Smart home technology has had a rocky launch, with many disparate products offering solutions for various parts of the home, but not talking to each other. In this Dwell article, a leading industrial designer speaks to his vision of the future of smart home tech and how it has a bigger responsibility than we ever imagined.
Yves Béhar has created some of the most attractive smart-home devices on the market as the founder of fuseproject, the San Francisco–based design and branding firm he established in 1999. More recently, Béhar co-founded the next generation home entry system August. We sit down with him to talk about the future of smart homes and what he thinks about the current notion of connected devices.
What do you see as the most urgent need to address right now when it comes to smart homes?
I think we need to move on from the notion that the smart home is made of many gadgets to a mentality of smart devices being part of the infrastructure of your house. I’m very passionate about creating technologies that are non-interruptive and non-distractive, that we can take for granted and that don’t need our expertise or constant monitoring in order to function.
What should designers consider as they develop these technologies?
I see the role of the designer in three ways. First is to design the experiences with the mindset that the users are not early adopters, are not tech types—they’re simply homeowners of all ages and different technical abilities.
