damned if you do, damned if you don't: commerce and the internet of things

Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t. (on commerce and the internet of things)

Formerly Tinker London / tinkerlondon.com RIG London / riglondon.com Now Designswarm / designswarm.com Good Night Lamp / goodnightlamp.com IOT Angels / iotangels.com IOT London Meetup / @iotlondon

I will talk about “making” at the cost of privacy How we think software & data is where the value lies but hardware is the killer app. And why Finland should get more involved.

Why“making”? Because the Arduino.

Since 2007, cheap, often open source hardware and software electronics prototyping platforms have flooded the market. The RaspberryPi sold 1M units in its first week in the UK.

Who is it for? •  Product designers •  Engineers •  Software developers tired of the

web •  Artists •  R&D departments •  Products companies

What impact did it have? It accelerated the production of new product dreams, ideas and prototypes. Crowdfunding then helped market them and fund production of some.

10 years ago Kevin Ashton coined the term Internet of Things He originally meant it in the context of RFID. Now it implies all the technologies that allow products to be connected online. (wifi, GSM, BT, radio,etc)

That connectivity changes everything but doesn’t solve everything. Back to the makers, what are they building? Smart locks, pet trackers, wifi-connected baby monitors, smart, smart toothbrushes and many more.

And at the heart of most of these interaction?

Before 2007 most of the early internet of things ideas were genuinely screen-less.

Now the mobile phone is a middle man for everyday products.

And objects become gateways to a mobile experience.

SmartStones / Nivea armband

The rise of wearables

And traceable behaviour…I mean data capture.

Jawbone

In lots of different ways.

Ringly / Kovertdesigns

Sproutling

So we went from creepy

Ankle tracker for law enforcement.

To “fun” in just a few years

Kidzon by LG

Getting us used to sharing so much data other industries can benefit from

Until …

Ideas are getting “to market” too quickly. We are living a new age of science-fiction fuelled not by literature, but by crowd-funding, startup culture and makerfaires.

But ideas are also dying too quickly. We aren’t encouraging products to really find their market fit. 3 months on a product project isn’t enough (the average accelerator period). Partnerships take a long time to build.

We can’t be unwillingly designing for obsolescence. We have to build in desire. Most activity trackers will be used for only 6 months. Smart phones flood eBay with limited interest.

Meaning can’t mean wasting. Design for dis-assembly hasn’t been shown to these new entrepreneurs. Or Cradle to Cradle thinking. This is a whole new opportunity to bring design to the fore.

And sometimes really the answer isn’t hardware.

LG smart fridge / Pntry app by designswarm

Price-sensitivity is difficult early on but it builds stronger businesses.

Good Night Lamp by designswarm

Standards should be created around connectivity to inform consumers of their rights and interactions.

Knowledge is at hand locally too.

Know/Cards by Tina Aspiala (eat.fi founder)

Why the title of this talk? It’s a bandwagon. There is hype. But please get involved. Just remember innovation doesn’t need to happen at the cost of design, user needs and solving real problems.

Otherwise we’re back to this.

alex@designswarm.com @iotwatch @designswarm @iotlondon

Thanks! (Anyone want to set up an Internet of things meetup? )