Smart home insights from Google Nest’s Katie Morgenroth and architect David Money

As the head of industrial design for Google Nest, I manage a team whose role it is to define the look and feel of our assistant speakers, displays, Wi-fi and entertainment products. It’s a balance between art and science, as my aim is to create products that are beautiful, useful, understandable and considerate. I’m not a huge fan of the term ‘smart home’, as it sounds very techy; I prefer the idea of a ‘connected home’.

Our homes change slowly, so some houses of the future will look similar to the one you are living in today.

The evolution lies in how we connect with the world while at home. The connected home shouldn’t be clunky, it should be seamless and peaceful. The feeling of what it means to be at home should only get better; safe and secure with less friction and more joy.

What is a connected house like? It takes care of you and anticipates your needs.

How does that look in practice? Well, my day starts at around 6.30am when my three-year-old son comes to wake me up. Our Google Nest Hub [a voice-controlled smart screen and speaker] gives us a great overview of the day, so we know if we need to make any packed lunches, or if there’s an issue with my commute.

After work, I love using our display devices to look up dinner recipes using just a few random ingredients.

I’ve also started to order groceries to be delivered just before I get home and using my video doorbell I can see when they arrive and even communicate with the driver, if needed.

My six-year-old has a voice-activated assistant speaker in his room.

In addition to listening to his own music and using it as a soothing white noise machine to help him sleep, he also uses it for spelling advice. He’s now discovered that he can call us using the broadcast feature!

It’s so important that home technology is simple and approachable.

We strive to make everything look less like technology and more like furniture. It’s important that absolutely anyone can use them, so when my grandmother had a fall and couldn’t reach the phone, she was able to call my aunt just by talking to her voiceactivated assistant speaker.

Having integrated cameras in our home, and an app that’s accessible from anywhere,

I can check on my sons and make sure they’re getting to school on time even when I’m away. I love that my in-laws and parents use video chat with us while I’m making dinner.

It’s incredibly exciting that voice-enabled products are able to be used by so many different demographics.

Voice is such an inclusive interface. And like the example involving my grandmother’s fall, there are many more amazing stories about how voice assistants have given independence back to people with accessibility challenges. W hen you design products to be inclusive, they really are able to reach so many people.