The Internet of Things needs design, not just technology

Scott A. Nelson and Paul Metaxatos write that, as B2C companies rush to exploit new IoT applications, pushing technology to potential end users no longer works. Increasingly, the pull of user experience will drive market demand, and product design will be critical to getting consumers to adopt offerings in this new IoT 2.0 world.

Most often, they say, the root cause [for commercial failures] is that IoT companies with traditional B2B business models and B2B2C distribution channels have been pushing IoT technology rather than addressing the pull of customer needs and tastes.

In this article for the Harvard Business Review, they propose five ways that technology and design can build successful partnerships to succeed in what they call “IoT 2.0”.