Post on 21-Apr-2017
The network as a design material: distributed systems UX for the internet of things
Claire Rowland & Helen Le Voi @clurr / @hlevoi
Interaction 16, 1st March 2016 with special thanks to Liz Goodman /@egoodman
“This is more than a UX book; it covers all of the critical design and technology issues around making great connected products.”
David Rose. Author: Enchanted Objects
“As a grizzled veteran of several campaigns within the matter-battle of the Internet of Things, I was pleasantly surprised to find the number of times this book made me pause, think, and rethink my own work (and that of others). A very valuable addition to the canon of design thinking in this emerging area.”
Matt Jones. Google
“Whether you’re an IoT pro or just getting started designing connected products, this comprehensive book has something for everyone, from examinations of different network protocols all the way up to value propositions and considerations for hardware, software, and services. This book takes a clear-eyed look at IoT from all angles.”
Dan Saffer. Mayfield Robotics
Today’s workshop Through presentations and breakout exercises, the aim of today is to give you
• An understanding the role the network plays in shaping the experience of connected products
• Knowledge of the UX challenges
• An opportunity to explore ways of addressing these challenges for different types of product and contexts of use
Why networks are important in connected product UX 30 minutes
How things connect - different architectures (demos and acting it out) 30 minutes
Break 15 minutes
Network challenges part 1 40 minutes
Design exercises round 1 40 minutes
Break 15 minutes
Network challenges part 2 15 minutes
Design exercises round 2 40 minutes
Discussion and wrap-up 15 minutes
Timings
33 billion Devices will be connected by
2020 - that’s nearly 3x as many as in 2014
Ref: Strategy Analytics
Images: Emmett Tullos, Bigbelly, Smart Structures,Wikicommons, PowerOasis, OnFarm, GROUND Lab
Industrial
By 2020, consumer spending on smart systems for the
household will reach $130 billion globally
Ref: Strategy Analytics
Consumer
Images: Withings, Made by Many, ecobee, Pod, Philips, Streetline, Evrythng/Diageo, Lockitron, Proteus
“The rush to create new commercial prototypes, products, services, systems & stacks often means culture, custom, needs & desires are overstepped in the reach for profitable new use cases”
@thingclash
We’ve seen this before…
Are we designing the right things?
Security
Privacy
Environmental impact
Interoperability
Value propositions
Business models
Industrial design
Novel UIs and interactions
Interusability
Machine learning
Designing with data
Ambient interfaces
Socio-cultural issues
Smart environments
Designing for networks
Confusing conceptual models
IoT design challenges
…but the reality is often new ways to fail
‘It’s a bit glitchy but it’s OK, you just have to be in the room at the same time’. Actual review of the Wink hub
Exercise One
Who here has designed for IoT?
? What challenges did you face?
What do you think the big UX issues might be?
Facets of IoT UXMost
visible
Least visible
Conceptual modelHow should users think about the
system?
InterusabilityInteractions spanning multiple devices
with different capabilities
UI/visual designScreen layout. Look and feel
Platform designConceptual architecture and technology
enablers spanning products/services
Industrial designPhysical hardware: capabilities and
form factor
Interaction designArchitecture and behaviours per service,
per device
Service designCustomer lifecycle, customer services, integration with non digital touchpoints
ProductisationAudience, proposition, objectives, functionality of a specific service
It’s not just things… it’s about the interconnections between things
“The network is now a design material” Liz Goodman
Image: Nissim Farim
But we don’t (yet) expect Things to behave like the Internet The average consumer is going to find it very strange when objects take time to respond, or lose instructions
There are lots of ways that things can connect
• Many different network types
• Local or long distance
• Some use internet compatible networks, some don’t
• Some are open, some are proprietary
So what are the issues?
• How fast messages get through (delays/latency)• How reliably they get through (reliability)• How frequently things connect (intermittently or constantly)
Latency: how fast messages get through
“Latency is a time delay between the moment something is initiated, and the moment one of its effects begins or becomes detectable. The word derives from the fact that during the period of latency the effects of an action are latent, meaning "potential" or "not yet observed”
https://www.itu.int/ITU-D/asp/CMS/Events/2009/PacMinForum/doc/Theme-2_O3b_Latency_White_Paper.pdf
Why we can’t make latency go away (1) It takes time to pass a signal over a network
TCP/IP networking prioritises reliability at the expense of speed
Applications take time to manipulate and present data
Here’s a really extreme example It takes 28 minutes for data to travel from Earth to Philae/Rosetta, and the bandwidth is 28kbps
Image: ESA
Why we can’t make latency go away (2)
3rd party APIs (like Gmail and Twitter) may limit the number of calls you can make to their API in a given time slot
Due to Gmail’s API rate limits, it may take 15 minutes for a Hue bulb to notify you of an inbound email
Questions
? • Have you experienced these issues with connected products?
• Have you experienced them with software only services?
Why does it happen? Things will always lose connectivity or break from time to time
Networks can suffer interference
Data packets can go missing
And…sometimes you won’t know it hasn’t worked
What’s the impact? It depends on the system architecture…
• When everything’s working OK, the differences in architecture between systems don’t matter so much
• But when connectivity problems happen, the impact on the UX will sometimes depend on the architecture of the system
Connectedness requires designers and users to think about system models
Which bit does what?
Where does code run? What fails/still works if connectivity is lost?
Questions
? • Have you experienced reliability issues with connected products?
• Have you experienced them with software only services?
Review: “If you used the [X] app to turn on/off things, you are fine, but when you started to mix in turning on a light from the switch, the status would never seem to update the [X] Hub/app correctly. You were left guessing as to whether something was truly on or not. Also, there was always a few second delay when changing the status of things. It was not instantaneous as I would have hoped it would be.
“This did not bode well for my confidence in any type of safety device (smoke alarms/locks/etc). Having a light be on when it should be off is one thing, but if you are relying on a system to notify you in case of a fire or if you door was locked/unlocked, I was left not feeling very confident that the Hub would actually work when needed.”
http://zatznotfunny.com/2014-08/battle-of-the-home-automation-hubs/
Uncertainty Is it actually working?
Health and safety risks
Violation of value proposition
Frequent irritation and confusion
Summing up the consequences
Our approach Design continuity into a world with unavoidable gaps between devices
Adapted from: Cross-Platform Service User Experience: A Field Study and an Initial Framework. Minna Wäljas, Katarina Segerståhl, Kaisa Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila, Harri Oinas-Kukkonen MobileHCI'10
Continuity
Kindle WhispersyncImage: Kei Noguchi via CC licence
The flow of interactions and data in a coherent narrative sequence across devices
Continuity does not mean designing a seamless experience
It often means handling inevitable glitches gracefully
Instagram does thisThe photo is already shown as ‘liked’, even though the phone OS tells us that the instruction is still being sent
Option 2 Be truthful, even if it leads to doubtAcknowledge action, show that it is in progress
Confirm only once it’s done
Exercise - 20 minSplit into groups (8 groups of 3) - 5 minEach group gets a printed-out briefIndividual writing/sketching - 5 minGroup deliberation - 10 minDecide on one direction and explain WHY in 2-3 sentences
Extra credit for sketching/acting out the interaction so that we can see it!
Think about how things connect, and what delays/failures may occur
You’re working on an in-car audio system. It streams music from the cloud and has a physical “like” button.
The button talks over Bluetooth to a phone, which talks to a music account in the cloud.
What are the key user interactions? What, if any, issues might arise during those interactions from latency, reliability or intermittent connectivity? How would you handle these in the UX design?
You’re working on a smart lock for front doors. It can be locked and unlocked remotely from a phone.
What are the key user interactions? What, if any, issues might arise during those interactions from latency, reliability or intermittent connectivity? How would you handle these in the UX design?
You’re working on a personal emergency alarm button for older or vulnerable people. It connects over a local wireless network to a hub in the home.
What are the key user interactions? What, if any, issues might arise during those interactions from latency, reliability or intermittent connectivity? How would you handle these in the UX design?
Image: natematias via Flickr
You’re working on a remote fish tank monitoring and fish feeding device. It connects over a local wireless network to a hub in the home. (NB: overfeeding fish is bad).
What are the key user interactions? What, if any, issues might arise during those interactions from latency, reliability or intermittent connectivity? How would you handle these in the UX design?
Image: johnskate17 via Wikicommons
Why is intermittent connectivity an issue? Many devices run on batteriesWireless connections consume lots of powerBattery powered devices have to spend much of their time offline to save power
Why does this matter? Data may be out of date (whether that matters depends on context)
A blood glucose reading from one week ago is not
For most purposes, a body mass measurement from one week ago is still quite useful
A live energy reading (every few seconds) can help you understand the consumption of that appliance you just turned on
Timeliness of data is fundamental to UX and value proposition
A 30 minute energy reading will tell you about your consumption patterns over time
Images: Onzo. Electric Ireland
• Devices get out of sync, reporting different status information: this breaks Nielsen’s heuristic of ‘visibility of system status’
• Which one is ‘right?’ Are any of them broken, or just out of sync?
• How old is the data? Could it be wrong now? What’s the margin of error? What’s the impact of it being wrong?
These are also continuity issues
Exercise - 20 minSplit into groups (8 groups of 3) - 5 minEach group gets a printed-out briefIndividual writing/sketching - 5 minGroup deliberation - 10 minDecide on one direction and explain WHY in 2-3 sentences
Extra credit for sketching/acting out the interaction so that we can see it!
Think about how these things are powered and how they connect
You’re working on outdoor gear/clothing with an automatic distress beacon.
The beacon is triggered (how? when?)
What are the key user interactions? What, if any, issues might arise during those interactions from latency, reliability or intermittent connectivity? How would you handle these in the UX design?
You’re working on an insulin pump that reports blood sugar levels to your doctor’s office every 15 minutes
What are the key user interactions? What, if any, issues might arise during those interactions from latency, reliability or intermittent connectivity? How would you handle these in the UX design?
You’re working on a location tracker designed to be worn by sheep. It sends data to a farm manager’s computer about their location and wellbeing.
What are the key user interactions? What, if any, issues might arise during those interactions from latency, reliability or intermittent connectivity? How would you handle these in the UX design?
You’re working on a management interface for a parking lot sensor system. It tracks which spaces are available or in use.
What are the key user interactions? What, if any, issues might arise during those interactions from latency, reliability or intermittent connectivity? How would you handle these in the UX design?
Questions to ask yourself
Is the product…
? Life or safety critical?
Time-sensitive?
A remote control?
What else?
Safety critical/urgent
Messages must get through quickly
Status information needs to be updated frequently, and clearly indicate how old it is
Need to know when instructions have been received and acted upon
Low touch/non-critical:
OK if data or instructions take time to get through
Assume it’s working unless notified of a problem
Senior safety/intruder alarm
Baby monitor
The ‘right’ approach depends on context
Images: MyLively, Efergy
How irritating are glitches and delays going to be, over time?
How irritating are your glitches and delays going to be in a world filled with glitches and delays?
And don’t underestimate the sheer power of irritation
Image: GhostFaceScream2 via Youtube
What about non-visual UIs?
We haven’t worked in this area yet.
Have you?
How might you handle network issues in this instance?
If you’ve enjoyed today, the book covers - How the technology of IoT affects UX- Product and design strategy for connected devices- Industrial design- Interface and interaction design for embedded devices- Cross-device interactions and interusability- Interoperability- Responsible IoT design- Designing with data- Prototyping and user research methods for connected
products
www.designingconnectedproducts.com
@clurr | claire@clairerowland.com@hlevoi | helenlevoi@me.com