Dutch case presentation by Koen van Nieuwkerk of VanBerlo on the learnings of doing Internet of Things product design. ThingsCon Amsterdam 2015 was held at Volkshotel December 4, 2015.

1. VanBerlo
Koen van Niekerk

2. Things we learned
Designing connected products
2

3. Multidisciplinary
On a new level
3
If you only employ webdesigners or UX designers. Or if your focus is electronics and software,
You will have a very hard time.
Your team should at leaest include experts on the human factor, the business factor, the digital
tech and last but not least the physical tech

4. 4
System Architecture
Connectivity design
Parts Sourcing
Insights
Observation
Interviews
Visual Design
Aestetics, Motion Design
Engineering
Injection Moulding
3D CAD
Electronic Design
Connectivity
Electronics prototyping
UX Design
Information Architecture
Interaction Design
Product Design
Industrial Design
Software Prototyping
Interaction Prototyping
Prototype software
Hardware Prototyping
3D printing
the product
In-house people & skills enlisted for designing
a medical communication device
Click here…

5. Atus Communication for medical professionals
5
Wearable connected medical
notification device with
ePaper display
Mobile App for additional information is
connected with Bluetooth LE

6. User Insights
Vital to get a grip on complexity
6
IOT projects are often complex systems with multiple touchpoints.
Humans are not so great at understanding systems. Getting the tricky human factors right is vital
for Business Success. So this requires thourough User Research.

7. 7
Observe things with you own eyes
(photos taken during actual brain surgery)
The wireless operating room is not there yet 
It’s just not safe enough
But cables are a usability and safety issue too.
Accept the wired reality and solve the spaghetti
the product

8. 8
Sapiens Streamlining brain surgery
Scenarios for optimized OR Workflow
MRI Operation planning ething
Software Suite... Implant remote control for patient

9. Physical Digital
Simultaneous & under one roof
9
Only by developing the Physical and Digital part of the UX simultaneously, under one roof, you get
a truly integrated UX

10. 10
Provide Context already while
designing. (Cardboard model)
Build the Physical experience
so you can test the Digital one.
(DIY Heads Up Display)
Hacked together from
3 screens, 2 beamers, gesture
sensors, arduinos, and a NUC
the product

11. 11
Dashboard Interactive driving experience demonstrator
Confidential

12. Prototyping
Not just your app
12
Your prototyping should not be limited to the digital UX.
We are talking about the internet of things. Physical things you should be able to produce, and
Electronic things that should fit in and connect to the outside world.

13. 13
Prototyping Housing before spending 40K euro on moulds.
Prototyping of Interaction Design
(Pixate)
Electronics Prototyping to
judge fonts on ePaper screen
the product

14. Atus Communication for medical professionals
14
Wearable connected medical
notification device with
ePaper display
Mobile App for additional information is
connected with Bluetooth LE

15. Pioneering
No OS, frameworks, or rulebooks
15
For IOT there are no blueprints or rulebooks. There are limited frameworks, no Twitter Bootstrap,
or an OS. Sometimes there’s not even a product category. You have to be a bit of a mad inventor

16. 16
What is it?.. (take a guess)
3D prints, nuts and bolts arduinos and
some very clever mechanics... Production of first test-run products
the product

17. 17
Kiiroo Connect Lovers

18. User testing
Early, on-location, qualitative, personal
18
Big decisions (hardware, costs, connectivity) are taken early. Validate them early with a user test
Context is often non-standard and very relevant, so test on location
Qualitative research. You should see where people feel friction, not how much % likes button A
You should be present in person to witness and interpret every little frown.

19. 19
UX Designer present in person
to witness and interpret
the product
Size matters! Get early feedback on
the physical sides of your design.
Improvize: Don’t try to find a letterbox-sized touch screen.
Use a tablet and mask off part of the screen

20. 20
ATAG Magna Oven Interface

21. Product UX = Web UX
Goals & results, not content & conversion
21
Your web/marcom UX skills do not directly translate to the IOT. Product UX is about goals and
results, not about content and conversion. IOT requires a different skill set for UX designers.
Some examples are found on the next slide...

22. Web UX Product/service UX
Goal Sell, convert, communicate Reach a goal, do a job
Drive Content Task/goal
Involvement Before moment of sales After moment of sales
Deep knowledge Psychology of sales & conversion Daily use of product
Knowledge leverage Web standards, Frameworks, Templates Research methodology, mindset, no templates
Experience focus A good feeling about the product/service Added value (new capabilities, time saving)
Data input Quantitative, Market data Qualitative, interviews, observations
Validation Metrics, A-B testing User testing
Context Mobile or Desktop Anything (coffeemachine to car HUD)
Analogy Show the customer what´s on the menu To help a user Cook a dish
Example Corporate website, theater site, webshop TomTom, Phone operating system, self check-in system
Majority of IOT projects benefit more
from product/service UX skills

23. Life after touch screens
Interaction beyond taps & swipes
23
A touch screen is just a screen you can touch, not the solution for all possible interaction. Taps
and swipes on a piece of glass have limitations. Haptic Feedback is very promising, but your
hands and fingers are not stupid. Fooling them just a little bit requires lots of trial and error

24. 24
3D printing in-house to iterate as fast as possible
on our Ultimaker. (a client of ours)
Haptic feedback is in its infancy. There are no blueprints.
Helping out in a Kick-starter is a great experience
A little fun now and then…
the product

25. 25
Frebble Haptic feedback : Hold hands online

26. Make money in new ways
IOT disrupts business models
26
Challenge the way your client makes money. IOT projects have Physical and Digital touchpoints
that provide new and unexpected ways to serve your clients needs and to strengthen your Brand.
Why not let your coffee machine order new beans itself when it runs out...

27. 27
Philips Hackathon bringing together
experts from Tech, UX and Business
Ideas based on the principle
of a distributed UI*
Concept for Interaction Design of
distributed UI*
the product
*Distributed UI is a Philips concept

28. Philips Saeco Connected high-end espresso*
28
Connected application Interaction design
Complete user interface design
and control panel redesign
*Housing Design by Philips, Current app design by AKQA

29. The sky is not the limit
Deal with hardware limitations
29
Physical components have some nasty drawbacks. They cost money, take up space, add weight
and drain battery life. But worst of all: They need to be mass-produce-able and there are no
downloadable upgrades for them. You just kinda have to make the best of them...

30. 30
Cost-price drives component choice
Component choice impacts UX
Retina screens and A8 processors are an
exception in the world of Connected Products
The trick is to squeeze as much UX
as you can out of limited hardware
the product

31. Nefit Nefit Easy thermostat
31
Product & Interaction design
of smart, connected thermostat

32. Thank you!
Designing connected products
32www.VanBerlo.nl