Advanced interfaces powered by AI are opening up new use cases and contextual considerations for UX research and design. Smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home are the vanguard of this change, with smart homes, connected cars, and other “intelligent” hardware following fast behind. As interfaces become invisible and devices exist as part of interconnected ecosystems, UX professionals will find increasing opportunities to design and test experiences for this new “ubiquitous computing” paradigm—will you be one of them? In this forward-looking talk with present day implications, a Principal UX Researcher will walk you through some of the contextual considerations and ethical implications of designing for these emerging technologies. You’ll learn the UX research frameworks and techniques he uses for AI-driven technologies that are interconnected, personalized, and which change over time.

1. @ChrisGeison
Conversational Cars
& Helpful Homes
Conversational Cars
& Helpful Homes
Emerging Tech &
Context-Driven Design

2. @ChrisGeison

3. @ChrisGeison
Conversational Cars
& Helpful Homes
Conversational Cars
& Helpful Homes
Emerging Tech &
Context-Driven Design

4. @ChrisGeison
Agenda
1. Emerging technologies
2. Context
3. How UX Research & Design can
adapt

5. @ChrisGeison
If you remember nothing else:
1. Knight Rider was dope.
2. There are two fundamental shifts taking
place in human-computer interactions:
a. “Natural User Interfaces”
b. Context-driven experiences

6. @ChrisGeison
Agenda
1. Emerging technologies
a. A.I.
b. Voice
c. Connected Products
d. Robotics
e. AR/VR/Spatial Computing
2. Context
3. How UX Research & Design can adapt

7. @ChrisGeison
A.I.

8. @ChrisGeison
Voice User Interfaces

9. @ChrisGeison
Connected Products

10. @ChrisGeison
Robotics

11. @ChrisGeison
AR/VR/Spatial Computing

12. @ChrisGeison
If you don’t currently work
with these technologies…
…you soon will.

13. @ChrisGeison
Connected Products
Source: IHS Markit

14. @ChrisGeison
Computers everywhere.
Let’s talk about “ubiquitous
computing”…

15. @ChrisGeison
Ubiquitous yü-ˈbi-kwə-təs) adj.
Existing or being everywhere at
once; constantly encountered

16. @ChrisGeison

17. @ChrisGeison
“We have found two issues of crucial
importance: location and scale.
• Ubiquitous computers must know
where they are.
• Ubiquitous computers will come
in different sizes, each suited to a
particular task.”

18. @ChrisGeison
Ubiety (yüˈbīətē) n. The
quality or state of being in a place,
such as:
a) the state of being placed in a
definite local relation; position;
location;
b) the abstract quality of being in
position; whereness

19. @ChrisGeison
Human Computer

20. @ChrisGeison
Human Computer
Context

21. @ChrisGeison
Source: Understanding Context; Hinton

22. @ChrisGeison
Agenda
1. Emerging technologies
2. Context
3. How UX Research & Design can adapt

23. and queens.
@ChrisGeison

24. @ChrisGeison
Context ˈkän-ˌtekst) n. The
interrelated conditions in which
something exists or occurs

25. @ChrisGeison
The interconnected fabric of
meaning includes:
• Linguistic context
• Cultural context
• Psychological context
• Temporal context
• Physical context

26. @ChrisGeison
Linguistic Context
WHAT DO WE WANT?
Natural Language Processing!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
When do we want what?

27. @ChrisGeison
Cultural Context
God bless her heart.

28. @ChrisGeison
Psychological Context

29. @ChrisGeison
Temporal Context

30. @ChrisGeison
Physical Context

31. @ChrisGeison
Agenda
1. Emerging technologies
2. Context
3. How UX Research & Design can
adapt

32. @ChrisGeison
New Methodologies!
Ethno-Visioning
Empathizer
Now with AI!

33. @ChrisGeison
Agenda
1. Emerging technologies
2. Context
3. How UX Research & Design can
adapt
a. Ecological Interface Design
b. Contextual Design
c. Place-onas

34. @ChrisGeison
Ecological Interface Design

35. @ChrisGeison
Ecological Interface Design

36. @ChrisGeison
Contextual Design

37. @ChrisGeison
Contextual Design
Outlines a process:
1. Contextual Inquiry
2. Interpretation
3. Data Consolidation
4. Visioning
5. Storyboarding
6. User Environment Design
7. Prototyping

38. @ChrisGeison
Contextual Design

39. @ChrisGeison
Place-onas

40. @ChrisGeison
Place-onas
• Like personas: archetypes to guide design
decisions
• Space vs. place
• Elements:
• Name
• Diagram
• Socio-cultural norms that govern
in that space

42. @ChrisGeison
Resources
Books
• Understanding Context; Hinton
• Contextual Design; Holtzblatt & Beyer
• Display & Interface Design; Bennet & Flach
Paper
• Place-onas: Shared Resource for Designing Body
Tracking Applications; Morrison, et al.
YouTube
• Bill Buxton: Ubiety: On Design, Place and the
Importance of Manners

43. @ChrisGeison
Thank you.
@ChrisGeison