With an estimated 20 to 50 billion cloud connected and IoT products by 2020, established players and new entrants are looking at ways to create a seamless connected experience and how interoperability and ease of use impact the adoption rate of IoT products.

The smart home is at the forefront of consumer IoT, particularly for categories such as connected lights, locks, security systems, and thermostats. Kitchen appliances also play into this ecosystem but are evolving at a different rate. This poses the question to the IoT industry of how the connected kitchen is going to evolve in the future.

Yesterday, Parks Associates and Appliance Design addressed this issue in a webcast featuring:

• Director of Research, Tom Kerber of Parks Associates
• Vice President, Product, Doug Bellenger of Zonoff
• Executive Director, Mike Richmond of Open Connectivity Foundation
• Community Director, Art Lancaster of AllSeen Alliance
• Director of Partnerships and Evangelization, Mark Wright of Ayla Networks

The panelists analyzed the opportunities and challenges of bringing the connected experience to market in the smart home and specifically in the kitchen with household appliances.

Several highlights of the webcast addressed this topic:

• Appeal of Connected Appliances – Parks Associates data highlights the connected appliance features that are appealing to U.S. broadband households. With smart washer and dryers, ovens, and stoves, coordination with other devices and connectivity was found to be an important aspect. For example, data from Q4 2015 found that a feature that coordinated the washer and dryer to finish the cycle at about the same time was among the top three most appealing features for a smart washer or dryer.
• Support Features – The ability to update software is the most important software feature in IOT – for security reasons, if nothing else. This gives the product the ability to “live” and the potential for it to evolve with updates over time.
• Driving Interoperability Through Simplicity – With IoT, consumers are buying an experience, not just a product. Simplicity in the UX, by having one set of APIs in terms of apps, allows for reduction in the amount of touch points a consumer may face. This reduction helps to deliver on the promise an integrated product is meant to deliver – the promise of making a consumer’s life easier.
• Compatibility – Interoperability should be presented as a user experience already in the home rather than a separate entity. An appliance should be on the same page as the consumer in terms of use case, so that the consumer doesn’t have to make that choice. A choice in establishing the product’s fit into the kitchen and whether it is suited to connect with the devices around it. This approach to interoperability makes it easier for a consumer to adopt a connected ecosystem.

There are several approaches in achieving interoperability, nonetheless, an integrated user experience is an important part of the mass adoption of IoT.

For more information, see IoT Mass Market Adoption.