Internet of Things was the biggest user experience trend in CES 2015 in relation to the wireless device, media and automotive industries, says User Experience Innovation Practice (UXIP) at Strategy Analytics.
From high resolution audio and virtual reality in gaming, to next generation advanced driver assistance systems, by far the biggest theme overall was “The Internet of Things gets real,” the agency said.
Consumers are becoming familiar with monitoring and controlling all aspects of their lives via apps on their smartphones, said Paul Brown, director, UXIP.
“Internet access is becoming virtually ubiquitous in advanced markets and the ability of the mainstream consumer to monitor and control these devices is now a reality due to accelerating penetration of smartphones and tablets, is a having a positive effect,” continued Brown.
With this insight, Strategy Analytics predicts 2015 to be the year where consumer familiarization and widespread adoption of IoT solutions accelerates.
However, the consumerization of IoT will also add new challenges, including how to create propositions that consumers will pay for and how to deliver a usable and engaging user experience.
Added Kevin Nolan, VP, UXIP, “Some observers have suggested that in the future anything that can be connected will be connected; but from a consumer perspective, not every product should be internet-enabled simply for the sake of it.”
According to Nolan, when consumers make a purchase, they tend not to think about abstract system-level cost efficiencies. Rather, they are most likely to consider only the specific benefits to them and the direct price/value trade-off of incorporating connectivity within each device.
“For this reason, failure to define a direct and compelling benefit to the consumer of making each product connected is likely to lead to lower than expected adoption,” Nolan said.
