
Speck - aburan28
https://www.specksensor.com/
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pedalpete
I'm curious how many people think this is valuable as a stand-alone device?
Does it need to have it's own screen and interface? Would it make more sense
built into something like a thermostat?

I have a friend who is working as a designer on a project where the lead wants
a UX and screen for a device that the owner would rarely interact with. It
seems similar with this device, why go to the expense and trouble of having a
built-in screen rather than just using a mobile phone (which Speck built as
well).

~~~
metaphor
> I'm curious how many people think this is valuable as a stand-alone device?
> Does it need to have it's own screen and interface?

I see a device whose dominant use case would be direct, at-a-glance
interaction. It doesn't strike me as sensible that a typical user would
generally care about data whose practicality matters only when he/she is
physically present in the datalogged space...almost as insensible as texting
someone sitting right beside you. Furthermore, omission of direct UI
immediately eliminates the unconnected market segment. I would imagine that
"mobile app" isn't exactly a driving parameter when people are looking for an
air quality monitor, but in today's connected age, it does seem to add modern
appeal and a sense of (perhaps misguided?) relevance.

> Would it make more sense built into something like a thermostat?

This isn't a thermostat, which makes the proposition sound like feature creep.

-Placement consideration: Think where thermostats are typically mounted in a home: places that are clear from passing obstruction but not where people generally spend much time in. Places I'd expect to find this device: kitchen counter, living room table, bedside night stand, computer desktop, garage workbench...in other words, where people linger, within arm's reach, and generally not anywhere near a thermostat.

-Safety consideration: Designing a 4-20mA temperature control circuit is a straight forward affair. Designing a fault-tolerant, high-reliability, regulation-compliant 4-20mA temperature control circuit is a different story. Add an additional IoT sensor complexity layer and what you get smells an aweful lot like a liability for a startup as I'm sure this guy[1] and ~500k viewers would attest.

-Lifecycle consideration: What's the anticipated lifecycle of this consumer electronic device? When was the last time you replaced your home thermostat? How often has an OS update rendered an app incompatible? How much do you think lifecycle software support alone would cost?

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpsMkLaEiOY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpsMkLaEiOY)

