Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide (Jason Mesut)

Bridging the
Physical-Digital
Divide
!
23 July 2014
UXPA 2014
!
Jason Mesut
Head of User Experience, Plan
Local Leader, IxDA London
!

I N T E R A C T I O N D E S I G N A S S O C I AT I O N

Uh-oh!
Dancing to
one beat
In the
same room
For a common
purpose
Different tribes
coming together

!
I want a future where physical
products and digital services
work in harmony

!
Where Industrial Design and
User Experience practitioners
dance to the same beat...

!
...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 do I think this is relevant?

Technics 1200 SH-101
OP-1Tenori-On
I love
objects

Q-Bert
Technics
Milo Mesut
Yamaha
Tenori-On

5years
!
Industrial Design
years
!
Digital User Experience
15

3years
Local leader
Interaction Design
Association
L o n d o n
Subjects over 3 years
Internet of Things
Future of publishing
Urban environment
Smart materials
Mobility / Automotive
Clinical applications
!
Upcoming…
Smart home
Music interfaces
Consumer healthcare

I joined
A product strategy consultancy
!
We help companies
work out what to do next.

!
We help companies
work out what to do next.
Helping innovation
and design teams
raise their game
Bringing clarity to
the front end of
innovation

Bringing clarity to
the front end of
innovation
Helping innovation
and design teams
raise their game

Bringing clarity to
the front end of
innovation
Helping innovation
and design teams
raise their game
Consumer
electronics
Automotive
!
Materials
What should we
do for our next
smart phone?
!
How will we
engage gen Z?
!
!
How can we
compete with
the no.1 in our
category?

Industrial
Designers
Industrial Designers Digital / UX Designers
I’ve interviewed
over 30 designers

Experiences with
familiar names
Consultancies Manufacturers Education

Some key questions
—Why should we care?
—What are we aiming for?
—What are the challenges?
—How can we tackle them?
?

Some key questions
—Why should we care?
—What are we aiming for?
—What are the challenges?
—How can we tackle them?

Screens replacing
tactile controls

Screens in
front of babies
http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/fisher-price-ipad-apptivity-seat.jpg

The internet of
things is hitting
the mainstream
Niche Mass

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

Tech companies
buying hardware
companies + skills

Service
companies
selling hardware

Wearable
excitement
Something other than a
smartphone to design

Even if they make
us look ridiculous

!
Industrial Design seems
to be losing relevancy

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

Industrial Design
doesn’t engage
Industrial Designers have
their heads in the ground
Ian Bach 
Senior Interaction Designer Method

Doesn’t include freelancers
£350-600+ a day
Industrial Design
User Experience
Huge
pay gap

!
Greater harmony between
physical and digital

A recipe for integrated products?
+ +Physical
Product
Digital
Interface
Digital
Service
Integrated
product
=

+ +Physical
Product
Digital
Interface
Digital
Services
!
Aesthetic  
Visceral. Visual, sonic, feel. 
Interactive
Behavioural. Distribution of inputs and controls.
!
Experiential
Reflective. Fit with person’s context and ecosystems.
!
!
Key levels
of harmony
Components of integrated experience

Unite product and
graphic language
Nokia and Microsoft
Windows mobile 
Separated at birth

Physical form and
interaction design
Nokia and Meego 
A touchscreen curved at
the edges to aid friction
for swipes from the edge

iPod
The original
integrated product?
Appropriate interactions
—Hardware and software
interface working together
—iTunes store
—Aesthetic mismatch

Clunky car
interfaces
Screen clash
Dangerous disparity
—Aesthetic mismatch
—Interface not tactile
—Doesn’t create a better
experience

Integrated
automotive
interface
Texas Instruments 
Immersive Automobile 
Physical controls
designed in concert
with graphical user
interface

Nest
Rare harmony?
Coherent product-service
—Elegant hardware
—Slick UI
—Intelligent services

We need to seek
1. Quality balance
2. Connected design language
3. Appropriate interactions
4. Consideration of overall experience

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 Lenox
Ex-User Experience Director Lunar
!
Kim Lenox

Objects, like apps, are
becoming transient — like
kettles that don’t last or
phones we replace regularly
!
Jeremy Offer
Design 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 Blyth 
Managing Director, TheAlloy
 
Focused on the
touchscreen

Delivery timelines
are different 
1/2/3/4

UX is very much focused
on the near term — it’s less
reliant on supply chains
!
Mark Delaney
Head of Design Forward, Nokia
UX focuses on
the short term

Software design often
begins later in the cycle.
!
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 Myers
Director User Experience Design,
Fitbit
Software
added in later

Different delivery
timeframes
18 months+
3 months+ initially
Then monthly, weekly or daily
Hardware
Software
Problem
framing Tooling
Tuning
production
Manufacturing
development
!
Ideation
!
Design
development
R C D
!
Production
2-6W 4-8W 4-8W 26W 12W 3W 4-8W
C D C D C D RCD RCD
Research
Concept
Design
RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD

Disciplines don’t
understand each other 
1/2/3/4

UX has done a pretty good
job of making itself
complicated in a short
period of time with all the
different sub-disciplines: IA,
IxD, etc.
!
The more
compartmentalised, the
worse the result.
!
Marcus Hoggarth
Industrial Design Director, Native
UX is confusing

Teams are
separated 
1/2/3/4

Hardware and
software teams
often separated
SW HW
SW HW
In-house
In-house Agency
SW HW
Agency 1 Agency 2
SW HW
Agency

Design silos
inhibit collaboration
ID UX VD SD

Should we destroy
design silos before
organisation ones?

Why harmony is rare
1. Hardware commoditisation
2. Delivery differences
3. Don’t understand each other
4. Teams are separated

How can we bridge the
physical-digital divide?

physical-digital divide
First, we must
Define the divide

ID Industrial Design
Physical
Product Design
Mechanical Engineering
Ergonomics
CMF
Product visualisation

Offer Mindset Language Tools Time
ID Industrial Design
Physical
UX Digital
User Experience
Product Design
Mechanical Engineering
Ergonomics
CMF
Product visualisation
Interaction Design
Information Architecture
Content Strategy
User Research
Visual Design
Experience strategy

Jargon
!
Documentation
!
Communication
Motivation
!
Values
!
Principles
Methods
!
Software
!
Approaches
Value
!
Uniqueness
!
Horizons
!
Timelines
!
Pace
Which factors
affect how we
work together?

What separates us?
Bespoke
vs.
Universal &
documented
!
Design
+
Experience
Mechanical
vs.
Theoretical
!
!
Solving
problems
+
Making
solutions
Manufacturing
vs.
Modelling
!
!
Researching
+
Sketching
+
Prototyping
Hardware
vs.
Software
!
!
Understanding
people
+
Conceiving
solutions
Long term
vs.
Short term
!
!
Fast-paced
+
Immediate
interaction

What unites us?
Bespoke
vs.
Universal &
documented
!
Brand
+
Design
+
Experience
Mechanical
vs.
Theoretical
!
!
Solving
problems
+
Making
solutions
Manufacturing
vs.
Modelling
!
!
Researching
+
Sketching
+
Prototyping
Hardware
vs.
Software
!
!
Understanding
people
+
Conceiving
solutions
Long term
vs.
Short term
!
!
Fast-paced
+
Immediate
interaction

We need to
Connect / Calibrate / Collaborate

We need to
Connect / Calibrate / Collaborate 
 Find the common ground
Connect on a personal level
Respect differences

We need to
  Adapt ourselves
Adapt our processes
Translate our language
!

We need to
  Unite on common purpose
Share between teams
Prototype together
!

Find common ground
Respect differences
Connect

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 Brunner
Partner, Ammunition
(the guy who hired Jony Ive)
Hardware is hard

Software is slippery
1. Hidden impacts from changes
2. Multiple releases
3. Integration challenges
4. Multiple platforms
5. Legacy code
!
Some large organisations have terrible legacy
code — it can take months to change a word or
button on a site

Come together
Understand how to build 
Product 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.
!
Jeremy Offer
Design Director, Great Fridays

Manufacturing
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 Bradley
Consultant, 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

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 solutions
Aesthetic
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

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.
!
Nick Myers
Director User Experience Design, Fitbit
Connect on a
personal level

Find common ground
Respect differences
Break down
language barriers
Adapt
our skills
Adapt our
processes
Connect
Calibrate

CMF
 
Responsive 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

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

Adapt our skills and teams
Shifter Hybrid Partner Neutral leader
Moving from ID-to-UX Blending skills across ID + UX ID + UX working closely
together
Solution agnostic leadership
+

No
Learn skills, but don’t
expect to do it all
Yes
Find ways to work with
specialists to create
excellence
Maybe
Rare few able to do this
Are you ready to walk
away from the craft?
Maybe
ID to UX is possible, but
the other way is tougher
especially for seniors
Shifter Hybrid Partner Neutral
ID + UX working closely
together
Partner or shift
+

Long term thinking Rapid releases
Ideas at pace
Product
experience
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 further into the future
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

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

Each approach has it's
own value, but close that
gap and the future will
happen quicker and better
!
Duncan Fitzsimons
Founder, Vitamins
Close the
horizon gap

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Digital focuses
on shorter term
Horizon gap

Find common ground
Respect differences
Break down
language barriers
Adapt
our skills
Adapt our
processes
Connect
Calibrate
Collaborate
Unite on a common purpose Share regularly
Prototype together
Develop shared
vocabulary

I’ve found the best way
to get integration is to
get away from the
features and unite on
the higher goals
!
Scott Jenson
Product Strategy, Google
Unite on a
common purpose

We structure projects so
industrial designers,
interaction designers,
mechanical engineers, and
strategists can do the
research together.
!
David Sherwin
Interaction Design Director, Frog
Research
together
Photograph by Misha Miller

Sketch together
 
Product designers can
come up with a hundred
ideas in the time that
UXers come with ten
!
Dave Cronin
Director, Interaction Design, GE

Share work in progress
Catch issues early
Explore and experiment
quickly. Prototype with
different materials
Prototype together

We prototype 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 Fitzsimons
Co-founder, Vitamins
Prototype
together

Hardware
prototyping
Tinkertronics

Share regularly
At Palm, we did 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

Collaborate away
from project work
We run Interaction Labs
events and people
collaborate across the studio
Heather Martin 
Director, Interaction Design
SmartDesign, Barcelona

Collaborate away
from project work

Hardware
Problem
framing Tooling
Tuning
production
Manufacturing
development
!
Ideation
!
Design
development
!
Production
2-6W 4-8W 4-8W 26W 12W 3W 4-8W
Adapt our processes
Cadence and relationships
Software
C D RCD
Research
Concept
Design
RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCD RCDDetail design C D

Physical
interaction design
Beo A9 
Physical volume control

Physical interaction
design
Beo A9 
Physical volume control 
Beo A9 
Physical volume control

!
Why?
!
Seeking
!
Against
!
!
We must
!
Losing relevancy
!
Greater harmony
!
Commoditisation, silos,
processes, language 
Connect
Calibrate
Collaborate

Dancing to
one beat
In the
same room
For a common
purpose
Different tribes
coming together
Just bring your own moves
and be careful of treading
on other people’s toes

Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide (Jason Mesut)

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