This Is AuburnElectronic Theses and Dissertations

Guidelines for Developing an Integrated Converged Digital System

Date

2014-05-02

Author

Perdue, Ethan

Type of Degree

thesis

Department

Industrial Design

Abstract

The digital landscape is currently fractured due to a variety of reasons. This fractured nature often effects the purchasers of digital devices, as they are forced to continually purchase products within a specific zone of this landscape. For instance, if a device manufacturer makes a proprietary connector that works exclusively with their devices, then users that purchase a device from this manufacturer may be locked into their portion of the digital landscape. Often, design solutions that involve televisions, computers, and mobile devices work well for the one specific device, but these solutions often do not work well with the other two devices. Through the process of digital convergence, these solutions will become better as time commences. Designers must understand the user habits, methods of interaction, and usage statistics of televisions, computers, and mobile devices to design successful convergence solutions. In addition, designers must understand that digital convergence is not simply a combination of devices, but is a process that allows digital content to flow between creator and user more efficiently. In addition, designers must be aware of problems involving technical issues in order to design an integrated system that gives users access to all of their content, regardless of the device in use. To illustrate the purpose of this study, a demonstration involving a dongle device will illustrate how designers can follow these guidelines to create an integrated digital system.