How the Microsoft Surface Helped Me Become a Google APM
Originally published on Blogger 10.23.12
I accepted my first position at Google back in 2009 after a seriously grueling interview process (thankfully, it was worth it). I entered the company via the Associate Product Manager (APM) Program led by then-Google VP, now Yahoo! CEO, Marissa Mayer. A lot has been written about the APM program, most notably by Steven Levy, who's examined the program closely in Newsweek articles and his book In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives. It's no secret that the program is extremely selective, but the details of the APM interview process (or rites of initiation) are rarely made public. Since I recently came across an old document that was part of my interview process (and is surprisingly relevant today), I thought I'd share one piece of my journey into the APM program.
In the later part of the interview process (after having survived initial screenings, many phone and in-person interviews, and other hurdles), candidates are asked to write an essay. I was still a Ph.D. student at Brown when Google told me I had to write this thing, and I wasn't excited about it. They gave me 48 hours to write about a product that came to market in the previous two years that I found particularly revolutionary and why. I'm not sure whether or not this is always the APM essay question, but it's the question I was tasked with. At the time, I was doing some work in the Microsoft Center for Research on Pen-centric Computing at Brown using tabletop Microsoft Surface devices. I thought they had the potential to be revolutionary -- so long as they overcame their wonky form factor and built better development tools -- so I wrote about the Microsoft Surface. The essay, which I wrote on November 16, 2009, is below.
Interestingly, the original iPad was released on April 3, 2010.
At the time of writing this blog post, Microsoft is gearing up to launch its re-imagined Microsoft Surface, a smaller, cheaper multitouch device, starting at $499. It is scheduled to launch on October 26, 2010.
Microsoft Surface: Toward [Non-virtual] Social Computing | 11.16.2009
Microsoft Surface is a paradigm buster. Launched publicly in April of 2008, the 32 inch, multitouch, tabletop computer fosters natural, collaborative user experiences in a way that has never been seen in ubiquitous personal computing. Specifically, there are three attributes that distinguish this product from any other found in the existing taxonomy of computing devices: 1. an infrastructure for collocated user collaboration; 2. a gestural, multi-touch interaction scheme, and 3. scalability. To support my contention that Microsoft Surface is a revolutionary product, I will begin with a brief analysis of these components with respect to consumer experience.
Collocated User Collaboration
Many argue that trends in technology over the past two decades have lead to a decrease in non-virtual social interactions among our population. A 2006 research study from the University of Arizona supports this claim, demonstrating that discussion networks of close confidants had decreased in size by about one third since the General Social Survey of 1985 [McPherson, 2006]. This is, in part, a direct consequence of the tendency for computing devices to become increasingly personalized -- from desktop displays, to laptops, to PDAs and smartphones to netbooks -- at the expense of multi-user experiences. Microsoft Surface, however, provides an architecture that encourages multi-user collaborations where two or more users are using the same device in concert. Allowing for up to 50 individual “touches” to be recognized and tracked simultaneously, Microsoft Surface offers consumers key advances over current systems. First, the device facilitates divide-and-conquer-type tasks, where multiple users are working in parallel with similar function -- i.e. collaborative searching and sorting of images, documents, or internet search results. Additionally, Microsoft Surfaceʼs design supports multi-function collaborations, where each user has a unique function that contributes to the groupsʼ collective goal -- i.e. a group research project where one user is asked to research statistics, another to generate figures, and another to create a written document. As opposed to remotely-located collaborations, such a group working on Microsoft Surface will operate with complete transparency, promoting the exchange of information between group members in real-time.
Since the dawn of personal computing, the mouse and keyboard have dominated humancomputer interactions. As a result, these devices have dictated the design of user interfaces in virtually all computer applications, constraining user interactions to very synthetic, cumbersome experiences. Migrating away from the mouse and keyboard, Microsoft Surface has unzipped the design space of interactions by supporting naturalistic interactions via multi-touch gesture recognition. While multitouch interactions and gesture recognition have become commonplace in recent years -- particularly in obile devices like the iPhone -- they are yet to take hold in large-display environments. Integrated into a collaborative computing setting, I believe the freedom of gesture-based interactions further separates Microsoft Surface from other computing media, allowing users to interact with digital information in a more natural manner while offering designers and developers a new space in which to create seamless, effective user experiences.
The design of Microsoft Surface readily scales and generalizes beyond its current 32 inch, horizontal, tabletop manifestation, and could just as easily be imagined as a massive, interactive wall or floor display. In addition, the number of touches that are able to be detected and tracked by the surface computing device will continue to grow as computational power increases and new software solutions are introduced. As such, I believe the design of Microsoft Surface allows for the freedom and flexibility to iterate on radically new human-computer interaction design principles -- factoring in massive displays and dozens of concurrent users -- with the potential to provide insight into revolutionary means of interfacing with the digital world and with each other.
Improvements to Design and Product Vision
There are two classes of improvements that must be addressed in order for the Microsoft Surface to become a viable consumer option: design and manufacturing cost, and product vision and marketing. Currently, Microsoft Surface is available only to commercial companies for a price of $12,500 ($15,000 for a developer unit) and its demonstration applications are limited to retail services, banking, and healthcare.
Microsoft Surface is comprised of a few key components: (i) a near-infrared LED light source, aimed at a (ii) thick acrylic surface/screen through which table presses reflect light back to (iii) several infrared cameras that operate at a resolution of 1280 x 960; a (iv) DLP light engine used to display graphics at a resolution of 1024 x 768; and a (v) dual-core CPU equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities [Derene, 2007].
In examining this production design, there are two points for consideration: the form factor of the device and its manufacturing cost. Using a rear-projection display severely limits the flexibility of the Microsoft Surfaceʼs form, as it places a lower bound on the depth of the device. However, as sensing technologies continue to evolve, I expect so, too, will surface computers. Combining thin, malleable displays with interactive computing power would present a wealth of opportunity for personalized advertisements in newspapers, magazines, as well as on storefronts and public transportation stops. The other point for consideration is the manufacturing cost of the Microsoft Surface. The materials alone do not appear to warrant the high price tag, as several cost-effective alternatives have already been demonstrated. Most notably, in April 2009, a group at MaximumPC documented their success in creating a Microsoft Surface-like device for under $500 [Castle, 2009]. Regardless, in order or surface computing to become a successful industry, its business model must be re-evaluated. If manufacturing costs cannot be lowered significantly, Microsoft should consider alternative solutions through which losses on the hardware sales can be recouped. Surface-computing displays seem to lend themselves well to advertising networks, and a structured “App Store” business model could also help offset the design and manufacturing expenses.
Marketing and Product Vision
While Microsoft Surface has been marketed in limited fashion to large, commercial buyers with specialized usage, I believe an effort must be made to produce compelling demonstrations of how surface computing improves user experiences for average consumers. In particular, if the Microsoft Surface is to replace existing personal computing devices in the home and in the workplace, it must be demonstrated how it can handle current tasks like managing e-mail, browsing the web, and creating and editing documents. By framing their product vision around everyday consumers along with commercial users, I believe Microsoft can create a paradigm shift in the computing industry and assume the leading role in the emerging market of surface computing.
Conclusions and Future Impact
The future of the Microsoft Surface is filled with endless possibility but also difficult design and marketing decisions. A competitive landscape for large-scale, multi-touch interfaces has already begun to emerge, including Jeff Hanʼs company Perceptive Pixel, which produced CNNʼs Multi-touch Wall and ElectionWall software featured in CNNʼs coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign. Other emerging competitors include Oblong Industries, creator of g-speak; and Ideum, a company that has created a multi-touch display capable of supporting up to 50 users. Already, the trend is clear: Microsoftʼs involvement in surface computing has created an emerging industry with several competitors. As this competition continues to drive product quality up and costs down, surface computing devices like the Microsoft Surface will soon challenge traditional forms of human-computer interaction. I believe this will begin with specialized use cases like educational systems, retail store interfaces, and CAD applications, but will ultimately culminate in a universal shift away from the mouse, keyboard, and windowing paradigm all together.
Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin and Matthew E. Brashears. Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two Decades. American Sociological Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Jun., 2006), pp. 353-375
Alex Castle. Build Your Own Multitouch Surface Computer. http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/maximum_pc_builds_a_multitouch_surface_computer. April 2009, accessed November 16, 2009.
Glenn Derene. Microsoft Surface: Behind-the-Scenes First Look. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html. July 2007, accessed November 16, 2009.
Here's a fun news broadcast from late 2007 about the Microsoft tabletop Surface...
... and here's the re-imagined Microsoft Surface in 2012:
