Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide: For UX

Bridging the Physical-Digital DivideJason MesutHead of User Experience, Plan

@jasonmesut

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Uh-oh!

Dancing to one beat

In the same room

For a common purpose

Different tribes coming together

I believe in a future where physical

products and digital services work in

harmony

Where Industrial Design and

User Experience practitioners

dance to the same beat...

...in the same room

...for the common purpose of improving

the products and services of the future

The UX community needs to start

connecting, calibrating and collaborating

with Industrial Design

A hypothesis

Why is it important?

What are the things you ?

People

Activities

Apps

Technics 1200 SH-101

OP-1Tenori-On

I love objects

Q-Bert

Technics1200

Q-Bert

Technics1200

RolandSH-101

Q-Bert

Technics1200

Milo Mesut

YamahaTenori-On

Teenage EngineeringOP-1

Technics 1200 SH-101

OP-1Tenori-On

I love objects

Trained in Industrial DesignCareer in digital User Experience

Industrial Design

Digital User Experience

96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14

Five years of education

Fifteen years of commercial experience

I knew I needed to speak to

some experts in this space

I spoke to people who have deep experience

Primarily digital

1. Matt Webb

2. Kim Lenox

3. Scott Jenson

4. Oznur Ozkurt

5. Nick Myers

6. Dave Malouf

7. Heather Martin

8. David Sherwin

9. Steve Taylor

10. Ian Bach

11. Mike Walker

12. Pete Hamblin

Primarily physical design

1. Jeremy Offer

2. Mark Delaney

3. Nick Foster

4. Jim Blyth

5. Duncan Fitzsimmons

6. Marcus Hoggarth

7. Paul De’Ath

8. Alex Bradley

9. Richard Green

10. Jeanne Marrell

11. Kevin McCullagh

12. Chris Liu

Industrial Designers

Jeanne Marell

Nick Foster

Mark Delaney Alex Bradley

Kevin McCullagh

Duncan Fitzsimons

Jeremy Offer

Marcus Hoggarth

Jim Blyth

Digital designers and technologists

Pete Hamblin

Heather Martin

Kim Lenox

Matt Webb

Scott Jenson

David Sherwin

Nick Myers

Ian Bach

Dave Malouf

Experiences across some big names

Consultancies Manufacturers Education

Why do we need to be involved?

Screens seem to be

dominating our future

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



Is this really the future?

I’ve felt like i’m swimming against the tide

of waving hands, and screens everywhere

A hardware revival

is emerging

The internet of things is hitting the mainstream

Niche Mass

Unfortunately in a rather odd ways

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






Tech companies buying hardware companies

http://techguygadgets.com/google-buying-nest-labs-at-3200-million/



Service companies selling hardware to sell services

Wearable excitement

People are getting excited by wearables because it’s something else, other than a smartphone

Even if they make us look ridiculous

Maybe the tide is turning?

People are realising that

physicality can be good

There is a lack of harmony

between physical and digital

A recipe for integrated products?

+ +Integrated product

=Physical product

Digital interface

Digital services

Levels of harmony

Physical product

Digital interface

Digital servicesKey levels

of harmony

Aesthetic

Interactive

Experience

Components of integrated experience

Clunky car interfacesScreen clash

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

Little printerAll about the platform

— Web-based software interfaces and services

— Hardware interface— Quirky design

NestRare harmony

Beautiful integration— Beautiful hardware— Based on dial of thermostats

of previous eras— Slick UI— Intelligent services

iPodThe original integrated product?

Beautiful integration— Hardware and software

interface working together— iTunes store— Aesthetic mismatch

Teenage Engineering OP-1All-in-one music workstation

Beautiful integration— Resilient hardware— Slick UI— 3D printed accessories

Disharmony manifested

1. A disparity in quality

2. Disconnected design language

3. Inappropriate interactions

4. Lack of focus on the overall experience

We need greater harmony

We’ve got to get involved

Why the lack of harmony exists

Hardware is being

commoditised

1/2/3/4

Industrial Design given away

In China, they are giving away the ID for free as part of their manufacturing services... Their skills in CAD and product design are being undervalued. Kim LenoxEx-User Experience Director Lunar

Kim Lenox

Objects, like apps, are becoming more transient — like kettles that don’t last or phones we replace regularly

Jeremy OfferDesign Director, Great Fridays

Objects becoming transient

Clients are more focused on what’s on the touchscreen rather than how good the case quality is

Jim BlythManaging Director, TheAlloy

Focused on the touchscreen

Digital designers

User Experience for web,

GUI expertise

Software technologists

Understand infrastructure

and web services

Makers

Prototype, and play with

combining technologies

Graphical User Interfaces

Systems thinking

Human behaviour & experience

Web technology

Data

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


Systems thinking


Web technology

Data

Infrastructure

Prototyping

Human behaviour


Digital designers Software technologists Makers

Physical form

Materials and manufacture

Thinking beyond screens

Products that last

Consumer culture

Lacking some important skills

Industrial Designers


Systems thinking


Web technology

Data

Infrastructure

Prototyping

Human behaviour


Digital designers Software technologists Makers

They don’t seem engaged

Industrial Designers have had their head in the ground

Ian BachSenior Interaction Designer Method

Industrial Designers are struggling to articulate the value of their work

Jim BlythManaging Director, TheAlloy

They can’t justify their importance

Production methods and timelines are

completely different

1/2/3/4

Software design often begins later in the product cycle or can be heavily iterated later. 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 MyersDirector User Experience Design, Fitbit

Software added in later

It will take 12-18 months to get something to market. It used to be 2-3 years, but component selection can still take that long. UX is very much focused on the near term — it’s less reliant on supply chains

Mark DelaneyHead of Design Forward, Nokia

UX focuses on the short term

We still need to finalize firmware a couple of months before launch. And then it’s locked into the device and harder to update.


Firmware lockdown

Different paces

18 months+

3 months+

Hardware

Software

Problem framing

ToolingTuning production

Manufacturing developmentIdeation

Design development

R C D

Production

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

C D C D C D C D C D C D C D C D

ResearchConceptDesign

We don’t understand

each other

1/2/3/4

Noone knows what to call anything any more.

One title can mean one thing in one organisation and something completely different somewhere else.

Nick FosterAdvanced Design, Nokia

Title confusion

UX has done a pretty good job of making itself complicated in a short period of time. All the different sub-disciplines: IA, IxD, etc.

The more compartmentalised, the worse the result.

Marcus HoggarthIndustrial Design Director, Native

UX is confusing

Teams are separated

1/2/3/4

Hardware and software teams are often separated

SW HW

SW HW

In-house

In-house Agency

SW HW

Agency 1 Agency 2

SW HW

Agency

Silos in design are making collaboration hard

ID UX VD SD Architecture

Should we focus on breaking down design silos rather than wider organisation ones?

Causes of disharmony

1. Hardware is being commoditised

2. Timelines and production methods differ

3. We don’t understand each other

4. Teams are separated

How can we bridge the

physical-digital divide

to improve the experience of

integrated products?


physical-digital divide?

We need to

Connect / Calibrate / Collaborate


Find the common ground

Connect on a personal level

Respect differences


Adapt ourselves

Change our team organisations

Translate our language


Unite under a common purpose

Share between teams

Sketch and prototype together

Offer Mindset Language Tools Time

ID PhysicalIndustrial Design

UX Digital User Experience

Product Design

Mechanical Engineering

Ergonomics

CMF

Product visualisation

Interaction DesignInformation ArchitectureContent StrategyUser ResearchVisual DesignExperience strategy

What language is used to communicate what we do with others.

What is their motivation?

What are their values?

What tools and techniques do each use?

What value do Industrial Design and User Experience bring to the table?

What speeds do they work out through the design process?

How far into the future do they look?



1/2/3/4

ID

Offer

Understanding people

Conceiving and detailing solutions

Hardware

Mindset Language Tools Time

Manufacture

Software

Flexibility

UX

Making things

people love

Solving

problems

Making Modelling

Functional

Making

solutionsAesthetic

Decoding

Mechanical Theoretical

Instinctive

ID UX


Industrial designers obsess about physical form

- Aesthetic- Makes a product understandable- Unobtrusive- As little design as possible

Dieter Rams rules of good design


1/2/3/4

I setup a monthly lunch with the director of research and development. It helps that we both care about the same thing. That helped to bring down any barriers. I worked to understand his and his team’s goals, so that we could better support them and work closer together.



Bond over shared motivations

Learn from different perspectives


Break down the language barriers

1/2/3/4

CMFResponsive design

Tolerance Information Architect

Interaction Designer

Product Product

Service

Experience

UX

UI/UX

Lean UX

Agile

Persona

EcosystemSupply chain

People

Interaction

Design

Brand

User

Interface

Lean engineering

Product language

QA / QC

CMD

Materials and finish

Material bill

Package

(internal component architecture)

Bill of materials (BOM)

Stage gate process

Class A, B, C surfaces ID UX

Similar terms for very different things

Well established terms, but still a

lack of clarity


Language

IDers often say they don’t understand

[UX], but shifting perspective and

language helps them realise when

they are doing it. As a way to bridge

the gap, I'd often look at their past

work, point to the solutions that

worked well and relate it to [UX].

Kim Lenox

Former User Experience Director, Lunar

Define a common language

Provide meaning for different terms

Respect the differences

1/2/3/4

Sketching

Prototyping

Brainstorming

CAD modelling Wireframing

Manufacturing

Observational

research

Designing in the browser

Experience mapping

Flow diagrams

Rendering

Sampling

Appearance

modelling

ID UX

Manufacturing techniques

Modelling tools to decode, clarify


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 BrunnerPartner, Ammunition(the guy who hired Jony Ive)

Hardware is hard

Here’s Jony

Come together

Understand how to buildProduct designers need to understand how their designs will be realised

Understand Materials and Manufacturing

Manufacturing means travel

You can’t get away from the fact that you’re going to have to jump on a plane and meet manufacturers in China and develop one-to-one relationships — that’s quite daunting for some people.


Manufacturing happens from the start

Manufacturing is a key consideration, not an activity at the end of the process. Industrial designers consider manufacturing capabilities and constraints from the outset and throughout the design process. This drives and frames the design.

Alex BradleyConsultant, Plan

There’s a lot you can learn about manufacturing

3D printing won’t replace large scale manufacture... yet

Really valuable benefits of 3D printing haven’t really been embraced yet.

3D printed foetus

Don’t dive into manufacturing

Respect the expertise and challenge

Learn slowly if really interested

Long term thinking Rapid releases

Ideas at pace

Immediate

pleasure of an

interaction

Manufacturing lag

Learning curve

Relationship over time

Flexibility to adapt

Form first Form later

Upgrades

Designed to last

Fast-paced

ideation

New products

ID UX


Industrial Design has to project farther into the future

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Long-term visioning

Seymour PowellAircruiseThe Aircruise concept questions whether the future of luxury travel should be based around space-constrained, resource-hungry, and all too often stressful airline travel.

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Digital focuses on the short term

We’ve become victims of instant gratification — an app can be created within weeks.


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

Duncan FitzsimonsFounder, Vitamins

Close the horizon gap

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Close the horizon gap

Horizon gap

If you don’t give yourself enough time, you haven’t even got the beginnings of making something good.

Marcus HoggarthIndustrial Design, Native

Got to give yourself the right time

We must work at different cadences

Think longer-term

Encourage agile and lean approaches for

early concepting and exploration


Complex but documented jargon vs. bespoke and instinctive

Translate

Hide, protect vs. open sharing

Form vs. usabilityTimelessness vs. in the now

Bond

Similar concept design process

Massively different methods of production

Concept together

Similar offer, but focus on hardware vs. software

Relate

Different paces

Schedule differences

Adapt cadence

Four ways to connect

1. Find the common ground

2. Connect on a personal level

3. Break down language barriers

4. Respect the differences


So, what can you do?

Calibrate yourself

Some archetypes for personal calibration

Shifter Hybrid Partner Balanced leaderMoving from ID-to-UX Blending skills across ID + UX ID + UX working closely together Solution agnostic leadership

+

Which way do you want to go

NoLearn skills, but don’t expect to do it all

YesFind ways to work with specialists to create excellence

MaybeRare few able to do thisAre you ready to walk away from the craft?

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

Shifter Hybrid Partner Balanced leaderID + UX working closely together

+


1/2/3

I’ve found the best way to get integration is to get away from the features and unite on the higher goals

Scott JensonProduct Strategy, Google

Establish shared goals

We structure projects so industrial designers, interaction designers, mechanical engineers, and strategists can do the research together.

David SherwinInteraction Design Director, Frog

Research together

Photograph by Misha Miller

Unite product and graphic language

Nokia and Microsoft Windows mobileSeparated at birth

Physical interaction design

Beo A9Physical volume control

Physical interaction design



Share between teams

1/2/3

Show and tell

At Palm, we used to do 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

Sit together

We have the disciplines sitting together. They shadow, they share terminology, they learn from each other. Anything to spread the knowledge.

Heather MartinDirector, Interaction Design SmartDesign, Barcelona

Collaborate away from project work

We run Interaction Labs events and people collaborate across the studio

Heather MartinDirector, Interaction Design SmartDesign, Barcelona

Collaborate away from project work


1/2/3

Sketch together

Sketch together

Product designers can come up with a hundred ideas in the time that UXers come with ten

Dave CroninDirector, Interaction Design, GE

Share what you’re working on

Catch issues early

Explore and experiment quickly.

Prototype with different materials

Prototype together

We prototype fast 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 FitzsimonsCo-founder, Vitamins

Prototype together

Hardware prototypingTinkertronics

Physical form and interaction design

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

Integrated automotive interface

Texas InstrumentsImmersive AutomobilePhysical controls designed in concert with graphical user interface

Adapt the cadence and relationships between our processes

Hardware

Software

Problem framing

ToolingTuning production

Manufacturing developmentIdeation

Design development Production

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

Detail design C D C D C D C D

ResearchConceptDesign

Explore solutions together

Improve your own visualisation skills

Unify thinking throughout concepting

Push the envelope

Three ways to collaborate

1. Unite under a common purpose

2. Share between teams

3. Sketch and prototype together


It’s worth the effort

It’s worth the effort

There’s nothing all that tangible about an app — In my experience, digital designers get excited about having a part in the design of a physical object. It’s like when you made something at school. Your parents will keep it for ages.





Respect differences




Adapt ourselves

Change our team organisations

Translate our language





Share between teams




Dancing to one beat

In the same room

For a common purpose

Different tribes coming together

Just bring your own style and be careful of treading on other people’s toes

www.plan.bz

Thank youPlease contact me to discuss further

t: @jasonmesut

e: [email protected]

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s: slideshare.net/planstrategic

f: flipboard.com/profile/jasonmesut

w: www.plan.bz

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Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide: For UX

Design

Transcript of Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide: For UX