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Design Beyond Devices

design beyond devices spot image

Creating Multimodal, Cross-Device Experiences

By Cheryl Platz

Published: December 2020
Paperback: 392 pages
Paperback ISBN: 978-1933820-78-1
Ebook ISBN: 978-1933820-49-1

Your customer has five senses and a small universe of devices. Why aren’t you designing for all of them? Go beyond screens, keyboards, and touchscreens by letting your customer’s humanity drive the experience—not a specific device or input type. Learn the techniques you’ll need to build fluid, adaptive experiences for multiple inputs, multiple outputs, and multiple devices.

Who this book is for

  • Designers navigating the complexities of cross-channel design, driving cohesion across web, mobile, and other device experiences.
  • Designers working specifically on heavily multimodal experiences like Amazon’s Echo devices, Google Home, Apple Vision Pro, Oculus Quest, televisions, smart watches, video games, theme parks, and automotive experiences.
  • Entrepreneurs and inventors looking to improve their user-centered thinking techniques with tangible frameworks they can apply to product design and engineering efforts immediately.
  • Students looking to understand the future potential of human-centered technology

Key takeaways

  • Frameworks for researching, documenting, and understanding human behavior and context
  • An overview of all input and output modalities mapped against current technologies and accessibility considerations
  • Frameworks for delivering complex systems like notifications, interruption models, and multimodal design systems
  • Direct guidance on deliverables needed to deliver advanced cross-channel designs
  • Ethical frameworks for querying your potential work against potential human impact, and strengthening your product designs in advance to accommodate risks

Your customer has five senses and a small universe of devices. Why aren’t you designing for all of them? Go beyond screens, keyboards, and touchscreens by letting your customer’s humanity drive the experience—not a specific device or input type. Learn the techniques you’ll need to build fluid, adaptive experiences for multiple inputs, multiple outputs, and multiple devices.

Who this book is for

  • Designers navigating the complexities of cross-channel design, driving cohesion across web, mobile, and other device experiences.
  • Designers working specifically on heavily multimodal experiences like Amazon’s Echo devices, Google Home, Apple Vision Pro, Oculus Quest, televisions, smart watches, video games, theme parks, and automotive experiences.
  • Entrepreneurs and inventors looking to improve their user-centered thinking techniques with tangible frameworks they can apply to product design and engineering efforts immediately.
  • Students looking to understand the future potential of human-centered technology

Key takeaways

  • Frameworks for researching, documenting, and understanding human behavior and context
  • An overview of all input and output modalities mapped against current technologies and accessibility considerations
  • Frameworks for delivering complex systems like notifications, interruption models, and multimodal design systems
  • Direct guidance on deliverables needed to deliver advanced cross-channel designs
  • Ethical frameworks for querying your potential work against potential human impact, and strengthening your product designs in advance to accommodate risks

Testimonials

Table of Contents

Foreword by Erika Hall
Chapter 1: Creating the World We Want to Live In
Chapter 2: Capturing Customer Context
Chapter 3: Understanding Busy Humans
Chapter 4: Activity, Interrupted
Chapter 5: The Language of Devices
Chapter 6: Expressing Intent
Chapter 7: The Spectrum of Multimodality
Chapter 8: It’s a (Multimodal) Trap!
Chapter 9: Lost in Transition
Chapter 10: Let’s Get Proactive
Chapter 11: Breathe Life into the Unknown
Chapter 12: From Envisioning to Execution
Chapter 13: Beyond Devices: Human + AI Collaboration
Chapter 14: Beyond Reality: XR, VR, MR, AR
Chapter 15: Should You Build It?

FAQ

These common questions and their short answers are taken from Cheryl Platz’s book Design Beyond Devices: Creating Multimodal, Cross-Device Experiences. You can find longer answers to each in your copy of the book, either printed or digital version.

  1. What exactly is multimodal design, anyway?
    We define it in Chapter 1, “Creating the World We Want to Live In,” but think of it this way: multimodal experiences are experiences that can engage multiple human senses. Devices that let you speak or touch to make a selection. Twenty years ago, your PC (generally) only engaged you visually, and you only engaged your PC with touch. You have many more options today (see Chapter 7, “The Spectrum of Multimodality,” to fully understand all those options), but those options bring a lot more complexity to the design party [see Chapter 8, “It’s a (Multimodal) Trap!”].

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