Most designers are experts at improving upon existing experiences - but how does your process translate to a brand new product? How do you keep a brand new product alive, keep stakeholders passionate, and keep your customer at the center of it all all from behind a veil of secrecy? Cheryl shares some of the processes and techniques she used to help get the Echo Look from a blue-sky idea to a tangible, validated experience in the hands of customers worldwide. You’ll leave with a clearer picture of how to incorporate natural user interface concepts into your envisioning work, and how to set yourself up for success in the challenging and often secretive environment of new product design.
5. Crafting the vision for a new product is
an act of storytelling, focus, curiosity…
and fearlessness.
FROM BLANK PAGE TO WORLD STAGECHERYL PLATZ @MUPPETAPHRODITE
6. DISNEY FRIENDS
(early NUI gameplay)
WINDOWS
AUTOMOTIVE
(multimodal voice and touch UI)
CORTANA
(multimodal email and meetings UX)
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10. What is the Echo Look?
Takes photos that emphasize the customer by obscuring the
background
Provides a view from any angle
Documents your looks over time
Gives fashion advice via Style Check
Core hardware interactions can be completed via voice or app
AN ALEXA-ENABLED HOME FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY DEVICE
WITH COMPANION APP.
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11. Here’s my advice for breaking new
(or NUI) ground - from the front lines
IT’S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE, TAKE THIS ADVICE
FROM BLANK PAGE TO WORLD STAGECHERYL PLATZ @MUPPETAPHRODITE
13. Your scientists were so preoccupied
with whether or not they couldthat
they didn't stop to thinkif they should.
“
”
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14. Make time for
ethnographic research.
BEFORE YOU BUILD YOUR PRODUCT,
FIGURE OUT IF YOU SHOULD.
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15. Goal: Challenge our core
hypothesis.
DO CUSTOMERS NEED HELP MANAGING THEIR WARDROBES?
ARE THERE DAILY PAIN POINTS WE CAN HELP ADDRESS?
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16. ETHNOGRAPHY COHORT
- Four states, three weeks (NY, NJ, CA, WA)
- Variety of dwellings
- Slight majority of women
- Dozens of participants
SESSION DETAILS
- In-home closet walkthroughs
- Contextual inquiry : clothing decisions
- Arranged through 3rd party company
- One product team member at every session
Ethnography for the Echo Look
19. Mind the (narrative) gap.
DON’T LET FICTION OBSCURE YOUR CUSTOMERS’ TRUTH.
STAY CONNECTED TO THE RESEARCH.
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20. … for woe awaits teams that never
asked if they should.
Juicero:a cautionary tale
24. Our early Echo Look deliverables highlighted the
problems, rather than abstracting them.
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25. Icebergs on the Echo Look
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26. CHERYL PLATZ FROM BLANK PAGE TO WORLD STAGE
The Installation Iceberg: Cables and Calibration
@MUPPETAPHRODITE
27. The Sensor Iceberg:
A Year In Selfies
Training our machine learning algorithm
by enlisting employees to take daily
photos.
But ALSO embracing the iceberg of daily
engagement: what effect would it have on
my own life? How would that translate to
customers?
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28. Proof of life,
2 years in.
Early background removal showing we
could de-emphasize the background
successfully.
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29. Our job is to shine light on
problems, not hide them.
Solutions don’t come overnight.
It’s OK not to have the answers.
Let your early work start the
right conversations.
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30. Inspire allies with your stories
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE, AND YOU’LL NEED PLAYERS.
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31. Creating new product takes a village.
Don’t assume they share your vision.
NATURAL USER INTERFACES RELY ON CONTEXT.
BRING YOUR STAKEHOLDERS INTO YOUR CUSTOMER’S WORLD.
FROM BLANK PAGE TO WORLD STAGECHERYL PLATZ @MUPPETAPHRODITE
36. Motivating your stakeholders
Create a vision video.
Show your prototype – or an illusion – as it improves a customer’s life.
Pull examples from media to motivate the team.
Star Trek, Minority Report, even Clueless – give your team an image to latch onto.
Let your research speak for you.
Videotape the proceedings, transcribe them, build highlight reels, and share them.
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37. Solve old problems in NUI ways.
CHANGE THE GAME BY REDUCING
FRICTION FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS.
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38. Natural user interfaces typically use one of a variety of analog input mechanisms to
more closely mimic or interpret common human behaviors.
Voice Touch GazeGesture
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39. OLD PROBLEM, NUI SOLUTION
Voice UI allows customers to
document their look without
holding their phone, making
daily use easier.
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40. Quality natural user interfaces are
defined by their attention to detail.
SOME DETAILS TO FOCUS ON…
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41. When does voice input matter?
Find friction in everyday life.
Hands full.
Device locked.
Vision impaired.
Phone too far away.
No screen nearby.
Frequent task.
Mobility impaired.
42. In voice and gesture design,
time is your most precious resource.
Not clicks or pixels.
49. Odds are you’ll spend just as much time
fighting to keep things simple as you will
on your core designs.
NOVELTY INVITES ENTHUSIASM FROM ALL SIDES.
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50. Embrace change, but stay the course
LET OPPORTUNITIES ENHANCE YOUR SOLUTION WITHOUT
LOSING SIGHT OF THE PROBLEM
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51. Luck is the intersection of
preparation and opportunity.
IF YOU PASS UP OPPORTUNITIES, YOU’LL NEVER BE LUCKY. JUST DON’T
LET DISTRACTIONS MAKE YOU LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR DESTINATION.
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52. Twist #1: The Echo launched
after we’d started design.
54. REMEMBER: New product releases
are a marathon, not a sprint.
LISTEN TO INITIAL FEEDBACK BUT DON’T OVERCOMPENSATE WHEN IT’S
NEGATIVE. DISRUPTION IS DISRUPTIVE, AND IT TAKES TIME TO STABILIZE.
CHERYL PLATZ FROM BLANK PAGE TO WORLD STAGE @MUPPETAPHRODITE
57. To break new ground…
1. Seek the truth
2. Find the icebergs
3. Inspire allies with your stories
4. Solve old problems in NUI ways
5. Embrace change, but stay the course
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