"Six veins Excalibur" smart home article

2013 CES (Consumer Electronics exhibition), home appliances manufacturers released a variety of intelligent white power. In these "smart" appliances, without exception, have a touch-controlled large screen, is really a screen everywhere.

With the screen, the appliance becomes intelligent? The reality is, the factory eloquent, the voice is called broken, the consumer but with the foot vote, no one pays the false intelligent white Electricity is only the manufacturer's self-play to sing only.

Black electricity field, in "Wei Guang Zheng" Chobs, all kinds of boxes, TV flying, a prosperous scene, users are willing to pay. In the field of white electricity, no master Joe's lead, a lot of manufacturers copy can not copy, product design deep in the predicament.

Tianlong Eight, the Spoony Childe Duan Yu had six pulse God-sword, powerful, become with Qiaofeng, empty bamboo tied to one of the three masters.

Today I would like to introduce a smart home appliances design "six-pulse Excalibur."

First, Guan Chongjian: slow-witted, return home appliance experience

Samsung unveiled a smart fridge in 2013 at CES, which has a 8-inch touchscreen with Picasa,twitter, WEATHERBUG,AP news and Evernote. The fridge could even turn into a baby monitor.

But do we really need to send Twitter on the fridge?

Samsung Smart Touch Screen Fridge

When we put a big screen on the appliance, it's easy to have an Android operating system on top of it, and then add our familiar experiences in the mobile world, like voice and all kinds of apps.

This is a common misconception that we are designing smart home appliances. Touch screen often lets us lose the focus of design, focus on making home appliances more like mobile phones or tablets, rather than let home appliances become better.

Adding cloud services to home appliances does not magically make home appliances better, in reality, our cloud services simply add a bunch of unnecessary features to home appliances.

A successful smart home appliance experience should be as simple as possible, focusing on a handful of home appliances that are already well defined in their functions. Just as Guan Chongjian to the humble and simple to win, we design smart home appliances, but also should be slow-witted, back to simple, let home appliances return to its origin.

Second, less Shangjian: A rock, home appliances intelligent automation

If "Android + Home Appliances" and "big screen +app" is not a real smart home appliances, then smart appliances in the end is what, smart appliances should have what kind of unique experience? The answer is environmental sensing sensors and automation.

Nest, created by a former Apple ipod designer, gives us the best case scenario. Nest is a collection of temperature, humidity, light and motion sensors that can perceive the environment and human activity. Based on intelligent algorithm and processor, Nest can record the data of the user to adjust the thermostat manually and analyze it. After a period of time, nest can automatically adjust the indoor temperature according to the user's preferences and activities, let the user free up, do not have to manually control the thermostat.

Nest Temperature Controller

Similarly, installing a set of sensors on home appliances and networking, these sensors can learn a lot about the user, the user's environment and the user's daily life model knowledge. Motion, temperature, and human infrared sensors can perceive the user's environment and make useful assumptions. Networked devices can respond in certain circumstances and make decisions intelligently based on certain rules. This kind of intelligent automation can be handled in the background to truly liberate users and improve efficiency. These systems can be gradually familiar with the user, over time, they will make more accurate assumptions, more understanding of user needs.

irobot Sweeping robot

For users, home appliances without human intervention and control, can be independent of the service, is the real demand. Six veins in the sword of the less commercial sword road Shongjing, quite a rock, wind and rain to the potential, intelligent automation is a subversive innovation of home appliances, and less business sword has the same.

Three, less ze sword: corners, the data for the movement of

Most of us drive, but very few people turn on the hood to check the condition of the car, because we don't look like a trained mechanic can read the readings. Similarly, the home sensor collects massive amounts of data, but it is meaningless to just show the original data.

One of the biggest opportunities for large data applications is to translate data into meaningful knowledge or wisdom (Insights). This is a knowledge that brings about behavioural change. This knowledge can help users better understand themselves and encourage them to make better choices-a better way of life or something else.

In addition to collecting knowledge about individuals, users can also see comparisons with friends or larger communities. The Jawbone up wrist strap and its mobile application provide a good example of large data applications. Jawbone's application transforms the collected data into an Easy-to-understand chart that helps users discover the connection between their raw data and their own lifestyle habits. Over time, users can better understand their daily activities, sleep habits, eating habits, and even find the effect of walking a dog or eating less than 300 calories on their health goals, such as weight loss.

The data is like a jumping note, but only a few people can blend these notes into a wonderful movement. Musicians turn notes into music, while designers turn the data into graphics that users can understand and restore the truth, allowing users to corners. The presentation of the data is as small as the sudden and sudden change of the sword, and the changes are subtle and difficult to grasp.

Four, in Chong Jian: strategically, starting from the ecological

We generally think of platforms as ecosystems, such as iOS and Android, but the ecosystem is not just a platform, it's not only a person and his device. For home appliances, and the two ecosystems have relevance, one is the life of family members of the ecological, one is the ecological home.

We add a screen to the device, essentially isolating the device from the ecosystem. Imagine, every home appliances are installed on the screen, home appliances are not connected to each other, people lost in a pile of screens, at a loss. This kind of intelligent home appliances design, will make its interaction with the whole family becomes cumbersome, and people's interaction becomes cumbersome, because each set has its own way of interaction.

Instead of using home appliances as an independent product, designers should look at household appliances as a member of the ecosystem, find ways to integrate with existing electronic equipment ecosystems, and make use of the screens that users already have, rather than adding the advantage of a cell phone or tablet to the device.

The system can be expanded freely by collecting and sharing data through the center. By collecting and sharing data, such as the average time of bathing and washing, you can inform the system of water and electricity usage. The central system can give users a more comprehensive view, allowing users to adjust their behavior and habits.

Design should be anticipate, small start, smart home appliances positioning is a family ecosystem. This design pattern of global thinking is very similar to the big opening of the sword.

Five, less blunt sword: brisk fast, remote control intelligent Home

One of the common features of intelligent home appliances design during remote access. Smart home appliances give users the experience of remote monitoring and manipulation through smart phone or flat screen screens. The physical location of home appliances is no longer a limitation, thanks to the portability of smartphones and tablets, this design gives users the flexibility to access and control, allowing them to control them anytime, anywhere.

We can display the progress of ongoing tasks on the smartphone screen, such as the progress of laundry, monitoring the use of energy, starting a function, or remote diagnostics when there is a problem with the appliance.

There are already a few products with remote experience, nest mobile applications allow users to adjust the temperature, so that users can adjust room temperature before they get home, create a comfortable environment. Samsung's app allows users to start and stop washing and drying cycles remotely, allowing them to start drying cycles at low electricity prices.

But at present many designs often regard remote access as a function rather than as part of an ecosystem. Many designers do not think deeply about the value of remote access to the user, but only to achieve a remote turn on and off, and even some designers to the user only need one action scene into four to five action scenes.

When designing the experience of remote access, the most important thing is to examine the user's usage scene thoroughly, analyze the user's requirement, and design the intuitive and innovative remote monitoring function for the user.

Remote access gives the user a great deal of flexibility, just as the quick and brisk speed of the sword, the design and design of intelligent home appliances remote access experience, should seize its flexible and convenient features, so that the user's operating experience more simplified.

Vi. Shangyangjian: Concerted efforts, cross-border cooperation

We currently see the so-called "smart home appliances", that is, in the electrical added a networking function, in the factory before the label, called Smart home appliances.

It has been proved that only home appliances manufacturers can not make real smart home appliances. The design process of intelligent home appliances should start from the concept stage, at this time the personnel of design and engineering discipline should intervene.

A good product experience comes not just from one discipline. Industrial designers, user experience designers and engineers need to work closely together in the design phase to define the overall experience of the product. In the Apple product design process, there is such a team, Mr. Jobs is the user experience designer and the Director, Ivy is responsible for product physical appearance and sensory design, Scott Forstall is responsible for software, Phillips-Schiller (Philip Schiller) is responsible for marketing, And Cook is in charge of supply chain and operation. The five-person team worked closely from the beginning of the product, and everyone made their own suggestions for the design of the product to define the overall experience, thus creating a great Apple product.

However, we often see the product development scenario is that a company leader put forward a product direction, the engineer began to design functions, then the design of industrial designers, and then the user experience designers to improve user interaction, and finally, according to the needs of the Internet of things, to increase the cloud. This design and development method is a wrong way to design.

To design a real smart home appliance, the design team needs to make repeated discussions and agree on user needs, usage scenarios, usability, appearance, and industrial design.

Through this kind of deep cooperation, can let smart home appliances is no longer a function of piling up, but redefine smart home appliances.

Cross-border cooperation is a current trend, he can play the advantages of different fields, make up for the short plate in this field, realize the effect of 1+1>2, but the cross-border cooperation is not easy, the conflict between the interests, the design idea is difficult to balance, just like Shangyangjian, there are clever and flexible, but also have elusive disadvantage.

PostScript

Tianlong Eight, even if the section Childe internal force unfathomable, six veins of the sword is not easy to practice, rarely handy, not to extremely urgent to make out. In reality, intelligent home appliances design of the six-pulse God sword is also so, it is easy to use, to achieve the heart of the state of random move, not overnight.

However, this sword also is not like that sword, must overlap the adventure to be able to practice. To a "for the user to create a better life" of the sincere heart, put down that all kinds of quick method, throw away the competition mentality of the life-and-death, open to build ecological mind, be.

The so-called sincere heart, is to let smart home appliances design and human life coordination. Let the device be connected to the larger Internet and share data with other devices. Get the device through networking-whether it's WiFi, Bluetooth, or zigbee,nfc---for more precise and flexible control, as well as previously uncovered features. The root of smart appliances is to add value through networking, rather than adding more screens, but giving existing screen users insight and control. The future of networked home appliances needs to dance with the real needs of users, into their lives, adapt to the user's existing digital ecosystem.

The so-called crash method, is to abandon the imitation of smartphones, tablets and other past successful experience, return to the essence of home appliances, from the source. In the future, smart home appliances to take off in the consumer market, need to return to the essence of home appliances, which means that its core functions more intelligent, rather than in the home appliances to increase the function of mobile Internet. Each home appliance should be unique and competent, and when connected to the ecosystem, can make users more convenient and flexible control, a clearer understanding of the situation of the home, and ultimately make users more comfortable life.

The so-called construction of the ecology, is home appliances, mobile Internet, IoT and other participants work together to build a healthy industrial chain. Smart home Appliances Industry development space is huge, for enterprises, find their own unique positioning, to play to the extreme, you can find their own in the industrial chain of the day.