They talk to each other

If you didn’t get to go see the Massive Change exhibit you may not realize that we are living in a world that is innovating at a breathlessly fast pace. And, it seems to me, at a far more rapid pace than it ever has before. Technology is ubiquitous and all pervasive.

I was delivering my user experience lecture at VFS the other day, and I did something I haven’t done EVER in the years of my teaching at that school. I totally ad-libbed. Like went off for an hour about innovation. Totally, like, whatever. Umm, hello is this the valley-girl innovation hot-line? I digress….

We talked a lot about 3 geeky things that are not even all that new, but have the promise of having some exciting implementations in the future. Our discussion centered around devices that can talk to each other, communicate seamlessly and create some amazing experiences for humans in the process:

• Global Positioning System (GPS). Imagine the possibilities. Your cell phone can show you your jogging path from satellite imagery made possible by Google Earth. While you are there why not do a quick satellite fly-through over that new house-listing your real-estate agent just beamed to you. Look to see if there are enough parks around the house to take Sparky for a walk? Once you’ve decided it’s worth taking a trip to the other end of town to see this place, your car’s (soon to be standard) OnStar system can not only help you find the least crowded route, inform you of cheap(?) gas prices along the way, but also add technologies such as being able to possibly read you your new emails while you drive?
• Voice over IP (VoIP). You now have the capability of placing phone calls using the packet system of IP networks. Voice calls using the internet or even your private office network. By the way your device, will not only allow you to place long distance phone calls at a fraction of the price your phone company charges you today, but heck, you should be able to download music using that same device, and the same network. How’s your VoIP doing? Mine is just fine, thank you. Combine the power of VoIP, the pervasive possibilities of Broadband Over Power Lines (BPL) and the next generation of IP and you are now looking at Uncle Hick living on a farm in Middle America being able to, well, do whatever Uncle Hick would do with broadband.
• Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID). Much hyped, and being tested and actively used by tiny companies such as IBM, Wal-Mart and the Gap. Imagine Gap puts a RFID chip that could cost less than a nickel to produce into each of its loose fit khakis. Joe Blow, an inventory clerk at the Gap store in Idaho receives the shipment of these pants. He doesn’t need to even open the boxes to add this new inventory into the system. The RFID chip informed the store computer (and that of the head office) exactly how many pieces have been received. The store computer can physically track each pair of the khakis. This means that the store shelves will always have the appropriate amount of inventory and if you can’t find that hard-to-find size of waist 30” and length 40”, the employee will be able to find it for you thanks to the ever watchful computer system that can track down that elusive pair of pants that was mistakenly placed under the boot cut jeans pile.

  Just remember to have your ever-happy-to-help Gap employee take out that RFID chip—after all you wouldn’t want your khakis reporting back to the Gap about all those visits you made to your neighborhood McDonalds last month, now would you?

So what are we going to do with these new technologies? What lies ahead? And are we designers ready to take on the enormous responsibility of making these technologies useful? Will we utilize these technologies to their fullest capacity, all the while, remembering the all important ease of use we want to provide our users?

Will we make brilliantly simple interfaces such as that of OnStar? Or will be make cumbersome complex-guised-as-simple interfaces (why should it take someone 20 minutes to tune in to a radio station on their car stereo?)

Oh my gawd, I so get belly-button shivers just thinking about the possibilities of all this….like….totally…!