{"id":600,"date":"2018-02-06T02:15:03","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T23:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kusuaks7\/?p=205"},"modified":"2025-05-15T15:07:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T15:07:56","slug":"when-iot-puts-the-user-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/iot\/when-iot-puts-the-user-last\/","title":{"rendered":"When IoT puts the user last"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tReady to learn Internet of Things? Browse courses<\/a>\u00a0like\u00a0Internet of Things (IoT) Training<\/a> developed by industry thought leaders and Experfy in Harvard Innovation Lab.<\/em><\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEven if you\u2019re not much interested in the latest gadgetry, the massive CES (formerly Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas is worth observing \u2014 preferably from afar \u2014 for the overarching zeitgeist and emerging trends in IoT, smart home and consumer tech generally.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis is especially true today when consumer tech and business computing are often one and the same. It seems quaint, in this world of smartphones, that\u00a0BYOD was once<\/a>\u00a0a topic of hot debate.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tI\u2019m not sure that type of convergence is happening with IoT, though. At least not yet.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Solutions in search of problems<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTaylor Lorenz wrote<\/a>\u00a0about how \u201cCES was full of useless robots and machines that don\u2019t work.\u201d Her observations pretty much line up with my overall take on smart home devices \u2014 so many are solutions in search of problems.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tI have a few connected monitoring devices of various sorts in my house. They let me virtually drop in when I\u2019m traveling, which provides some level of comfort.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nFor the most part, though, smart home gadgetry is aimed at solving problems most of us don\u2019t actually have. Flicking a light switch or going to the door if someone knocks rank very far down the list of things I need to automate and complicate. (Of course, if someone is mobility-impaired I can fully understand why devices to help with these things could be useful, but that\u2019s a corner case.)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tClean the house, wash and put away the dishes, do laundry? In other words, truly interact with the physical world. Now we\u2019d be talking. But most smart home devices can\u2019t actually do any of these things or, if they do, they do so in such a limited way that they\u2019re effectively useless. There are partial exceptions, like the Roomba and its knockoffs, but even those require the right layout of house to be genuinely useful.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFurthermore, a lot of this stuff not only solves problems we don\u2019t have, but does it badly. I\u2019m pretty experienced with electronics and networking and I still fully expect that unboxing one of these creations will be the prelude to an hour or two of cursing, upgrading firmware, rebooting and other aggravations.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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User experience rules<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy contrast, smartphones and consumer-oriented web apps won because they were better. Consumers liked iPhones and Android phones better than they liked BlackBerry phones. They liked modern, responsive web interfaces better than they liked their enterprise app\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThat\u2019s not hard. Admittedly, a user experience that\u00a0leads to sending<\/a>\u00a0a ballistic missile warning by mistake is a particularly extreme case in point. But, let\u2019s face it, a lot of traditional enterprise apps are pretty user hostile. But consumer IoT hasn\u2019t put user experience in the forefront as successful consumer products do.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIt doesn\u2019t have to be this way.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe principles for IoT design are different from more traditional interfaces, but they can still be deliberately designed as Catherine Robson discusses in\u00a0the video\u00a0\u201cBuilding your Internet of Things (IoT) User Experience.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWe can also think about new types of interfaces.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVoice interfaces may be one class of device that has potential both in the home and in business settings. The Amazon Echo in particular apparently had a\u00a0great holiday season<\/a>. Amazon promoted and discounted aggressively and, at about $30, it hit a sweet spot for gift giving.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVoice\u00a0has its challenges<\/a>\u00a0as an interface. And once the novelty wears off, a lot of people probably don\u2019t use these assistants for much. But that\u2019s in part because none of them do a very good job of parsing complicated questions. That\u2019s certain to improve over time. And when it does, they could become useful in a variety of situations where you need information or need to give a command without using your hands. (For a simple example, my dentist uses one as a timer.)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tImproving the IoT device experience doesn\u2019t have a single solution. It needs design. It probably needs new technologies and approaches that make set up and maintenance more automated. And even after all that, a lot of devices will still be useless.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Improving the IoT device experience doesn’t have a single solution. It needs design. It probably needs new technologies and approaches that make set up and maintenance more automated. And even after all that, a lot of devices will still be useless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":3295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[93],"ppma_author":[1721],"class_list":["post-600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iot","tag-internet-of-things"],"authors":[{"term_id":1721,"user_id":202,"is_guest":0,"slug":"gordon-haff","display_name":"Gordon Haff","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Haff","first_name":"Gordon","job_title":"","description":"Gordon Haff is technology evangelist for Red Hat, the leading provider of commercial open source software. He is a frequent speaker at customer and industry events. He also writes extensively on and develops strategy for Red Hat’s hybrid cloud portfolio. Prior to Red Hat, as an IT industry analyst, Gordon wrote hundreds of research notes, was frequently quoted in publications such as The New York Times on a wide range of IT topics, and advised clients on product and marketing strategies."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37795,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600\/revisions\/37795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}