Google Chromecast, which turns a smartphone or tablet into a remote control for the TV, is one example of such experience design. These devices can then be used to browse the content on TV, control playback, and adjust volume.
Designing Multi-Device Experiences by Michal Levin
What does it mean to design a product in a world where people own multiple devices and use them interchangeably? This chapter describes how we got to this multi-device era, and introduces a new ecosystem design framework to help us both navigate and influence this new reality.
We have entered a world of multi-device experiences. Our lives have become a series of interactions with multiple digital devices, enabling each of us to learn, buy, compare, search, navigate, connect, and manage every aspect of modern life.
Consider the hours we spend with devices every day—interacting with our smartphones, working on our laptops, engaging with our tablets, watching shows on television, playing with our video game consoles, and tracking steps on our fitness wristbands. For many of us, the following are true:
The number of connected devices has officially exceeded the 7 billion mark, outnumbering people (and toothbrushes) on the planet. [2] By 2020, this number is expected to pass 24(!) billion. [3] This inconceivable quantity not only attests to the growing role of these devices in our digital lives, but also signals an increasing number of devices per person . Many individuals now own multiple connected devices—PCs, smartphones, tablets, TVs, and more—and they are already using them together, switching between them, in order to accomplish their goals. Ninety percent of consumers use multiple devices to complete a task over time—for example, shopping for an item might entail (1) searching and exploring options at home on the PC, (2) checking product information and comparing prices in-store using your smartphone, and (3) writing product reviews on a tablet. [4] Eighty-six percent of consumers use their smartphones while engaging with other devices and during other media consumption activities, as shown in Figure 1-1.
While each device plays an important role in many of our daily activities, their real power exists in how they are used together with other devices . This multi-device usage sets the foundation of a product ecosystem .
The Concept of an Ecosystem
Biologists use the term ecosystem to describe interconnections within our natural world—a community of living organisms (plants, animals, and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (elements like air, water, and mineral soil), interacting as a system. An ecosystem essentially describes a network of interactions—among organisms, and between those organisms and their environment—which together create an ecology that is greater than the sum of its parts.
In looking at the world of online apps and electronics today, we can see a type of ecosystem emerging. In this system—this climate of multiple devices—we see smartphones, tablets, laptops, TVs, and other connected devices all interacting with one another and wirelessly sharing data. These interactions are shaped by the different ways in which individuals use the content and services that flow between devices, in different contexts, en route to their goals (Figure 1-2).
The growing number of connected devices, especially mobile ones, is progressively changing the way people perceive, experience, and interact with products and each other. Our mission as designers and product creators is to understand the different relationships between connected devices, as well as how individuals relate to them, in order to create natural, fluid multi-device experiences that allow these dynamic changes. These experiences should focus on how the (increasing) set of connected devices can best serve users’ needs as they move between activities and contexts throughout the day.
You can choose to build your product as an isolated cell on each device, replicating the same basic experience, and thus offering independent access to everything, everywhere, anytime . Or you can foster an ecosystem approach that captures the dynamically changing needs and contexts that accompany shifting devices, putting the emphasis on delivering the right thing at the right place at the right time .
Different Devices, Different Experiences
Every device does something different. Each device is better at doing certain things, and worse at doing others. So, not all features make sense on all devices. You need to identify how the user will use the product in different contexts. Mobile users want different things from your product than desktop users. As an example, consider a website about movies currently in theatre. On the desktop, users want an immersive experience including trailers and production details. On mobile, they focus on movie listings, nearest theatres, and showtimes. We need to maximize the user experience for all devices so users believe that the application was actually designed for their devices instead of being simply stretched to fit the screen on their devices.
Users consume content from multiple devices throughout the day. It’s important to understand the context in which these devices are being used to craft experiences that specifically suit them. You need to provide the right content, on the right device, at the right time.
It’s also important to understand how the usage of different devices overlaps and how they complement each other. Here are some interesting findings from a Nielson survey of time spent on different devices for daily tasks:
Define Device Groups
Although there’s a myriad of devices with varying screen sizes out there, it’s possible to manage this diversity by defining device groups based the tasks the user is likely to focus on, and by device capabilities.
Smartphones are personal; they are used mostly for micro-tasks, acting on locally available info, entertainment, and social sharing. Tablets are shared; they are considered an alternate to laptops and are primarily used for content consumption. Adapt the experience for each context of use.
You need to identify the different scenarios in which your product will be used across the groups of devices, and design an experience suitable for each of those scenarios. For example, to create a good mobile application, keep it simple by focusing on core functions and the activities mobile users require.
Break down the basic interactions and functionality offered by your application, and make combinations suited to each different device group. The information and UI design of each variation should reflect this, with elements repositioned or reorganized accordingly. If you’re designing for mobile, reorder the categories by priority to best suit the needs of the mobile audience. For example, Google’s mobile website focuses on different items in the navigation than in their desktop website.
Evernote is a popular note-taking product that’s available on multiple devices. Its PC and tablet versions are optimized for content consumption whereas the smartphone versions are optimized for photo and audio input, and notes are location-tagged.
Research your users
“Knowing why people are using your website and which devices they’re on will help you make good UX decisions from the get-go,” Laura says. “A good example is the contact information for the restaurant. On mobile, people will most likely need to call the restaurant quickly. Instead of having the phone number hidden behind a menu or in the footer, consider placing a ‘call us’ button that users can easily tap to make a call. On desktop a button isn’t appropriate, so as the screen sizes get larger, you can switch this button out for a phone number they can jot down or manually key in to their phone.”
“When you’re creating a website from scratch, you’re going to be making your best guess as to where and why people are using your website. But it’s important to couple that with ongoing user research to prove or disprove your hypothesis, and set aside time to be consistently tweaking and improving the experience.”
Sources:
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/designing-multi-device-experiences/9781449340391/ch01.html
https://uxmag.com/articles/framework-for-designing-for-multiple-devices
https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/principles/web-design/ux-design-strategy-for-multiple-devices/
Multidevice design
Designing for multiple devices involves much more that simply resizing content to display on different screens. It must be truly viewable and usable across screens. We have to determine how our content changes from one screen to the next; more specifically, we have to control how this content gets resized, even to the extreme of accounting for both portrait and landscape orientations. To do this, it’s necessary to develop an effective strategy to target a diverse range of devices and screen sizes.
Distributed Experiences: Multi-Device Design
IN A MULTI-DEVICE WORLD, our approach to user interface design needs to be expanded if we are to create truly multi-dimensional experiences. Users are no longer fixed to high-computing desktops – they are surrounded by digital ecosystems and information networks wherever they go. As a result, the design of any digital solution must consider the variety of contexts that arise across this ecosystem, and adapt features specific to each.
Punchcut calls this approach the design of “distributed experiences.” This concept empowers our designers and encourages our clients to evolve beyond porting elements across channels and toward creating more fluid, adaptive digital experiences that spread across dynamic touch-points. We’ve collected the following considerations to inspire others to capture this often-overlooked opportunity and begin to truly distribute brand experiences over the mobile ecosystem.
Understand The Digital Ecosystem, Its Organisms And Its Relationships
We view the digital world in terms of ecosystems: groups of devices, people, services and spaces interacting together to support one another. Through this systemic design perspective, the most successful solutions come from the understanding that multi-device experiences, like the users who drive them, are inter-connected, inter-related, and infinitely variable.
Studying these relationships and the methods that guide the exploration of digital ecosystems reveals the depth and dimensions required for distributed experiences. Within each context are specific opportunities, yet each of them also represent a chance to unify the multi-dimensional experience into a natural, fluid whole.
Focus On Distribution, Not Duplication
True distribution is not duplication. Distribution is the system by which designers deliver the “right things” at the “right place” at the “right time.” It involves parsing out portions of the user experience and applying them to the appropriate device and contextual landscape, necessarily evaluating each touch-point from a human, spatial, device and service perspective.
All too often we find design approaches that prefer to duplicate existing experiences rather than re-think and re-architect them. Consider the forced extension of web paradigms to mobile devices: the experiences of one are simply scaled for another with the assumption that everything else is remains constant. The same goes for televisions, where the use of desktop metaphors (lists, folders, etc.) and conceptual references persist, ignoring important differences in the screen’s resolution, viewing distance, and control methods. Just having a website, mobile app and television widget does not qualify as having created a “distributed experience.” To be truly distributed, these experiences must be adapted to the unique contexts at each touch-point.
distribution –n. Def. Arrangement; classification. The pattern of apportionment.
Adapt Experience Touch-Points To Each Context
If, in the world of mobility, context is everything, then context’s importance is only magnified when considering a multi-device ecosystem. Effective distributed experiences must accommodate the appropriate depth, features and interface components into one fluid experience spanning a variety of devices and contexts. Each touch-point must be strung together by a common thread, yet each must also be addressed individually, from human (behavioral), device (constraint), service (function), and space (environmental) perspectives.
While a key goal is to create a unified service experience, it is important to recognize that distributed designs do not necessarily mean consistent ones. Different functions feel appropriate in different contexts and on different devices. This paradox – that it is not about consistency, but continuity – is critical in building a service experience that extends across devices.
Embrace The Concept Of Services, Not Applications
Applications package sets of features and functions that tap into consumer value, and their tangible and quantifiable elements make for easy adoption. Yet it is important to remember they reflect a single-device or single-dimensional view of the world. Focusing on applications must not hinder our mindset for envisioning next-generation experiences for multi-device ecosystems. With the emergence of cloud-based software, applications may begin to fade away, bringing the power of services to the forefront.
Establish Frameworks To Provide Flexibility
In the world of systems and services, constant adaptation is the key to long-term success. One-off design solutions do not provide the flexibility and scalability needed to accommodate growth at each touch-point. Fixed, rigid architectures prevent the experience from scaling and adapting to accommodate new sizes, elements and features.
In contrast, thinking from a systems perspective and studying interactions on a component level has led Punchcut to build User Interface Frameworks, guides that help inform future touch-point experiences. By defining a set of principles, elements, patterns and guidelines, frameworks help distributed experiences adapt to meet users not only where they are, but where they are going to be. This sort of design endures because it focuses on identifying the continuous elements that are core to any experience, and provides specific references for what elements can be transformed as the system evolves.
Take The Time To Get The Details Right
Distributed experience frameworks require in-depth evaluation, brainstorming, and exploration. For the sake of parity or getting something to market, too many companies have released singular products and services that chased an opportunity before they defined the scope of the idea. They were never given a chance, so it’s not surprising consumers didn’t give them one either. To deliver quality distributed experiences, ones that resonate with the people engaging with them, successful solutions must take the time to conduct contextual research and explore design goals on their way to establishing a lasting, multi-device strategy.
Seek To Evolve And Enhance Relationships
Knowing when to – and not to – incorporate features and devices is key to true human engagement. Distributed experiences represent the first step in an exciting evolution that points us in the direction of establishing truly convergent experiences. As they become more distributed, opportunities are expanding for seamless integration and cooperation between devices and environments. However, this still requires a foundational shift that address the multiple dimension and multiple inputs employed in the effort toward human mobility.
Conclusion
At Punchcut, when we use the word convergence, we strive to add new meaning. We keep a standard that refuses to dilute its definition to include basic cross-channel or multi-device experiences. Instead, our process involves creating complete user interface frameworks, broken down into componentized parts of an experience, each evaluated and applied to devices where they are most appropriate. In working with consumer brands and content providers, a distribution may look something like this: the most immediate, streamlined functions live on the mobile phone where users are quickly checking in or making real-time updates; deeper control lives on the desktop along with users’ calendars, media and records; and the richest, engaging experiences are couched on TVs and tablets where media is most readily consumed. Throughout each device, there is brand and experience continuity, but different context-appropriate experiences have been distributed thoughtfully at various touch-points. That is what we call convergence.
Designing Multi-Device Experiences
Welcome to our multi-device world, a world where a user’s experience with one application can span many devices—a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, the TV, and beyond. This practical book demonstrates the variety of ways devices relate to each other, combining to create powerful ensembles that deliver superior, integrated experiences to your users.
- Preface
- Multi-Device Design Today
- Why I Wrote This Book
- Who Should Read This Book
- How This Book Is Organized
- Online Resources
- Conventions Used in This Book
- Comments and Questions
- Safari® Books Online
- Acknowledgments
- The Concept of an Ecosystem
- The 3Cs Framework: Consistent, Continuous, and Complementary
- Single-Device Design Is History (Don’t I Know It!)
- Hello Smartphones
- Hello App Stores
- Hello Tablets
- What Is Consistent Design?
- Optimizing the Consistent Experience
- Optimizing for layout
- Optimizing for touch
- Optimizing for form factor
- What’s Consistent Across Devices?
- Layout and visual design
- Core feature set
- Promoting alternative input methods
- Localizing (relevant) search results
- Addressing dynamic contexts with Google Now
- What’s Consistent Across Devices?
- Key experience elements
- Main flow and interaction
- What Is Continuous Design?
- Single Activity Flow
- Streamlining the Viewing Experience: Apple Airplay
- Seamless Content Consumption Experience: Amazon Kindle
- Content Creation and Editing Flow: Google Drive
- The Link Between Continuous and Consistent Experiences
- Adapting the Experience to Devices’ Strengths: Allrecipes
- Under the hood: Examine the user’s workflow
- Design lesson: Rethink user flows
- Design lesson: Break down the continuous experience steps even more
- Under the hood: Examining the user’s workflow
- Design exercise: Expanding the continuous flow
- Under the hood: Examining the user’s workflow
- Design lesson: Continuous experience can start offline
- Under the hood: Examining the user’s workflow
- Design lesson: Divide and conquer
- Design lesson: The power of openness
- What Is Complementary Design?
- Collaboration: Must-Have
- Playing With Friends: Real Racing 2—Party Play
- Design Lesson: Extending the game experience
- Design lesson: A new species of game controllers
- Data, data, data
- Richer, more streamlined game experiences
- Lower barriers for entry
- Social Layer Atop Television Viewing: Heineken Star Player
- Second-Screen Experience as a Platform: Intonow
- Design lesson: A second-screen experience can go beyond a specific show
- Design lesson: A second-screen experience doesn’t have to be associated with a predetermined broadcast time
- Design lesson: A second-screen experience can complement TV watching continuously
- Not Necessarily a Simultaneous Experience: Slingbox
- When Collaboration and Control Meet: Xbox Smartglass
- 3Cs as Building Blocks
- Multi-Device Experiences Are in Their Infancy
- User Needs Aren’t Black and White
- Great Devices Lead to Great Expectations
- Approaching Multi-Device Experiences: Dos and Don’ts
- Complementary and Consistent: Slingbox
- Design lesson: Design approaches can complete each other
- Design lesson: Design approaches should be prioritized within an experience
- Design lesson: Context awareness can take us far
- Design lesson: Different design approaches promote people to their goals in different ways
- Design lesson: Optimize the design for the most suitable device for the task
- Design lesson: A new TV ecosystem experience standard?
- Complementary and Consistent: Withings Smart Baby Monitor
- Complementary and Consistent: Bitponics
- When Complementary and Consistent Design Meet
- The Internet of Things
- Is the Internet of Things Already Here?
- Expanding the 3Cs
- Adaptive Design: Nest—The Learning Thermostat
- The ecosystem experience
- Design lesson: The control relationship between devices is not bound to the TV
- Design lesson: Extracting (actionable) knowledge from data
Mobile Web vs. Native App
The majority of users don’t own a smartphone and don’t access app stores. They are more likely to use a mobile browser and access the Internet from their mobile phones. The barriers to accessing a site via a browser are lower than those to downloading an app, even for Smartphone owners
The biggest benefit mobile web offers is that you design once and it’ll run on all mobile platforms with minimal tweaking. The fragmented nature of the mobile industry means that porting apps to different platform environments costs money, especially when you include maintenance and marketing costs.
Native apps can tap into the device’s functions and features, providing richer experience and seamless integration with native features such as camera, address book, etc. Users prefer an app that feels like it belongs on the phone rather than a Web app that seems shoehorned into the device.
Native apps currently present better opportunities for stronger engagement, not only because they offer richer services and experiences, but also because they place the brand icon on the user’s home screen.
Sources:
https://punchcut.com/perspectives/distributed-experiences-multi-device-design/
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/designing-multi-device-experiences/9781449340391/
https://uxmag.com/articles/framework-for-designing-for-multiple-devices
Multidevice design
It’s a perfect combo – desktop, laptop and a mobile application. Flat front view of an iMac, Macbook and iPhone XS standing over a solid color background. Choose a color for the background or export the Apples with a transparent PNG.
K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard
Dimensions
Technical Specifications
Customization software
Warranty Information
Part Number
Make any space minimalist, modern, and versatile with the K380 Slim Multi-Device—an ultra-thin, design-forward keyboard perfect for typing on your computer, smartphone, tablet, and more. It’s the ideal companion for your everyday multitasking.
Minimalist, modern—and mobile. The slim, lightweight K380 Multi-Device keyboard is outfitted with Bluetooth ® so you can multitask at home, on the go, or at your favorite cafe. Type on a laptop, phone or tablet and own your space wherever you go.
Any device, any OS. K380 Multi-Device connects to all Bluetooth wireless devices with external keyboard support, so you can work seamlessly with Windows ® , macOS, iPadOS, Chrome OS™, Android™, iOS, and even Apple TV.
TYPE. EASY-SWITCH. TYPE.
All the keys in a tight design. The extra-small footprint lets you place your mouse closer for less arm reaching, more comfort, and better body posture. Scooped, low-profile scissor keys love the shape of your fingertips, offering a fluid, quiet, familiar laptop-like typing experience. Plus, it fits in your bag.
Type, record, and stream with modern design tools that elevate your desk setup. Work quietly with a slim, lightweight keyboard and mouse. Boost your video meetings and presentations with StreamCam and the Zone 900 headset. It’s everything you need to own your space and take your content to the next level.
Working from home these past four months has been both challenging and rewarding. Thanks to @logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard and Logitech Pebble, I can work anywhere in my home, on any device.
Working from home these past four months has been both challenging and rewarding. Thanks to @logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard and Logitech Pebble, I can work anywhere in my home, on any device.
Different Devices, Different Experiences
Every device does something different. Each device is better at doing certain things, and worse at doing others. So, not all features make sense on all devices. You need to identify how the user will use the product in different contexts. Mobile users want different things from your product than desktop users. As an example, consider a website about movies currently in theatre. On the desktop, users want an immersive experience including trailers and production details. On mobile, they focus on movie listings, nearest theatres, and showtimes. We need to maximize the user experience for all devices so users believe that the application was actually designed for their devices instead of being simply stretched to fit the screen on their devices.
Users consume content from multiple devices throughout the day. It’s important to understand the context in which these devices are being used to craft experiences that specifically suit them. You need to provide the right content, on the right device, at the right time.
It’s also important to understand how the usage of different devices overlaps and how they complement each other. Here are some interesting findings from a Nielson survey of time spent on different devices for daily tasks:
Define Device Groups
Although there’s a myriad of devices with varying screen sizes out there, it’s possible to manage this diversity by defining device groups based the tasks the user is likely to focus on, and by device capabilities.
Smartphones are personal; they are used mostly for micro-tasks, acting on locally available info, entertainment, and social sharing. Tablets are shared; they are considered an alternate to laptops and are primarily used for content consumption. Adapt the experience for each context of use.
You need to identify the different scenarios in which your product will be used across the groups of devices, and design an experience suitable for each of those scenarios. For example, to create a good mobile application, keep it simple by focusing on core functions and the activities mobile users require.
Break down the basic interactions and functionality offered by your application, and make combinations suited to each different device group. The information and UI design of each variation should reflect this, with elements repositioned or reorganized accordingly. If you’re designing for mobile, reorder the categories by priority to best suit the needs of the mobile audience. For example, Google’s mobile website focuses on different items in the navigation than in their desktop website.
Evernote is a popular note-taking product that’s available on multiple devices. Its PC and tablet versions are optimized for content consumption whereas the smartphone versions are optimized for photo and audio input, and notes are location-tagged.
Sources:
https://www.logitech.com/en-my/products/keyboards/k380-multi-device.html
https://uxmag.com/articles/framework-for-designing-for-multiple-devices
https://mediamodifier.com/blog/multi-device-website-mockup