Understanding the Challenges of Designing and Developing Multi-Device Experiences
Venue
DIS '16 Proceedings of the 2016 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems
Publication Year
2016
Authors
Tao Dong, Elizabeth F. Churchill, Jeffrey Nichols
BibTeX
Abstract
As the number of computing devices available to users continues to grow, personal
computing increasingly involves using multiple devices together. However, support
for multi-device interactions has fallen behind users' desire to leverage the
diverse capabilities of the devices that surround them. In this paper, we report on
an interview study of 29 designers and developers in which we investigate the
barriers to creating useful, usable, and delightful multi-device experiences. We
uncovered three key challenges: 1) the difficulty in designing the interactions
between devices, 2) the complexity of adapting interfaces to different platform UI
standards, and 3) the lack of tools and methods for testing multi-device user
experiences. We discuss the technological and business factors behind these
challenges and potential ways to lower the barriers they impose.
