Overview
Over the past decade we have seen a growth in devices and technologies that aid in assisting with everyday at home tasks. With a tap we can control lights, temperature, TVs, plugs, speakers, doors, and much more all from our very own smartphones. But what about non touch interactions? For many years, this type of technology was very much in the works as it was unreliable. However, with a growing audience for non touch technology there has been a vast improvement over the past few years. The main non touch experiences that can be incorporated in a smart home include voice UI, biometrics, and gesture recognition.
Let’s break down each of these experiences:
Voice UI
The user is able to communicate demands with the system using their voice. Voice UI is one of the more popular non touch technologies as virtual assistants like Apple (Siri), Amazon (Alexa), and Google (Google Assistant) can be found in almost every household already. Instead of these tools being at a tap, it is more so at our (voice) command. This allows for a hands free and eyes free interaction.
Biometrics
The user is able to communicate demands with the system using their own unique physical characteristics. Since each person has their own unique features this makes it much more secure as well as easier than remembering a 10–20 character password with special characters. The main measurements biometrics utilizes are face, eyes, and fingerprints.
Gesture Recognition
The user is able to communicate demands with the system using body gestures. The use of gesture control is made to make everyday tasks easier without actually touching items. The gestures usually mimic the actual touch interactions you may be using which makes the transition to using this technology much easier.
Heuristic Analysis
Visibility of System Status
With many non touch experiences it is often quite difficult to “see” the system’s status. However, with many improvements feedback to the user has greatly increased. Voice UIs like Amazon’s Alexa has no screen interface but is able to keep the user in check with any tasks that go through the system. They accomplish this by using sound, color, and conversation to guide the user.
Match Between System and the Real World
It is important for a user who is new to smart home devices to have a seamless transition. This means that the technology must feel natural to use. Voice UIs are able to offer this through plain conversation and using jargon the average user can understand. While gesture control uses actions that the user might be using when performing tasks without any technological help.
User Control and Freedom
It is often difficult to spot the clearly marked exit in non touch technologies. If your “command” works then it works and if it doesn’t tough luck try again. This can often be frustrating because the user will no longer have confidence in using the product. In voice UIs, many mistakes happen from being misheard by the virtual assistant. They may say “I don’t quite understand what you are saying” or will simply think you said something else and execute the wrong task.
Consistency and standards
Imagine replacing a toilet in your home and then not knowing how to use it because the flush button is now located on the bottom of the toilet bowl. All technologies must be similar in use to other brands and within their own brand. This makes it much less confusing if they were to ever switch over to a new brand or gadget, or if a friend comes over and decides to use one of the smart gadgets in the smart home. This will most likely shorten any learning curve involved.
Error prevention
Errors are almost inevitable with non touch technologies. As discussed before many tasks either work but have the possibility of being misunderstood or just don’t work. However, when making bigger decisions voice UIs have proven to be great in asking the user to confirm before executing.
Recognition rather than recall
Many users have an idea of what they want to be done before doing so. Many devices do a great job in letting the user know what to do and when to do it without having the user to ask. Even if the options are not visibly seen on a screen they can be heard by the user.
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Having multiple ways to operate a device is extremely important especially when it comes to upgrading a home to be a smart home. Someone who prefers to turn on the lights with a switch will probably not care for voice control. Even if everyone in the household enjoys the new aspects of the “smart” home, it is important to keep the regular mechanics of things as devices connected to the internet are not always reliable.
Aesthetic and minimalist design
Since many smart home technologies mostly work individually they usually don’t have a huge display with many options on it. This allows the user to focus on completing their task and not over complicating it.
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Many technologies today will tell you what went wrong if they sense an error from your task. A voice UI who didn’t understand you will most likely tell you, unless they heard something different or a gesture control system will remind you how to perform the gesture in case you had forgotten and done it wrong.
Help and Documentation
The downside to having such a simple minimalist design in many of these devices, it makes it hard to add helpful documentation. Much documentation is external and in the pamphlet you might have stored in your junk drawer or a random link on the internet.
Accessibility & Inclusivity Concerns
In terms of accessibility it is important to highlight operability in all smart devices. The user should always know how to navigate their way throughout the system’s functionalities as best as they can. This can bring up many concerns in a smart home if devices can only be controlled one way. Although virtual assistants might be extremely helpful for blind people and those with motor disabilities, the disadvantages fall on those who are deaf or have speech issues. For this group, an interface would have to be made where they can communicate without having to speak. This goes for biometrics and gesture control as they have both disadvantages and advantages for disability groups. Making sure there are multiple ways to operate is a key factor in making sure the device is accessible.
As for inclusivity, the main area the tech world may have a hard time trying to include are older citizens. The elderly population may use these smart home devices less frequently than a younger person, but the truth is, they actually should use it more often. Smart home devices offer the hands free experience that all elderly users should take advantage of. No longer having to walk to turn off a light switch can save them a few breaths and time. It seems that the most important factor in designing for the elderly population is to make the transition as smooth as possible. This would highlight the ux heuristic “match between the system and real world”.
The New Experience
The wearable device
Having a wearable device eliminates the reliance on smartphones. My hope is that it would serve as a multi functional device that can control the home, this mainly includes NFC and gesture control. This device can be similar to the smart watches you see today or if you want something more simple a simple bracelet on the wrist or a ring will do.
NFC:
The main point of this device would be to help users scan NFC tags instead of having to rely on the smartphone to do that all the time. Although the functions on these NFC tags would be programmed on a smartphone/tablet or computer it would eliminate having to hold your phone every time you would have to scan.
A user can walk into a room and tap their wearable device on an NFC tag in order to turn on the tasks programmed beforehand. For example, walking into the living room you can scan in and the TV will turn on to your favorite channel, lights will be as bright or dim as you like, and the fan will be set on your preferred setting.
Another use for NFC is to get help and documentation on things you do not know how to use. The instructions can either be shown on a main screen or can be talked through by the virtual assistant .
Gesture Control:
Now imagine being able to turn off your lights with a simple gesture. Right now gesture control in terms of tracking human movements isn’t quite reliable but hopefully with more improvements, it will be in the future. My hope is that having a wearable device will be better to track.
Overall, the wearable device to control a smart home is a way to target the audience with accessibilities that may not be able to control the smart home in other ways such as voice UI. A person who is deaf and has speech impairments may find this device useful as they do not have to use voice UI in order to program tasks.
Biometrics for security
Biometrics is one of the fastest growing ways to add security. We mainly see this trend in smartphones as there is no longer a need for passcodes as long as you have your face or your hand. The main use of biometrics in a smart home would be for home security.
Incorporating something like the Eufy security door lock will make losing your key a rare occurrence. This device allows you to unlock through a keypad or your fingerprint.
What would be more interesting to include is facial recognition. This way the experience is truly hands free. Upon unlocking the door through finger print/keypad/face id the home system should also be alerted who has come home.
Voice UI System Interface
Looking at many virtual assistants on the market, their design is rather simple as it looks only like a speaker. The main controls are usually located in an app that has to be downloaded. Google home is a great example of an interface that keeps track of all the smart home devices while being able to control them through touch. However, I wanted to make an improvement not only to the app but to the virtual assistant as well.
The interface I have come up with takes all information from the smart devices and displays them as a way to track the system’s status better. The goal would be to have everyone in the smart home informed of what is happening as well as have a device separate from the smartphone.
The main interface
This main interface allows the user to view what lights/controls are on in each room. From here they can tell the virtual assistant to turn on and off the lights and will be redirected to an interior page for the room. This main hub acts as a simple way to keep track of all your smart home devices and for you to see all your voice commands in action.
The bathroom interface
Normally when a user uses NFC to scan into a room there is no interface for them to see all the controls. In this new interface, a scan into the bathroom will check them in and start their tasks. They will be able to view all the tasks on this interface and control them with their voice. This will allow for more user control and freedom as seeing what they are controlling will give them more confidence.
Overall, this interface design will allow for more visualization separate from a smartphone when it comes to voice commands.
Conclusion
Non touch technologies are a great addition to a smart home but as a designer there are many factors to worry about when making sure it is open to as many users as possible. Based on my UX analysis of this experience I found a few areas that could be greatly improved. Help and documentation being one of the biggest drawbacks of non touch technology can be better improved through the help of NFC. By combining NFC, biometrics, voice ui, and gesture control, products can be made to target almost any type of user. Although smart home technology is not exactly new, there are always new technologies coming out in the market everyday. As a result of this, many designers should make note to not take away from the “regular” experience as creating something too new may only create a gap in who can use it.
