it’s important right now. For example, the Pebble Smartwatch can notify the
user of new emails, texts and Twitter alerts, and shows some of the content
(see figure 9.36). The user might not be able to see the whole message, but
there’s usually enough information to decide whether it’s important to get out
the phone and read the whole thing there and then. A wearable that only tells
you if you have a message, and not who it is from or what it might be, would
not offer much over the phone’s audio alert or vibrate function.
Figure 9. 36 : A Pebble notification
With a multi-device interaction, it is very easy to lose track of your progress in
a task, or for one or more devices to lose connectivity. Where possible, design
for interrupted use. Try to avoid locking users into lengthy processes (such as
setup) which must be completed in one sitting or in a specific order. Provide
some flexibility: if the user has to break off and return later, don’t lose their
progress - allow them to resume part way through. Guide them back to the
parts that need to be completed when they return. For example, a home
automation system setup process might require users to associate a gateway
with an online account and then pair devices. If the user is interrupted after
creating the online account but before pairing the devices, make sure that
when they log in there is a clear route to resume and add devices, not just a
blank screen! (See chapter 12, Supporting key interactions, for more
information on designing effective setup experiences).
Broader contexts of interusability
This chapter has focused on cross-device digital interactions. However, these
principles can also be applied to more holistic service design thinking across
both on- and offline interactions. This broadens the focus of UX to include
marketing and sales materials which set expectations of what the product does,
packaging and setup guides which shape initial impressions of the UX, to
customer support.
As with cross-device interaction design, the individual parts can be good, but
if they don’t work together well the overall experience can still be
unsatisfactory or confusing.
You might consider composition when figuring out which setup instructions to
put onscreen and which in a print booklet. You would need to consider