Anything, anytime, anywhere?
'In the twenty-first century, the technology revolution will move into the everyday, the small and the invisible. (Mark D. Weiser, XEROX)
This week, we were invited to Webmontag in Mannheim, where we gave a brief introduction to the very exciting topic of 'invisible design', 'ambient technology', 'smart devices' or, in our case, the 'Internet of Things' (IoT for short). We had already given the presentation in a slightly slimmed-down version at the 2013 Usability Congress in Frankfurt.
We talked briefly about the definition - what IoT actually is, briefly jumped back to computer history and the common problems with graphical user interfaces, which is mainly due to the increased attention that such a graphical/visual interface demands of us. The 'graphical user interface' (GUI) still dominates our everyday digital lives.
(Touch) screen, mouse, keyboard etc. define the interaction and are the haptic connection, but also the boundary to technology. However, this boundary can become invisible through the phenomenon of ubiquitous computing (omnipresence of computers) and can be better integrated into our everyday lives by using everyday objects as interaction elements (Internet of Things, ambient services)
We also showed some useful examples of the use of services and IoT products and looked at what you should also consider when designing the user experience for IoT products and ambient services, which of course also relates to the fears and concerns associated with such products.
Here are our slides with links and recommended reading. We hope that we have been able to give you a brief insight into the field and some suggestions on this very extensive and complex topic.
Ready or not: No UI from the disappearance of the graphical user interface
