Under the Influence of Design

“In Between the Glass”

July 20, 2010 | Posted by: Christian

Design and Technology have disrupted our way of thinking since the time we could walk. Everything vying for our attention as we try to make sense of the spaces to which we occupy; the things we look at, touch, interact with and even desire.  Every moment of our day design and technology work in concert together to influence purchasing decisions, collect our thoughts, and even influence social connections. Linking us within our businesses and our communities until the lines of work and life have become blurred.

Collectively these practices have propelled businesses, individuals, cultures, and generations to, quite literally, “Think Differently” about how we live and interact with our world. They’ve also given us access to tools and products that have shaped new thoughts, spawned new companies, inspired a purchase, and moved industries in new directions. And now the landscape is shifting and redefining once again how we connect, share, explore, learn and interact within our own microcosm.

Alvin Toffler says it the best: “Technology feeds on itself. Technology makes more technology possible.” Its this progression of thoughts, ideas, and creativity that brings us to this point. A place where the traditional Rich Internet Application (RIA) that lived and breathed on a desktop machine has now been given new life. No longer is a wonderfully designed experience constrained to live its life behind the confines of a standard keyboard, mouse, and glass. What was once sadly tethered to a wall and a desk is now inherently mobile and tactile.

Today we can access information whenever and wherever we’re at. From an in-car touchscreen display, to an interactive television; access to information that’s pertinent to us in all of its disparate forms has dramatically changed the way we live and interact with those around us.

From mobile and embedded devices we’ve seen such a vast difference on how people are, not only accessing information, but acting upon that very same information. Walking down Times Square you can see a digital display for a Target ad and instantly download a promotional code to your phone and even make a purchase without even stepping into a store and at the same time be able to share that information with all your friends. Walking down that very same street you can see current stock information scrolling digital displays on sides of buses or hanging from the entrance of a building and of course buying and selling is just a touch away. Or how about touchscreen displays residing in cars, concert venues, grocery stores, airports, and banks where access to personal information is immediate and actionable. Where what you’re watching in your house can follow you into your car or onto your phone. Where business owners can be notified of a dip in sales or a large market swing completely independent of time, location, and device.

In today’s digital landscape It’s Not Your Father’s RIA. Everything digital with a big or even small capacity for data transfer has the ability to connect to relevant, usable information. Watches are now phones, and phones are now vehicles for entertainment. Where you can Design, create, inspire, buy, sell, learn, and share from devices as large and mobile as the iPad, small as a phone and flexible as the LG touchscreen watch. The possibilities and opportunities to connect are all around us, even in ways we might not see or even understand.

Today its about being wired and being wireless. It’s about being plugged-in and what it means to be unplugged. Its about access to you in your own unique digital footprint in a way that makes sense to you. It’s an intensely personal experience yet completely translucent whereas that same information can be shared, manipulated and consumed in many different ways on many different devices.

The topography of a multi-display approach comes with its challenges. First and foremost the experience must be consistent throughout the varied displays. The challenge comes to us with the realization that each device, for the most part, has its own development environments, languages and constraints. So creating this consistency is a design and technical hurdle that must be approached early on in the projects life-cycle.

At the end-of-the-day its all about creating a consistent experience that unfolds the brand in a uniform presentation across all targeted devices

Having a strong development team that has expertise in niche environments such as smart-phones, touchscreens, and tablet platforms – coupled together with User Experience specialists that become advocates for the end-user and understand choreography, interaction patterns, design aesthetic, and constraints within these devices is critical to a products brand within this ever increasing multi-display landscape.

This story will continue to unfold for years to come as new products and devices begin to saturate the marketplace and designers and developers continue to push the boundaries of such instruments. Its that healthy tension between product designers, technologists, and the community of users that will, undoubtedly, continue to explore, challenge, and elicit reaction from one another in order to deliver usable devices, relevant content, and beautifully crafted experiences.