An Exploratory Study on How Internet of Things Developing Companies Handle User Experience Requirements

Abstract

Context and motivation] Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming common throughout everyday lives. However, the interaction is often different from when using e.g. computers and other smart devices. Furthermore, an IoT device is often dependent on several other systems, heavily impacting the user experience (UX). Finally, the domain is changing rapidly and is driven by technological innovation.[Question/problem] In this qualitative study, we explore how companies elicit UX requirements in the context of IoT. A key part of contemporary IoT development is also data-driven approaches. Thus, these are also considered in the study.[Principal idea / Results] There is a knowledge gap around datadriven methodologies, there are examples of companies that collect large amount of data but do not always know how to utilize it. Furthermore, many of the companies struggle to handle the larger system context, where their products and the UX they control are only one part of the complete IoT ecosystem.[Contribution] We provide qualitative empirical data from IoT developing companies. Based on our findings, we identify challenges for the companies and areas for future work.

A Case Study on How Brazilian Companies Deal with the User Experience in IoT Projects

“…In terms of accessibility, most companies said they were not concerned until one was surprised by the demand from blind users for its application (C2). Therefore, the companies studied here do not systematically consider UX because they lack knowledge and support for techniques and methodologies that assist in developing IoT solutions, which reinforces previous research [9]. In this context, the need for the HCI community to include more studies on methodologies and tools to assist the IoT project with a focus on people is evident in the research agenda.…”

“…Each project is different and has unique characteristics, as evidenced by all participating companies. As stated by Bergman et al [9], hardware development has longer iterations and is, therefore, more dependent on other approaches. However, we can see a lack of knowledge about UX in a general context.…”

“…As part of the process, a solution proposal was created, implemented, and iteratively tested with some of the stakeholders. Bergman et al [9] provided qualitative empirical data from developer companies of IoT with offices in Sweden and identified a research agenda. They identified three topics of interest that affect UX in IoT design in companies: adapting to the situation (there is a need for a better understanding of when and how a particular technique is appropriate to the case); proactive vs. reactive (hardware development has by nature longer iterations and hence more reliant on proactive approaches); and the system context (an IoT ecosystem will likely be even more diverse and coming from more vendors, stressing the problem from a UX perspective).…”

It Takes Two to Tango: Merging Science and Creativity to Support Continued Innovation in the IoT Domain

“…The tug of war between UX and user interfaces (UI) is an additional challenge to UX designers to provide seamless user experience without compromising security (Maiman 2015) [9]. Unification of interfaces to provide seamless experience is most challenging for UX designers in IoT.…”

“…Unification of interfaces across different appliances seems to be the biggest challenge for IoT user experience designers, as IoT products consist of different visible layers over a number of invisible layers, and designing a uniform experience requires much consideration (Janaway 2016, Staff 2016). While IoT UX can also be improved once IoT products are in market by getting feedback from users, changing physical design may not be straightforward due to its cost [9]. UX designers need to understand the different IoT invisible modules/layers that play a part in user interaction, like implementation of hardware, connectivity, data as IoT products are built on top of an IoT platform.…”