The New ‘Us and the Machines’
The Next Generation of Human — Technology Interaction
There is a convergence forming in the next generation of technology, both in what is interacting with us and in how it is interacting with us.
Our things will talk to one another; our service providers will be more accessible. How we interact with the things and services will become more cognizant and seamless.
Currently, whether we are accessing services on our smartphones or considering the purchase of a nifty new IoT (Internet of Things) product, the biggest issue is always the same:
The burden is on you, the user, to download an app, sign up, and learn a new interface in order to execute on getting what you want.
The burden is on you, the user, to download an app, sign up, and learn a new interface in order to execute on getting what you want.
Designers and UX strategists go to great lengths to make the new-to-you app interface easy to learn. There are many design conventions that are used today because they are established. For example, most users know to look to the upper left for the main navigation, and to the right for their account info.
This in itself causes its own set of problems, namely that some design and user flow may not actually be optimal but rather only recognizable. So we perpetuate a user interface / layout style because we don’t want to loose a potential new customer due to lack of recognition.
In today’s business model this is critical precisely because every new IoT product, every new service provider, every media outlet requires the now perfunctory accompanying app. In order for you to access that thing you want…it needs an app. You even need a separate app just to funnel out your social updates to all the social venues simultaneously. You need an app for your apps!
So when you are designing that critical app, you literally cannot afford to try anything that might deter use; the risk is too high that the initial learning curve might frustrate new users.
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This is all going to be moot in the near future. The trends now indicate that we are going to have a market shift in how we interface with our technology. Apps as we know them are a dying breed. We are headed toward a whole new interaction schema between “us and the machines.”
The app store will begin its decline with the emergence messaging bots, smart OS notification cards, and search results as service cards.
The app store will begin its decline with the emergence messaging bots, smart OS notification cards, and search results as service cards.
Notification cards as you recognize them today in Android OS.
There are two pressures that will lead to this conclusion: service learning-curve removal, and IoT integration.
There are two pressures that will lead to this conclusion: service learning-curve removal, and IoT integration.
All the Services
We have all downloaded apps and then just stopped midway through the signup. We just don’t want another app with stuff to learn and do. The more saturated the market becomes, the less likely a new service app-based startup is going to be successful. At this point, unless your business service is going to DRAMATICALLY ALTER LIFE FOR THE BETTER, there is a good chance we will come to the conclusion that we can just do without.
Even our most trusted and favored app companions are starting to have identity crises. This urgency to fill a need is pointing to the fact the people and their phones are getting saturated. Let’s take Twitter, for example: Am I social? Am I news? I don’t know!This points to the problem because ultimately Twitter is trying to figure out what it is really providing you. If the service is not captivating enough, we are inclined to just interact with one less app.
Paul Adams, VP of Product at Intercom, says in this article, “The idea of having a screen full of icons, representing independent apps, that need to be opened to experience them, is making less and less sense. The idea that these apps sit in the background, pushing content into a central experience, is making more and more sense. That central experience may be something that looks like [an OS] notification center today, or something similar to Google Now, or something entirely new.” [italics are mine]
I’m going to bet that Search and OS (Operating System) will eventually merge into one experience, and you will be provided the relevant information and call-to-action via the tiled notification card.
The “something entirely new” is the chat bot. At the moment, chat bots sound like glorified robot customer service representatives, and in a way they are, but the beauty is that once this takes off, you just text them. You will literally need only the five-digit number to chat the service — that’s it.
No app search, download, and signup — and no head-scratching while you try to learn the app workflow. In this article, Ted Livingston, Founder and CEO of Kik, paints the picture of ease that will come from this shift away from the app: “Chat apps will come to be thought of as the new browsers; bots will be the new websites.”
With chat bots, OS cards, and search / service cards, you completely eliminate the need for separate apps. You chat with your bot reps, and you interface with the cards…and the code behind it all does the work of interfacing back to the services.
D2C IoT Integration
With the advent of IoT, this shift will be particularity important and necessary in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market. Right now, with every IoT device on the market, you also need a distinct app to run it. By continuing down the app path you can imagine the 5000 apps you will need on your phone just keep up…and don’t even get me started on co-integration between the things! This is not viable.
Using the same interface described above, it will be the burden of the IoT product team to plug into your OS (and in the long run that will be easier for the product team). IoT product interfaces could all live in one location in the OS, and all be controlled from one place. This will also allow for the commingling of the ‘things,’ and ultimately a greater harmony between the gadgets. That has to be the ultimate goal; otherwise these ‘things’ that are meant to make our lives easier…just won’t.
This is already proving to be a problem. Argus Insights says, “Data show that as of May 2015 consumer demand for connected home devices such as thermostats, light bulbs, locks, sensors and cameras experienced its first drop below the level of a year ago, a sign that consumer interest is stagnating.”
It takes too much effort to run all of the IoT products separately, the charm wears off, and it’s over.
This shift in the mode of interaction will dramatically increase usability as the IoT products continue to increase in the market. Think about it: who needs an app for that new Nest Thermostat when you can just chat with it?
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How you [the business] will think your way through: It is all about the system. Hugh Durkin, Product Manager for Developer Experience at Intercom, says in this article, “The most successful companies in the world don’t focus on building apps — they focus on building systems which solve real-world problems… The app is a means to an end…”
Businesses know they have only a few minutes to keep your attention and engage you. As this interface-shift occurs, the user will finally get to have their attention on the actual product or service being offered. This revolution will mean your business gets to provide what you are really there to sell.
This revolution will mean your business gets to provide what you are really there to sell.
Designers will shift to designing their system to interact with the device operating system. Whether we’re talking about a product or a service, the goal of designing to the OS is the same. You are designing your system to communicate with the customer, via the operating system and chat interactions. The goal is to become a seamless part of the OS.
Perhaps one downside: Life on our devices might start to look like a list of stacked notifications. Not too pretty or engaging. Well, maybe at first, but it will be the next frontier for UX/UI to figure out how to get you to focus on the next action. Cards will likely become more dynamic, and we will be able to set the OS with preferences so that we can get to what matters to us the most first.
UX Designer, Michael Greenwood talks about the future of UX in this article. He says: “The tenets of interaction design [focusing on users and their interaction with a product] will undoubtedly influence the future of UX design. This leaves UX designers with the challenge of creating interfaces where these interactions are largely unscripted. …Bot-logic and functionality takes this to a new, more complex level, allowing for designers to anticipate and handle even more sophisticated kinds of responses.”
Our trusty chat bot friends will hear our needs and chat us back with the answers. We may never have to open an app again.
We are embarking upon our brave new world.
