Designing Internet Appliances at Netpliance

1
Designing Internet Appliances at Netpliance

• Scott Isensee Reviewed by
• Ken Kalinoski Liz Atwater
• Karl Vochatzer

2
Overview

• Why they were in development
• Netpliance product design development
• Their conclusions about I-Opener
• Whats missing?

3
Why?

• Market situation future is mobile appliances
• TUE best approach is to start over
• Tailored UI capabilities differ w/ application

4
Flexibility

• Rapid, iterative development
• Content Munging suited to personal tastes
• Personalization content inclusion, exclusion, or
  sorting
• Transcoding content adjusts to device

5
Design Process

• User requirements develop for a new audience
• Research PCs are too difficult to use
• Focus groups what do users want and what they
  thought of prototypes

6
Design Process contd

• Design
• 80/20
• Multidisciplinary teams
• Design from outside in design UI and then make
  the technology fit it
• Communicating the design
• Implementation
• Schedule and testing you learn a lot when you
  put product in hands of users

7
Hardware Software

• Important HW characteristics
• UI abandon the PC
• KISS quality product that handles limited
  functionality
• Personalization is this bad practice to go
  against consistency principle?
• Tech advancements vs. UI better tech does not
  sub for the right UI

8
Their Conclusions

• Easy to use device
• I-Opener is technology for non-PC users
• No PC legacy and they are free to design from
  scratch

9
Whats missing?

• More detail less buzzwords
• What problems were encountered during design and
  how did the solutions arise?
• Where exactly did testing fit in?
• Did they abandon the PC or did they inherit its
  legacy?