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Monthly Insights and Innovations from the leading SuperYacht technology advisers and designers.
Welcome back to the Smartcast, the podcast where we break down smart technology on superyachts. I'm Howard, and with me today is Jay, a good friend and one of our senior consultants here at Smart Technology Advisors. Today, we're chatting about user interfaces and user experience, or UI and UX, what they mean in the context of a yacht, why they matter just as much as the technology itself, and how Smart Approaches designing them so everything feels natural, intuitive, entertaining, and frankly, a joy to use.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Smartcast. Monthly insights and innovations from the leading independent super yacht technology advisors and designers.
Speaker 1:Smart technology advisors. Listen. Design. Deliver. Thanks for coming down today, Jay.
Speaker 1:Before we get too deep into this, can you give us a quick explanation and a rundown of what exactly is a UI and a UX?
Speaker 2:UI or the user interface is what you see in touch. So that can be remote controls, touch panels, and all the graphics on them. So the buttons, the icons, etc. On a yacht we tend to use a lot of touch panels and iPads and that includes other controls such as keypads and even the owners or the guests phones. Yeah.
Speaker 2:The user experience is how it's used and how we feel when we use it. We want to make the systems intuitive, easy to understand
Speaker 1:fun
Speaker 2:to use. Yeah. So, you know, whether that's trying to watch a movie or change the lights, the temperature, or even setting the yacht into a glorious party mode. Yeah. An example might be a touchscreen with a party mode button.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. And the user experience is what happens when you press it, you know, it could dim the lights, start some music playing in different rooms, set the temperature even.
Speaker 1:So if you've so a UI is usually for crew and staff and that's very functional, Let's see that. And then is the UX normally guest facing and then that's or or is there a UX consideration for the background as well?
Speaker 2:So it's two separate things.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The user interface are the controls that you'll pick up.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So the owner and guest will use that. The user experience is what happens when you press the button and how intuitive how intuitive that interface is. So the two are separate, and both would be used by the crew and the owner.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So a good user interface is it should look good. It should be in keeping with the yacht, and it should be clear. It should be easy to read. The buttons should be in the right place and make sense.
Speaker 1:The
Speaker 2:user experience means that the way that that is set up, the way that the interface is set up is just intuitive. Yeah. And easy to use
Speaker 1:for everyone.
Speaker 2:For everyone.
Speaker 1:For the large audience. Absolutely. UI attractive and clear UX effortless and satisfying.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Right. So with that in mind then, what does UI and UX mean in the superyacht world and why is it so important?
Speaker 2:At SMART, we design technology systems and we always start with the user and the guest in mind. So it's always gotta be, what is it that they want? What is it that they used to? What is it that they have used previously and that they understand? And we want to want to meet their expectations.
Speaker 2:So when they walk on board, we think, you know, how do they want to use the boat? And that's that's the starting point for the user interface because it is all about the user experience. Some experiences are we would call them silent, you know, like Wi Fi or or DAS. What I mean by that is you step on board, you have your iPhone in hand, you're browsing and you're walking about, you don't expect the system to fail whilst using it, you expect it to be seamless. And in the same way when you're using your mobile phone, you don't expect the call to drop.
Speaker 2:But, and that's, as technology consultants, that's what we make sure in our designs, that's what we make sure we do so that the user experience is impeccable.
Speaker 1:So what's the approach when it comes to security then Jay?
Speaker 2:So security is a more deliberate experience. Some people want to know when the yacht is locked down, others want their security systems to be a bit more free flowing when they're on board and fully secure when they're away.
Speaker 1:Thanks. So AV, the huge one, fresh approach and thoughts on that one?
Speaker 2:Well, I think nowadays people want to use an awful lot more streaming services and they're used to Apple and therefore Apple TV is everywhere. And that's where where they're happy using devices that they're familiar with. Yeah. Others want to just be able to search for content, play it, and they're not interested in where it's stored or where it comes from, you know, regardless of where it's stored or which service it's coming from.
Speaker 1:And sometimes in a scenario where guests may be just sat chatting and having a drink and socialising, they might think of a film that they'd like to watch but but they don't know where it's from. It could be like Disney, Apple, Prime. We're designing systems now that will just simply play regardless of the guests needing to know where the movie is streaming from.
Speaker 2:Some of the systems that we've designed, do have that functionality in so far that you simply search for the media that you like. Yeah. So you can for example, terminate is one of my favorites.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And systems have been developed which will look at a number of streaming services and automatically pull that data and present it to the user. And then there's the look and feel of the interface. Do they want something that they've used at home or something completely bespoke, completely different, just fits the boat and that matches the yacht's interior design?
Speaker 1:So sometimes there's a nice balance of familiarity, giving an easier user experience and then going across into realms of making it truly something special. And then you're running the risk of the balance of is it complicated for them because they're not used to seeing it. So that's that's what Well you focus on, isn't it? Trying to smooth that out and elevate the experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, as the technology consultants, we have a huge amount of experience on with the user experience. So we can usually give that aesthetic that's required by either the interior designer or the owner. But then we will work usually with the integrator to provide an easy to use interface and consequently a great user experience. The challenge with a yacht is that it's not just a single environment, it's a house, a gym, an office, a working vessel, a spa, a cinema and a safe haven all in one. But every single one of those needs a consistent, seamless user experience.
Speaker 1:So is the challenge then how you turn all those different needs into one complete working system for all environments?
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's that's where our approach comes in. We create a general framework, one that would work for every single area. It's almost like a philosophy. And and that informs how the technology should behave.
Speaker 2:And we build the system from the ground up with not just not just a user interface, but an entire hardware infrastructure that will support it. We'll advise on control systems, set behaviours for different modes, you know, for example the owners on board, we've got charter guests, we're going to have a party, even when the ship's in motion. And we make sure it's all future proof. Sometimes it means adapting the client's existing home GUI for for yacht use, which we've done on a number of occasions. Sometimes it means designing one from scratch and sometimes we'll take the integrators interface it and we'll modify it a few tweaks, but generally they can just work just fine.
Speaker 2:It's not just about the screen, it's about the moment. The feeling of starting a party on the aft deck, having lights and music, responding instantly and creating memories with friends and families. That's what a good user experience is all about.
Speaker 1:Are there many common mistakes and all misconceptions you see when it comes to UI and UX on YOX then?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, definitely. One's assuming that a single control system will work in different areas, different homes, different yachts, and it will work and you could take that one system, place it in a different area and then it would work perfectly. But it can't. Every vessel is different. It has different integrations with different systems, different crew using it, and different physical layouts of rooms all affect the way the system works.
Speaker 1:So I guess sometimes it can get massively over complicated. The challenge is to try and keep all that under control.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's easy to over complicate a system. If the guest needs a manual to turn on the TV, the user interface has failed and it's also failed the user in their experience. And people often overlook the invisible user experience, things like the network and how it performs, you know, for example roaming between wireless access points when you're using your laptop or your phone or even security modes. If these things aren't seamless, people notice and it's usually because something's gone wrong.
Speaker 1:Right. Right. So tell me a little bit about how SMART approach UI and UX differently then to a lot of other companies?
Speaker 2:Well, because we're independent, it means we don't push any one control platform or interface style. We start with the owner and the yacht's needs and then design the interface and experience to match. We think about every mode the yacht might be in private cruising, charter, party and we make sure that the system can adapt smoothly. We also make sure that it's future ready so in five years the technology can evolve without needing a total redesign. And because we're involved from the infrastructure level up, we make sure Silent experiences you know, the network, security modes, communications work just as well as the obvious ones, like the AV and lighting.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Jir. So if there's one thing that you want the listeners to remember about UA and UX on yachts, what would that one thing be?
Speaker 2:Well, it's this a beautiful user interface is meaningless if the user experience isn't there. The best user experience and user interface is one that basically just disappears and it allows the owner, guests, the crew to live, work and enjoy themselves without even having to think about using it. And that's and that's when you know it works.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Jay. And for anyone listening, if you're curious about how we actually map out these experiences and turn them into working systems, keep an ear out for our next episode where we'll talk about creating yacht technology philosophies and mode based control strategies. Thanks for listening. Smart Technology Advisors. Listen.
Speaker 1:Design.
Speaker 2:Deliver.