Emerging Trends in User Interaction

[I wrote this post back in February 2012. Reposting is here. The  post talks about innovation in various user interaction models, and how Apple and Microsoft leveraged interface innovation to create breakthrough products and extend the lifecycle of the products. Also touched upon the fact that Apple will leverage speech interaction to drive next product innovation cycle. It seems to be moving in that direction with the new Apple TV, and possibly speech would be the main interaction model if Apple comes out with car. And Microsoft is pushing the living room interaction with Hololens]

I came across this infographic that gives a glimpse of how technology might shape our lives in the next 25 years. It covers various domains?—?artificial intelligence, internet, robotics, interfaces and many others. The emerging trends in “Interface” caught my attention.

How we interact with the technology is one of the most intriguing fields and we have seen a lot of innovation in the recent years?—?largely dominated by Microsoft and Apple.

I believe innovation in the “interface” is the single most important factor that has made Apple and its products successful. It’s amazing how Apple has transformed the way we interact with devices. Equally amazing is how Apple uses interface innovation to manage the product lifecycle and build new product categories. 

In 2001, Apple introduced iPod with “click wheel interface” that was simple and intuitive. Apple didn’t invent the digital music player category but it dominated the category by simplifying how people interacted with the music players. The interface was also a great example of a scalable interface that worked brilliantly for a music collection of any size. Until 2007, Apple kept the iPod line fresh through new form factors, more storage capacity, and elegant colors but none of these changes were groundbreaking.

Apple realized that the music player category will slowly decline as phones would become smarter and more capable. Early version of the smartphones came with music player software and had capability to sync music library. However, the phones were not easy to use as a music player. So Apple introduced multi-touch interface with iPhone that worked really well for a device that was a smartphone as well as a music player. iPhone was a breakthrough smartphone with music playing functionality. Swipe interface offered the same level of simplicity and elegance in browsing a large music collection as did the wheel interface. Through innovation in ‘interface’, Apple extended the lifecycle of its music player business and built immensely successful smartphone and tablet business. Apple didn’t invent smartphone or tablet categories either but dominated by pioneering a new way to interact with phones and tablets. Apple used the same tactic as it did with iPod. It kept iPhones/iPad fresh and attractive by increasing CPU capacity, form factor, screen resolution, camera quality to grow the business. However, competitors have caught up quickly with touch interface. And at some point, smartphone/tablet category will reach its limit.

So Apple introduced another breakthrough in interface?—?SIRI. SIRI introduced a totally new way to interact with iPhone. However, I think SIRI is more than just a feature in iPhone. Apple will lead the next wave of innovative products through speech interface. In short term, SIRI will extend the lifecycle of iPhone and iPad devices. However, I expect Apple to transform some other product category through speech interface. There are speculations that Apple will launch TV or other living room device. If it did, it will leverage its existing assets (iOS, AppStore, CPU etc.) but the main breakthrough will come in terms of how we interact with TV.

Microsoft is another player in the living room category. It is leading the charge with the gesture interface and Kinect is a breakthrough in that direction. Microsoft has extended the lifecycle of XBOX 360 through “interface” innovation. However, it’s yet to be seen if gesture interface will work equally well for interacting with television (though there are many other use cases outside living room where gesture would lead the interaction).

I personally prefer speech for interacting with TV such as channel surfing, playing, recording, searching, launching application etc.  Apple will inevitably launch living room device (TV or next gen Apple TV) that we can interact the way we naturally speak. 

In terms of future trends highlighted in the infographic, Microsoft has right technology to lead holographic or telepresence category. Hopefully it can bring CNN like holographic communication to masses through XBOX+KINECT+SKYPE.