ADVERTORIAL NOMADIC
ADVERTORIAL NOMADIC LIFESTYLE Manuel Friedrich Project Manager Information / Communication technology for Berlin Partner Beside huge events like Conferences or Barcamps and the World Usability Day Berlin, the UX Design Awards fit very well into the strategy to develop this innovation field further UX Design Awards Underlining outstanding quality in user experience design The expectation of products is changing. They are becoming smart, connected and responsive to users’ needs and desires. What counts today is their ability to provide useful services and to offer great experiences to their users. We asked Manuel Friedrich Project Manager Information / Communication technology for Berlin Partner how the UX Design Awards help promote these concepts. The UX Design Awards are a competition to honour electronic devices, digital product solutions and services with outstanding design and user orientation. The Awards are run annually by the International Design Center Berlin (IDZ) and are based on former exhibition formats focusing on usability design like the “Usability Park” and “Usability Award”. The submitted electronic products, digital solutions as well as services will be assessed in the following fields, where they show an outstanding quality in user experience design: Connectivity - Creating smart systems, connected things and services Productivity - Adding structure or efficiency to daily activities Communication - Connecting people and communities Engagement - Activating, raising awareness, capturing attention Improvement - Improving quality of life, health and human abilities Sharing - Enhancing access, participation and knowledge sharing Disruption - Redefining products or services Privacy - Emphasizing data protection, advancing digital security How is Berlin Partner involved? Since the cluster ICT, media and creative industries is very strong in Berlin, it seems natural that Berlin Partner should support the awards in this field. Beside huge events like Conferences or Barcamps and the World Usability Day Berlin, the UX Design Awards fit very well into the strategy to develop this innovation field further. Many contributors to the UX Design Awards have a connection to Berlin – an office, the headquarters or an artistic and scientific background acquired in Berlin. Berlin Partner encourages companies, agencies and freelancers to submit their work and to achieve international attention through the awards. Last year 13 contributions had such a connection to Berlin, 4 from these were nominated and led to 2 awards. This year 15 products and services were submitted and 4 of these are nominated for the awards. How are the awards voted and by whom? The Awards are voted by independent experts with many years of experience in the user experience and design area. This year’s jury members are: Prof. Birgit Weller, Professor at HTW Berlin, co-founder use: Identity and Design Network Claude Toussaint, Managing Partner, design affairs GmbH Munich Gerhard Nüssler, Head of Design Siemens, B/S/H/ Helmut Ness, Founding Partner and CDO, Fuenfwerken Design AG Prof. Dr. phil. Manfred Thüring, Chair, Department of Psychology and Ergonomics, TU Berlin. Ulrike Müller, Head of UX Design, Volkswagen Group Future Center Europe. In the first round, the jury evaluates all digital submitted product solutions and nominates a limited amount of product solutions for the competition. These nominated product solutions will be exhibited in a booth at the IFA to be seen by the public. On the exhibition ground at IFA the jury not only has the chance to review the nominated product solutions but also to get short presentations by representatives of the submitting companies or agencies. After these presentations, the jury decides about the winning nominees in the different categories of the awards. The winners are announced in an award ceremony on the 2nd of September. Where can people see the winning entries? The nominated product solutions, as well as the winning entries, can be seen at IFA from September 2-7, 2016 in hall 9 / booth 118. All entries, about 50 products, digital applications and services, are presented in this special exhibition at this booth. Following this, they will be permanently presented in an online exhibition 48
NOMADIC LIFESTYLE The Smartphone: Just How Smart Can You Go? For a number of years we have seen new generations of smartphones that offer an upgrade in processor speed, battery life, screen size, camera and networking technologies. Yet the real story is not how smartphones become better phones, but how they become cornerstone devices that control and monitor so many other devices. Today smartphones control the TV, smart homes, fitness trackers, banking transactions, and even security cameras. One example of underlying technology that will enable a bigger role for smartphones is voice-activation (Google Now, Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana). These digital voice assistants are able to read out texts, emails, answer questions, control smartphone or tablet functions and provide directions. Voice activated technology is only in its infancy and the technology promises much more. Another is augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR)…"Google is evolving the Android platform fast, which allows Android players to remain at the cutting edge of smartphone technology," said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner. "Facing a highly commoditized smartphone market, Google's focus is to further expand and diversify the Android platform with additional functionalities, like virtual reality, enabling more-intelligent experiences and reach into wearables, connected home devices, in-car entertainment and TV." The smartphone sits at the cusp of services and with the coming impact of Internet of Things, the smartphone is assured of a bigger role to come. “We continue to see a number of changing dynamics in the smartphone market and many vendors are readjusting their business strategy and portfolio to take advantage of these market movements," said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers. "… Apple is beginning to put more emphasis on 'Device as a Service' to try to prevent lengthening replacement cycles..." Inspired by the maturing of the mobile phone market, but driven more by new technologies, the smartphone is morphing and proving smarter than anyone thought © Samsung Electronics www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday 2 nd September 2016 49
