Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide: Industrial Designer Edition

transcript

Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide !23 May 2014 Product Design and Innovation 2014

!Jason Mesut Head of User Experience, Plan

Local Leader, IxDA London !

5 years !Industrial Design

years !Digital User Experience

3 years Local leader

Interaction Design Association

L o n d o n

Subjects over 3 years Internet of Things Future of publishing Urban environment Smart materials Mobility / Automotive Clinical applications !Upcoming… Smart home Music interfaces Consumer healthcare

I want a future where physical

products and digital services

work in harmony

Industrial Designers

Industrial Designers Digital / UX Designers

I’ve interviewed over 30 designers

Experiences with familiar names

Consultancies Manufacturers Education

Some key questions

—Why should we care?

—What are we aiming for?

—What are the challenges?

—How can we tackle them??

Some key questions

—How can we tackle them?

Screens dominating

Screens on everything

Screens replacing tactile controls

Screens in front of babies

http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/fisher-price-ipad-apptivity-seat.jpg

Emerging hardware revival

The internet of things is hitting the mainstream

Niche Mass

In odd ways

http://www.beamtoothbrush.com/toothbrush/

Tech companies buying hardware companies + skills

Service companies selling hardware

Wearable excitement

Something other than a smartphone to design

Even if they make us look ridiculous

Industrial Design seems

to be losing relevancy

Digital designersUser Experience for web, GUI expertise

Software technologistsUnderstand infrastructure and web services

MakersPrototype, and play with combining technologies

Graphical User Interfaces

Systems thinking

Human behaviour & experience

Web technology

Infrastructure

Prototyping

Human behaviour

Connection with the arts

Mike Kuniavsky, author of Smart Things Matt Webb, Berg Kate Hartman, artist, technologist, educator OCAD

Digital natives seem to be driving the future

Industrial Design doesn’t engage

Industrial Designers have their heads in the ground

Ian BachSenior Interaction Designer Method

Doesn’t include freelancers

£350-600+ a day

Industrial Design

User Experience

Huge pay gap

Some key questions

Greater harmony between

physical and digital

A recipe for integrated products?

+ +Physical Product

Digital Interface

Digital Service

Integrated product

+ +Physical Product

Digital Interface

Digital Services

!Aesthetic

Visceral. Visual, sonic, feel.

Interactive Behavioural. Distribution of inputs and controls.

!Experiential

Reflective. Fit with person’s context and ecosystems.

!!Key levels of harmony

Components of integrated experience

Unite product and graphic language

Nokia and Microsoft Windows mobileSeparated at birth

Physical form and interaction design

Nokia and MeegoA touchscreen curved at the edges to aid friction for swipes from the edge

iPod The original integrated product?

Appropriate interactions — Hardware and software

interface working together — iTunes store — Aesthetic mismatch

Clunky car interfaces Screen clash

Dangerous disparity — Aesthetic mismatch — Interface not tactile — Doesn’t create a better

experience

Integrated automotive interface

Texas InstrumentsImmersive AutomobilePhysical controls designed in concert with graphical user interface

Nest Rare harmony?

Coherent product-service — Elegant hardware — Slick UI — Intelligent services

Nest Rare harmony?

We need to seek

1. Quality balance

2. Connected design language

3. Appropriate interactions

4. Consideration of overall experience

Some key questions

Why harmony is rare

Hardware is being

commoditised

1/2/3/4

Objects, like apps, are becoming transient — like kettles that don’t last or phones we replace regularly !Jeremy Offer Design Director, Great Fridays

Objects becoming transient

Delivery timelines

are different

1/2/3/4

UX is very much focused on the near term — it’s less reliant on supply chains !Mark Delaney Head of Design Forward, Nokia

UX focuses on the short term

Software design often begins later in the cycle. !You’re given a spec of controls and it’s very hard to adjust the hardware in the midst of development without long delays. !Nick Myers Director User Experience Design, Fitbit

Software added in later

Different delivery timeframes

18 months+

3 months+ initially Then monthly, weekly or daily

Hardware

Software

Problem framing Tooling

Tuning production

Manufacturing development

!Ideation

!Design development

!Production

2-6W 4-8W 4-8W 26W 12W 3W 4-8W

C D C D C D RCD RCD

Research Concept Design

RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD

Disciplines don’t

understand each other

1/2/3/4

UX has done a pretty good job of making itself complicated in a short period of time with all the different sub-disciplines: IA, IxD, etc. !The more compartmentalised, the worse the result. !Marcus Hoggarth Industrial Design Director, Native

UX is confusing

Teams are

separated

1/2/3/4

Hardware and software teams often separated

In-house

In-house Agency

Agency 1 Agency 2

Agency

Design silos inhibit collaboration

ID UX VD SD

Should we destroy design silos before organisation ones?

Why harmony is rare

1. Hardware commoditisation

2. Delivery differences

3. Don’t understand each other

4. Teams are separated

Some key questions

How can we bridge the

physical-digital divide?

physical-digital divide

First, we must

Define the divide

ID Industrial Design Physical

Product Design

Mechanical Engineering

Ergonomics

Product visualisation

Offer Mindset Language Tools Time

ID Industrial Design Physical

UX Digital User Experience

Product Design

Mechanical Engineering

Ergonomics

Product visualisation

Interaction Design

Information Architecture

Content Strategy

User Research

Visual Design

Experience strategy

Jargon !Documentation !Communication

Motivation !Values !Principles

Methods !Software !Approaches

Value !Uniqueness !

Horizons !Timelines !Pace

Which factors affect how we work together?

What separates us?

Bespoke

Universal &

documented

!Design

Experience

Mechanical

Theoretical

!!Solving

problems

Making

solutions

Manufacturing

Modelling

!!Researching

Sketching

Prototyping

Hardware

Software

!!Understanding

people

Conceiving

solutions

Long term

Short term

!!Fast-paced

Immediate

interaction

What unites us?

Bespoke

Universal &

documented

!Brand

Design

Experience

Mechanical

Theoretical

!!Solving

problems

Making

solutions

Manufacturing

Modelling

!!Researching

Sketching

Prototyping

Hardware

Software

!!Understanding

people

Conceiving

solutions

Long term

Short term

!!Fast-paced

Immediate

interaction

We need to

Connect / Calibrate / Collaborate

We need to

Connect / Calibrate / CollaborateFind the common ground

Connect on a personal level

Respect differences

We need to

Connect / Calibrate / Collaborate Adapt ourselves

Adapt our processes

Translate our language

We need to

Connect / Calibrate / Collaborate Unite on common purpose

Share between teams

Prototype together

Find common ground Connect on a personal level

Respect differences

Connect

Hardware is appropriately named because it’s hard...

...It’s a long, hard, painful, expensive process

... It requires a long term commitment to a design

!Robert Brunner Partner, Ammunition (the guy who hired Jony Ive)

Hardware is hard

Software is slippery

1. Hidden impacts from changes

2. Multiple releases

3. Integration challenges

4. Multiple platforms

5. Legacy code

!Some large organisations have terrible legacy code — it can take months to change a word or button on a site

Respect differences

Break down language barriers

Adapt our skills

Adapt our processes

Connect

Calibrate

Adapt our skills and teams

Shifter Hybrid Partner Neutral leaderMoving from ID-to-UX Blending skills across ID + UX ID + UX working closely

together Solution agnostic leadership

No Learn skills, but don’t expect to do it all

Yes Find ways to work with specialists to create excellence

Maybe Rare few able to do this Are you ready to walk away from the craft?

Maybe ID to UX is possible, but the other way is tougher especially for seniors

Shifter Hybrid Partner NeutralID + UX working closely together

Partner or shift

Each approach has it's own value, but close that gap and the future will happen quicker and better !Duncan Fitzsimons Founder, Vitamins

Close the horizon gap

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Digital focuses on shorter term

Horizon gap

Respect differences

Break down language barriers

Adapt our skills

Adapt our processes

Connect

Calibrate

Collaborate

Unite on a common purpose Share regularly Prototype together

Develop shared vocabulary

I’ve found the best way to get integration is to get away from the features and unite on the higher goals !Scott Jenson Product Strategy, Google

Unite on a common purpose

We structure projects so industrial designers, interaction designers, mechanical engineers, and strategists can do the research together. !David Sherwin Interaction Design Director, Frog

Research together

Photograph by Misha Miller

Share regularly

At Palm, we did show and

tells across ID and UX. IDs

would bring their models and

we would offer suggestions

and opinions. We would bring

our interface concepts or

prototypes and they would

share their ideas too. !Kim Lenox

Former Director of User Experience, Lunar

We prototype in physical and digital - it's easy to do fast, and there is a lot to be said for tangible design - it might not be shippable, but it is experiential and experimental !Duncan Fitzsimons Co-founder, Vitamins

Prototype together

Hardware prototyping Tinkertronics

Hardware

Problem framing Tooling

Tuning production

Manufacturing development

!Ideation

!Design development

!Production

2-6W 4-8W 4-8W 26W 12W 3W 4-8W

Adapt our processes Cadence and relationships

Software

C D RCD

Research Concept Design

RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCDDetail design C D

!Seeking

!Against

!!We must

Losing relevancy !

Greater harmony !

Commoditisation, silos,

processes, language

Connect

Calibrate

Collaborate