An exploratory study on how Internet of Things developing companies handle User Experience Requirements

TL;DR

This study explores how IoT companies gather and manage user experience requirements, highlighting challenges in data utilization and system integration within rapidly evolving IoT ecosystems.

Contribution

It provides qualitative empirical data on IoT companies' approaches to UX requirements and identifies key challenges and future research areas.

Findings

Companies collect large data but struggle to utilize it effectively.

Many companies have difficulty managing complex IoT system contexts.

Knowledge gaps exist around data-driven UX methodologies.

Abstract

[Context and motivation] Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming common throughout everyday lives. However, the interaction is often different from when using e.g. computers and other smart devices. Furthermore, an IoT device is often dependent on several other systems, heavily impacting the user experience (UX). Finally, the domain is changing rapidly and is driven by technological innovation. [Question/problem] In this qualitative study, we explore how companies elicit UX requirements in the context of IoT. A key part of contemporary IoT development is also data-driven approaches. Thus, these are also considered in the study. [Principal idea / Results] There is a knowledge gap around data-driven methodologies, there are examples of companies that collect large amount of data but do not always know how to utilize it. Furthermore, many of the companies struggle to handle the larger system context, where their products and the UX they control are only one part of the complete IoT ecosystem. [Contribution] We provide qualitative empirical data from IoT developing companies. Based on our findings, we identify challenges for the companies and areas for future work.