I’m excited to be opening the final day of UX Week 2009 with an exploration of what we can learn from the Web about smart products.
Smart products bring their own design challenges. Internet-connected devices and plastic filled with electronics behave in unexpected ways: what does it means for a physical thing to side-load its behaviour, or for a toy to have its own presence in your social network? What we’ve learned about user experience on the Web is a great place to start: social software, adaptation, designing for action creating action — these are principles familiar on the Web, and still valuable when design is not on the screen but in your hands.
We’ve learned a lot in the recent couple years about designing when there are a lot of moving parts: software, plastic, mechanics, embedded electronics, multiple teams and languages, standards, component costs, fulfilment… it’s a lot to put together and still retain a focus on user experience, and user adaptation. There’s no single project where we’ve got it all right — but there are a load of lessons, and I want to share some of them.
The talk is called Design is in your hands.
I’m in town 17—20 September, so if you’re at UX Week or in San Francisco the day after, let’s hang out.
2 Comments and Trackbacks
1. Steve Portigal said on 17 August 2009...
Been a fan of you guys for a little while and as a Bay Area local would love to have a chance to meet up and chat!
2. Ianus Keller said on 17 August 2009...
Wow, wat a coincidence. I will be in San Francisco from 19 until 25th of September as we will be presenting students work over at the Intel University Design Expo (organized by Joy Mountford and with the RCA students there as well). You might want to come over on the 21st in the Marriott Hotel to see the presentations or hang out in any other way (ps we met at Reboot 7 a couple of years ago).