Combat:howtodesignsmarthomeproducts(ResearchpapersDownloadNews)October13reportedthatthesmarthomeproductsstartupsVivaLabsCEOandco-founderHenrik-Hoorn(HenrikHolen)recentlywrotethatintelligentdesignissatisfactoryhomeproductsshouldcomplyfourprinciples:nottoseekuserinteraction,allowinguserstoownership,improveproductandforuserstosharethoseconcerns.Thefollowingisthefulltextofthisarticle:Wanttomakebigmoneyright?Designacanemptyyourdishwasherit.Now,mimickingthemarketsmarthomeproductsisveryeasy,butreallygoodproduct-trulysolvepracticalproblemsfortheconsumerproducts-makepeoplerackingyourcompany’sdoortobuy.Characteristicsofagoodproductisthatitcanreducecarbonemissions,sothatpeoplefeelsafeandsecureandsimpletouse,doesnotrequiretoomanypeopletooperate.Unfortunately,exceptforafewproducts,the1majorityofsmarthomeproductsarelowerthanthoserequirements.Instead,manufacturerstendtothinkyouneedaplatformcanownhands,ratherthanaproductcanimprovetheirlivesandtheirsolutionsproposedbyengineers,butalsoforengineersservices,whichoftenrequirestheusertohaveahighleveloftechnicalenthusiasmandordinaryusersmayonlyfeelpowerlessandfrustrated.InVivaLabscompany,wespentafewyearstimetostudyhowtodesigntosellordinaryuserscaneasilygetstartedsmarthomeproductsthroughnumeroususerstocommunicatewithfamilyandimprovementsbasedontheirfeedback,weunderstandthepublicsmarthomeproductsHowshouldwedesign,consumerswantandhowtheyrun.Belowarethefourprinciplesofourgrasp.1doesnotrequireuserstointeractwiththesmarthomeproducts.Ifyouhaveanetworkorapplicationdevelopmentbackground,thenyoumaygetusedtoactivelyinteractwithyourproductusers.Theyprovideselectiveuseofyourcapabilitiesandpositiveinteractionwithyourconduct.2However,whenitcomestosmarthomeproducts,suchinteractionwillbealotlessobvious.Whendoyouusetablelamps?Whenyouopenlampswitchtime,orwhenyouarereadyinthelightwhenreading?Positiveinteractionwesimplysmarthomeproductsduringaverysmallpartinmostofthetime,theywillworkbehindthescenestohelpusstartacomfortablelife,ratherthantoattractourattention.Eventhosewhoinstallsmarthomeproducts,butalsorarelyassociatedwiththeseproductsformeaningfulinteraction.Ordinaryusersusuallydonotevenknowtheyexist.Children,guestsorpetsathomeintheuseofsmarthomeproductswhenpossiblesimplyunawareofitsexistence.Nevertheless,smarthomeproductsstillneedtoplayitsduerole.2Itistheuser’sworld,notyourworld.Becauseyourusersdonotrealizetheyareusingyourproduct,soyoushouldnotexpectthattheywillabidebytherulesyousetinyourapplication,youcansetyourownrules,butintheuser’shome,theuseristherule-makers,theywillnotgetridofthehabitformanyyearstoaccommodateyouropinion.3Yourproductstocatertotheuser’sneedsandhabits,otherwiseitwillbeunabletofollowtheuser’spreferencestodealwiththings,andthenbecomeworthlessintheeyesoftheuser.3toimproveexistingproducts,ratherthanchanginguserhabits.Yoursmarthomeproductsstillcannotgetanimportantreasonforthesuccessisthattheyareforpeoplewholovescienceandtechnologytobuildbecauseofthesepeopleareearlyadopters,sotheyaremorewillingtotrynewthings,butalsomoretolerantofdefectiveproducts.Manufacturerswilloftentendtofocusonthispopulation,butdoingsowouldmakethemunabletoexpandtheproduct’saudiencefromearlyadopterstothemassmarket.NoteverythingneedstoaccesstheInternetandsomethingsdonotgoisnotgoodfornothing,forexample,thelightingswitchisveryeasytouse,youcannotchangepeople’shabitofusingit.Toenterthemassmarket,youhavetoredesignandimprovetheproduct,ratherthanreplaceit.Towincustomers,youhavetofocusoncreatingtrulyvaluable4servicesandproducts.Nestisaverypopularthermostathasalearningfunction,hasrecentlybeenGoogle(microblogging)toacquireitredesignedandimprovedincubators,anddoingquitewell.Traditional‘smart’thermostatwillincreasealotfeature,youcandesignaprogram,planningandselectionmode,buttheydidnotimprovetheactualexperienceincubator.Nesthasdoneistrytoimprovetheexistingincubatorexperience,withoutchanginguserhabitspremise,asfaraspossibletomaketheproductmorecomfortabletouse,aswellasmoremoney.Theautomaticforuserssharethoseproblem-solving.Intheuseofsmarthomeproducts,peoplewantlessandlessbrainshandsifyoucanhelpthemdothat,thenyouhavefoundthekeytosuccess.Yoursmarthomeproductsmustbeabletohelpusersremovetheirdailylivessothattheyworryaboutthelittlethingsandrepeatingmonotonousthing.VivaLabsforourcompany’speople,thisisreferredtoas‘intelligentautomation.’WhenIleft5home,heatingdevicewillautomaticallyshutdown,thelightswillautomaticallyturnoff,burglaralarmwillautomaticallyturnallofwhichIusedtohavetobrainerrememberthings,nowdoneautomaticallybyintelligentproductsinabusylife,theselittlethingscanhelpuserspeaceofmindisnotsmall,webelievethisisthefutureofsmarthome.Inthenextcoupleofyears,mostofuswillbeanopportunityforourfamilytobecomemoreintelligent.Apple,Google,Samsungandyourlocalcablecompanywillbecompetingtobecometheplatformtosupportyoureverydaylife.Whethertheycansucceed,willdependontheirabilitytoreallyunderstandourdailylives(Source:TencentTechnology6