how a product “sees” them, or detects their presence, then the
illusion has broken down. An example of this can be found in
many airport or hotel bathrooms, where people wave their hands
in frustration near unfamiliar sink fixtures in an attempt to
discover how the sensor is triggered.
The technology may be new, but designers need not start from
scratch as they wrestle with orchestrating good experiences that
span digital and physical. As more complex behaviors move off
the screen, Interaction Designers should augment their
knowledge of digital systems with over a century’s worth of
Industrial Design lessons on how to engage the full range of
human senses.