Design for Experience: Bridging Digital and Physical Experiences
On the heels of today’s article on the Internet of Things and the struggle to make the mythical smart fridge a reality, it seems appropriate to take a closer look at the Design for Experience category, Bridging Digital and Physical Experiences.
In his article, Avi Itzkovitch discusses how tricky it's been creating interfaces that allow users to easily input the items they are putting into their fridge. He suggests that as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags (which allow individual products to be stamped with unique data and tracked) become more cost-effective, it will be easy to have a fridge that keeps track of the tagged items inside it.
The struggle with the smart fridge up to this point is that users have to scan UPC barcodes as they put new items into their fridge, or use a touchscreen to drag and drop items manually. The possibility of RFID tags allowing an appliance to keep track of the items inside it and their expiration dates without any extra work by the user is a beautiful example of a way to bridge digital and physical experiences in a meaningful way.
This is the type of innovation that belongs in the Design for Experience awards. If you know of a product, service, or team that has found a remarkable way of bridging the physical and digital divide, nominate them. If you think that your product/service/team deserves DfE recognition, apply for this award right now!
Image of nixie tube clock courtesy Shutterstock
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
UX Magazine was created to be a central, one-stop resource for everything related to user experience. Our primary goal is to provide a steady stream of current, informative, and credible information about UX and related fields to enhance the professional and creative lives of UX practitioners and those exploring the field. Our content is driven and created by an impressive roster of experienced professionals who work in all areas of UX and cover the field from diverse angles and perspectives.
The core mission of Design For Experience (DfE) is to fuel the growth, improvement, and maturation in the fields of user-centered design, technology, research, and strategy. We do this through a number of programs, but primarily through our sponsorship of UX Magazine, which connects an audience of approximately 100,000+ people to high-quality content, information, and opportunities for professional improvement.
Add new comment
Comments
I think this might be missing a factor that continues to rear it's head in technology, which is the creepy factor.
Shouldn't the creepy factor be considered in a design or service? Is it invasive feeling, does it have privacy issues, will people be comfortable broadcasting that they have 5 frozen pizzas in their fridge?
I think the creepy factor has been one of the big reasons google plus hasn't taken off very much. It annoys facebook users. Is the government going to collect data from my fridge?
Related Articles
