Our world is made of information that competes for our attention. What is needed? What is not? We cannot interact with our everyday life in the same way we interact with a desktop computer. Technology shouldn’t require all of our attention, just some of it, and only when necessary. The terms calm computing and calm technology were coined in 1995 by PARC Researchers Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown in reaction to the increasing complexities that information technologies were creating. Calm technology describes a state of technological maturity where a user’s primary task is not computing, but being human. The idea behind Calm Technology is to have smarter people, not things. How can our devices take advantage of location, proximity and haptics to help improve our lives instead of get in the way? How can designers can make apps “ambient” while respecting privacy and security? This talk will cover how to use principles of Calm Technology to design the next generation of connected devices. We’ll look at notification styles, compressing information into other senses, and designing for the least amount of cognitive overhead. --- These are slides from INBOUND's conference Sept 9, 2015 in Boston, MA.

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Calm Technology
Designing for the Internet of
Things
Amber Case
@caseorganic | Caseorganic.com
Calmtechnology.com

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50 Billion
devices will be
online by 2020.
-Cisco

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Sound good?

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Consider…

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The "Smart" Watch

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The "Smart" Fridge

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The Dystopian Kitchen of the Future

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An era of
interruptive
technology

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We need a Calm
Technology

10. Mark Weiser John Seeley Brown
XEROX PARC: mid-90s
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12. The scarce resource in the 21st
Century will not be technology.
It will be attention. - Mark Weiser
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Principles of
Calm
Technology

14. I. Technology shouldn’t require
all of our attention, just some of
it, and only when necessary
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A Tea Kettle

16. II. Technology should empower
the periphery
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17. Hue Lightbulb
connected to a
weather report
@aaronpk 2014
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Weather
Light

18. 1. Machines shouldn't act like humans
2. Humans shouldn't act like machines
III. Technology should amplify the
best of technology and the best
of humanity.
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SleepCycle
Alarm Clock

20. IV. Technology can
communicate, but it doesn’t
need to speak
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21. Buzzes you
when you exhibit
poor posture.
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LUMOBack Smart
Posture Sensor

22. V. The right amount of
technology is the minimum
amount to solve the problem

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Toilet
Occupied
Sign

24. A person's primary task should
not be computing, but being
human.
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25. Good design allows people to
accomplish their goals in the least
amount of moves
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26. Calm Technology allows people to
accomplish the same goals with the
least amount of mental cost
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27. Calm Technology
from O’Reilly books
Available for Pre-Order
http://shop.oreilly.com
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Thank you!
Amber Case
@caseorganic
Caseorganic.com
Calmtech.com