100 SMArT ThIngS: UBIqUIToUS CoMpUTIng USer experIenCe DeSIgn n n Technological definitions represent services as atomic units of functionality. Like a well-constructed object in object-oriented programming, such definitions describe technological capacities divorced from the application of those capacities in practice. For example, a definition from the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) discipline begins, "services are collections of capabilities" (Footen and Faust, 2008). User experience-centered descriptions define services as atomic units of activity. These units are work performed by someone (or something) that assists a user in achieving a specific goal. At its core, a service is an agreement to delegate work. Typically, these descriptions are divorced from the technology used to accomplish the service. Thus another definition of service is "A chain of activities that form a process and have value for the end user" (Saffer, 2006). These two different definitions lead to confusion in digital technol- ogy development, where a number of software services may combine and provide a service to an end user. The definition of service seems to change depending on one's perspective (is chemotherapy a product or a service?). The goal of much user experience design is to produce a unified experience from collections of software, whereas software architects may consider each software component as a separate ser- vice. The situation is further confused because a single technological service (such as file storage) may contribute to multiple activities that customers then perceive as providing different services. This chapter uses service to describe end user experiences that are delivered through a mix of software, hardware, and people following a prescribed set of business logic as defined by contractual agreements. 8.1 NetworkS Shift value to iNformatioN Like using a plastic rectangle to pay for dinner, many network-enabled activities are worth more than the devices that deliver them. This leads to the question: What provides value? Is it tools, or the activities that create user experiences? Are devices merely disposable props for experiences, or do they provide other value? The value of analog television sets greatly decreased when (at least in the United States) analog television signals ceased broadcasting on June 12, 2009. old ana- log TVs could still potentially display locally stored media, and with the addition of an inexpensive converter could display new digital signals. nevertheless, piles of abandoned analog television sets littered the streets of San Francisco in the last days of the analog television network. Without the network, the sets had become worthless. Analog phone handsets provide an even more extreme exam- ple. Unlike the television sets, which still had some utility after 2009, 1g analog cellular phones became useless overnight when their networks shut down. When the operating agreements expired, so did the value of the devices. The more a product's value derives from text or images, the easier it is to transform into a service. phone directories in the form of paper books once