The Future of User Interfaces

The Future of User Interfaces ! 19 June 2014 Future of Digital Marketing 2014 ! Jason Mesut Head of User Experience, Plan Local Leader, IxDA London ! ! @jasonmesut !

! Let’s watch some videos

Microsoft video Microsoft vision of the future

Corning — A day made of glass 2

! How did the videos make you feel?

! How would these future solutions work as part of your life?

! What does your home look like?

Original iPhone ?? 2007 —Direct manipulation —Dynamic display —Rich graphics 

Knob handles ??

Original iPhone ?? 2007 —Direct manipulation —Dynamic display —Rich graphics 

Knob handles ??

Knobs Buttons Switches Levers and handles

! Who am I to talk about the Future of User Interfaces?

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.

I joined ! 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 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?

2026 2027 2028 We work across a range of horizons 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 FMCG Consumer electronics Automotive Healthcare Aviation

Across a variety of challenge areas Packaging Digital Services Products Interactions Environments

So we think a lot about the future of user interfaces

Packaging Digital Services Products Interactions Environments And their relationships to those other areas

What is a User Interface?

! User Interface

! User Interface A human that uses something: customer, employee, citizen, parent, child

! User Interface A human that uses something A way for a human to understand and control a machine or technology

! What about User Experience?

User Interface ! A way for a human to understand and control a machine or technology

User Interface ! A way for a human to understand and control a machine or technology User Experience ! Perceptions and memories of interactions and events

User Interface we can design this

User Interface User Experience we can design this to affect this

User Experience Which we hope will affect Loyalty Revenue Brand Efficiency

Graphical User Interface ! Allows users to interact with electronic systems

Visual Language Motion Graphics Information Design Information Architecture Interaction Design

Visual language Motion graphics Information Design Information Architecture Interaction Design Still relevant

But there’s more to UI than just GUI Physical Telephone Voice Embedded Distributed

I want to talk you through The future present The future possible The future likely How to focus better

What’s going on now? The future present

! We’re still getting to grips with touchscreens

Original iPhone 2007 —Direct manipulation —Dynamic display —Rich graphics 

Skeuomorphism ?? 2007 —??

In defence of skeuomorphism 2007 —??

Skeuomorphism has always been in design

Zune Radical failure

Windows 8 Radical failure

! Designers obsessed with flat design. But at what cost?

Flat design Less obvious Homogenous Requires good typography

! Screen size impacting how we design

Responsive design

Mobile first

! Gestural interaction is growing and fading

Wii

Leap

! Better isn’t always better

! Tiring Coarse control Confusion with natural gestures

Nest Protect

We’re attracted to magic like magpies

! Screens dominating

Screens on everything

Screens replacing tactile controls

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

! Emerging hardware revival

The internet of things is hitting the mainstream Niche Mass

In odd ways

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

What are the possible futures? The future possible

! Artificial Intelligence

! ! ! ! How far can this go?

! Her ! ! ! ! How far can this go?

Beware the uncanny valley Humanoid robot Corpse Stuffed animal Bunraku puppet Uncanny valley Industrial robot Familarity Human likeness 50% 100% + - Healthy person Moving Still Prosthetic hand Zombie

! Smart platforms As internet connected sensors proliferate and sense a wider range of phenomena, platforms are using machine intelligence to interpret and aggregate collected data to make useful interventions.

! Natural UI

! No such thing as a natural UI

! Invisible Computing Hardware virtually disappears, as computing technology unobtrusively integrates with everyday, natural human function. ! Supportive Computing Computing technology that supports natural human function, rather than requires humans to adapt to computing functions. Adaptive Computing Intelligently recognize and interpret human patterns to produce output based on relative context. ! http://pivotallabs.com/the-future-of-uiux-the-natural-user-interface/

! Ban the word intuitive

! No UI

! No UI is the best UI

! No UI is not always better

Better for Less visual clutter Less learning (in theory) Less conscious interaction

! Displaced complexity System rules Mental models

! Or we lose control

! Wearables

! ! How long are our wrists?

Wearable Where? Visible Concealed Pendant Undergarment strap Chest pin BFC Belt Pocket Inside pocket or undergarment Earring or on ear Shirt collar Upper arm of Sleeve Tie or Shirt button Wrist Finger ring Calf or Sock On or in shoe Hair Gadi Amit, New Deal Design, PDI 2014

Wearables need to consider many different factors Fashion, gender, context, size

Where should you focus? The future likely

The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed. William Gibson, 1993

! Touch and gesture will evolve

! Screen form factors will evolve

Round screens

Any shape screens

Curved screens

! We will seek more immersive interfaces

Occulus Rift

Sony projector

Microsoft illumiroom

Amazon Fire phone

! Escapism or focus? Gamers and experts?

! More motion and emotion

! We will get physical again

Blending paper products and digital services   Evernote + Moleskin  + Post-Its  + Business cards 

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

Physical peripherals with digital interfaces

Roli Seaboard Roli   Innovative expressive piano. Keys you can bend.

! Strokable surfaces

Physical interaction design Beo A9  Physical volume control 

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

! AI driven relevance

Intelligence driven relevance

! More distributed interfaces

Distributed controls and displays

! There will still be buttons, knobs, mice and keyboards

Still loads of buttons

Slick knobs

Distributed knobs

And keyboards will still be important

Mice are precise

! The future likely ! It’s like today, with some small differences ! — Greater relevance — Politer interactions — Evolved touch, gesture, voice — New screen form factors — Return to physical !

How can you better focus for the future?

! Triangulate to focus

Experts Emergent behaviour Trends Brand

Business Creative technologists Industrial Designer Interaction designer Visual designer Software engineers Researchers Design strategists Work with experts

Monitor trends Perpetual contact Perpetual contact Culture of fear Culture of emotions Polarised prosperity Urban rennaissance Sustainability tensions Behaviour change Retail revolution Consumerisation of healthcare Learning diversity Austerity culture Labour imbalances Innovation imperative Resource volatility New conventions Ageing societies Search for authenticity Trust crisis Internet of things Networks of connected objects that sense and share information Hardware revival Smart systems Social Econom ic Technological

! Keep aware of new technology

Innovation trigger Peak of inﬂated expectations Trough of disillusionment Slope of enlightenment Plateau of productivity As of July 2013 Time Content analytics Augmented reality Mobile health monitoring Cloud computing Virtual reality Gesture control Biometric authentication Location intelligence Predictive analytics Speech recognition Wearable user interfaces Gamiﬁcation Big data Natural language processing Internet of Things Autonomous vehicles Holographic displays Expectations

! Understand human behaviours in context

The world The products and services that people will use and the context of that usage The user How they see the world and how they need to manipulate it

The world The products and services that people will use and the context of that usage The user How they see the world and how they need to manipulate it Environment User Situation Task System LearnabilityEcosystem Intent

Environment User Situation Task System LearnabilityEcosystem Intent The world The products and services that people will use and the context of that usage The user How they see the world and how they need to manipulate it

Environment User Situation Task System LearnabilityEcosystem Intent Usability Product Experience Brand The world ! ! ! The user

Background vs. foreground Consciousness

Polite interactions Contextual Respectful Discrete

! Understand your brand position and permission

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

Experts Emergent behaviour Trends Brand

! Escape the echo chamber

Mobile first Responsive design Big Data Internet of Things Native apps Natural UI … The human centipede of digital rhetoric Twitter LinkedIn Conferences Campaign …

Escape the echo chamber Look around you. Listen with your eyes. Apply critical judgement.

! Make the future real

Beware concept videos Tell real stories and demonstrate with working prototypes

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

The Internet of Ubiquitous Computing Information Appliance Things is growing  Prototype out loud

! Shun the shiny Don’t be a magpie to the magical

! The Future of User Interfaces? !

Knobs Buttons Switches Levers and handles

! The Future of User Interfaces? ! It’s like today, with some small differences ! — Greater relevance — Politer interactions — Evolved touch, gesture, voice — New screen form factors — Return to physical !

! The Future of User Interfaces? ! To make a better future ! ! — Triangulate to focus — Escape the echo chamber — Make the future real — Don’t be a magpie

Thank you jason@plan.bz @jasonmesut http://www.plan.bz slideshare.net/jasonmesut slideshare.net/planstrategic