to Minimize Steps between User & Objective
- Understand the Responsibility of Anthropomorphizing Products
- Design Safeguards Directly into Product (& Ecosystem)
- Prioritize Digital Identity Along the Supply Chain
- Design Customer (& Partner) Support Programs Alongside Products & Services
- Design for Evolution, Not Revolution
- Design to Problem-Solve
- Test, Test, Test. Test Again. And Keep Testing
- Design for Integrated Context & Interoperability
- Conclusion
- Research Methodology
- Ecosystem Participants & Acknowledgements
- Endnotes
