How is UX for internet of things different?

The best ways to design new IoT devices and experiences are still being figured out, or stumbled upon. There are a wide variety of contexts in which the interactions can happen, especially for Internet of Things devices. However, even academic researchers have not published enough papers on cross-platform design.

There are many challenges and constraints in designing an internet of things interface which will be new to designers who are accustomed to pure digital services. We discuss here challenges and how the UX for IoT is different from that of digital services.

Functionality

Functionality in IoT devices can be distributed amongst multiple devices having different capabilities. These devices come in all forms with varying input or output capabilities. Some devices may not even have any input or output capabilities, which makes it unable to predict their functionality. Their interactions can be handled by web or smartphone applications. It is important to make the user feel that they are using a coherent service rather than a bunch of disjointed UIs, despite the different forms. It is also important to consider their inter-usability.

Focus of user experience may be in the service

When talking about IoT, it is observed that the focus is mainly on devices, especially those with striking forms. But actually, the behavior of the device is generated by a program that resides on a different network. As a result, the service around a connected device becomes more critical in delivering the right user experience.

Glitches

No one expects or wants glitches in the working of their system. It is very frustrating when an important application fails. These are associated with the internet, but the advancement of real-time functions has made glitches unbearable. They can make the real-time experience promised by IoT look a little broken. Hence, the elimination of glitches should be given much importance.

Asynchronous IoT

It is mostly assumed that traditional IoT devices such as desktops, mobiles and tablets will have constant connectivity. Although well-designed applications handle network outages gracefully, they tend to be treated as an exception to normal functioning. When we make a change on one of the devices, it is quickly propagated across all other devices. But this might be difficult to use in IoT. Most of the systems run on battery and need to conserve energy to run for a longer time period. As maintaining network connection uses a lot of power, they are mostly connected intermittently. This means that parts of the system can be out of sync with one another, creating discontinuities in the system. These discontinuities will not always be noticed, and sometimes can be really very short. So the UX may feel synchronous, even if the service is not.

These were the differences and challenges associated with IoT and its differences with UX of digital services. As the future of technology, there are many IoT innovations that are changing the course of our future and leading us into unknown waters.