The changing nature of things Getting ready for a connected world

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino designswarm @iotwatch

First UK distributor of the Arduino (2007-2010)

Product & interaction designer

Consultant designswarm

Founder Good Night Lamp (2010-now)

About me

Clients

IOT London Meetup Master Classes for investors

Connected Magazine Know-Cards

Summary

We are building a grass-roots revolution in the way we interact with the built environment. We need to be ready to see things we previously chose to ignore. We will need to change the way we do business and interact with customers.

A revolution in making things

The internet of things

Ubiquitous connectivity & digital services connected to real world events. Embedding cheap sensors, actuators, connectivity or cloud services in previously “dumb” objects.

•  Hardware components were expensive

•  Specialist knowledge & expensive “design for manufacturing” services

•  An emerging digital economy •  No hardware funding

Before

Now

•  Easy access to cheap hardware

•  Democratisation of electronics prototyping and product development

•  A robust digital economy

•  Crowd funding

Easy access to cheap & easy to learn hardware

Arduino MiRobot SAM Labs

Primo Little Bits Raspberry Pi

Has become a corporate revolution

Intel Edison Samsung Artik ARM mbed

And national awareness programs

BBC Micro

So what are people building?

Knowing your loved ones are safe

Glow Caps BleepBleeps

Lively Good Night Lamp Good Night Lamp

Good Night Lamp

Knowing how safe your environment is

Air Quality Egg Cube Sensors Japan Geiger Maps

Remotely controlling your world

Sonos Nest Philips Hue

Understanding ourselves better

Jawbone UP Oral B toothbrush Apple Watch

Understanding how things are made

HistoryTag

Are we ready?

Are consumers ready for this?

Access to cheap credit, mass production in Asia & mostly free internet services has lowered consumer expectations around the price of every day objects. Connected everyday objects will suffer from this.

We already live in times of fear

Which means we are slow to adopt new ideas

1946 2015

Little Printer Google Glass

Project Andiamo

Especially when they feel radical or in niche markets.

So we design for what we know even if its invasive

Or controlling

We may come to stigmatise technology

Corporations are looking to own different spaces in the ecology

The hardware ideas are built on top of The connectivity used (M2M, GSM, Whitespace) The cloud services (Smart Things, Thingworx)

But things will take time

How do you get involved?

This revolution is full of opportunity

•  New ideas and companies to acquire •  New vendors to work with

•  New investment opportunities

The economic downturn has been good for #iot

•  Freelance electronics engineers are more common

•  Smaller design firms are doing interesting things

•  Small amounts of investment can go a long way.

Recognise that a product might not be the answer.

The internet of things changes how we do business

Giving a consumer access to his data for the life of his ownership of a product Hosting that data beyond the company’s life Exposing the data roots and third party relationships

And how we treat our customers

Knowing every time a customer stops using your product and leaves in a drawer. Maintaining a direct relationship with your customer for the life of the product (10+ years) Being responsible for its ultimate disposal & recycling

But this is where legislation is heading.

So what can I do now?

•  Explore new ideas internally with small prototypes first before reaching out to large vendors. Buy some Arduino kits.

•  Expose yourself to what’s happening, hire

creative technologists, read postscapes.com

•  Grow a local meetup.

Read up

Everyware, Adam Greenfield Smart things, Bruce Sterling Designing the Internet of things, Adrian McEwen UX for Connected Products, Claire Rowland

And remember

Recognise the complex relationships that people have with the built environment. Design for incremental changes in behaviour and long lasting relationships. Consider new ownership models (design for disassembly & second hand markets).

Because ultimately we cannot completely design out human error.

Or humans.

Thank you and good luck Merci et bonne chance

alex@designswarm.com www.designswarm.com @iotwatch