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Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design ReviewReview of Smart Things Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design
So, What's Up With the Chair?
Is it just me, or did anyone else wonder about the intriguing chair embossed on the front cover? I don't believe the author writes about chairs anywhere in the entire book. Indeed, there is scant mention of any kind of furniture aside from a 1 page sidebar.
I decided to review this book after previewing the section about Moore's Law. I was impressed with the author's insights and observations about this apparently misunderstood "law". Now that I've read the entire book, and taken some time to think about it, I must say I learned a few interesting things from it.
The book attempts to provide an introduction to ideas and techniques useful in ubiquitous computing user experience design. It does this by providing a little history, some design frameworks and methodologies, complimented by case studies of commercial products.
There are a some intellectual gems here, such as the author's observation that "design is as much a process of discovering constraints as creating within them". Or, the idea that most every industrially created product has an "information shadow", which is the digitally accessible information about it.
I especially like the concept of "smart garbage", in which objects self-disclose how to fix, disassemble and recycle them.
If you are a designer, some of the author's recommended techniques such as the "desire line method" (see where people are walking and making paths across the grass, then install your sidewalks there) are worth considering. Advice that a product "has to work for someone before it can work for anyone" is worth keeping in mind, and could prove to be a great persuading tool in heated design meetings.
I particularly liked the author's ideas about metaphors. They are "the tools of thought" and allow consumers of novel gadgets to comprehend them by relating them to concrete concepts.
I am thankful to the author for helping me understand why I so much dislike being present when a robot vacuum cleaner (Roomba) is operating: "they were designed to emulate insect behavior". (And I hate bugs.)
So, what's not like?
Well, a few things actually.
In addition to insects, I hate typo's. No author, and no book is perfect, and so I have developed the ability to ignore the existence of a reasonable number of typo's without undue discomfort. However this book has exceeded my pain threshold. Typo agony begins even before the first page of the book, in the third paragraph of the Preface ("user experience design from a different perspectives:"). And there are unfortunately more to follow, including footnotes in the sidebar, mixed up labels, and so on.
The writing is sometimes obscure, as if the reader is assumed to have prior detailed knowledge about what is being said (in that case, why read the book?). For example, on the last page of chapter 15 the author shows a photo of two wooden blocks, with mating wooden joints facing each other, and sliding doors opened to reveal circuit boards hidden within. His description is
"Cottram (2009) for example, used light-weight technology prototyping components to explore the heavyweight idea of 'a harmonious intersection between tradition and technology, between natural materials, high craft and digital functionality'"
Huh?
Perhaps I'm missing something, but that description tells me next to nothing about the two wooden blocks, what they are for, what they do, or why I should even care.
One of the author's design recommendations is "Focus On Core Functionality" (title of section 18.1.2 ). I fail to see how that is consistent with the idea of adding LCD picture frames (and other gadgets) to the exterior of a refrigerator, whose core functionality seems to me to be to keep food fresh and cold. Yet the author describes this appliance - the Whirlpool Centralpark - as a "successful user experience design".
In reading this book, I kept asking myself if perhaps this ubiquitous computing thing is going a bit too far. Although he ignores this idea until the final chapter, the author seems to be having his own doubts as well. He confides that in order to write the book he "had to escape pervasive digital technology", by composing it in an anti-digital coffee shop, with no networking or electrical outlets.
In conclusion, this is a book which would be of most interest to designers, and retired nerds (like myself). The author is very clever, with a breadth of knowledge about his subject area, and some interesting insights. I look forward to reading his future work, (especially if he reveals the secret of the cover chair).Disclosures:
I did not pay for my copy of this book. As a member of the Amazon Vine program I received it for free.
I have a long and varied background in software design, having worked on cell phones when the vast majority of the public did not know or care what they were (quite understandably, since at that time the handset was the size of a small lunch box). I moved on to other projects, until decades later, I found myself working again with these vastly improved gadgets (by then most everyone knew what they were, and indeed most everyone owned one). As a designer, I was drawn to this book after reading the preface which states it is primarily a tool for design practitioners.
Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design OverviewThe world of smart shoes, appliances, and phones is already here, but the practice of user experience (UX) design for ubiquitous computing is still relatively new. Design companies like IDEO and frogdesign are regularly asked to design products that unify software interaction, device design and service design -- which are all the key components of ubiquitous computing UX -- and practicing designers need a way to tackle practical challenges of design. Theory is not enough for them -- luckily the industry is now mature enough to have tried and tested best practices and case studies from the field. Smart Things presents a problem-solving approach to addressing designers' needs and concentrates on process, rather than technological detail, to keep from being quickly outdated. It pays close attention to the capabilities and limitations of the medium in question and discusses the tradeoffs and challenges of design in a commercial environment. Divided into two sections, frameworks and techniques, the book discusses broad design methods and case studies that reflect key aspects of these approaches. The book then presents a set of techniques highly valuable to a practicing designer. It is intentionally not a comprehensive tutorial of user-centered design'as that is covered in many other books'but it is a handful of techniques useful when designing ubiquitous computing user experiences.In short, Smart Things gives its readers both the "why" of this kind of design and the "how," in well-defined chunks.* Tackles design of products in the post-Web world where computers no longer have to be monolithic, expensive general-purpose devices* Features broad frameworks and processes, practical advice to help approach specifics, and techniques for the unique design challenges* Presents case studies that describe, in detail, how others have solved problems, managed trade-offs, and met successes
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