Increasingly, interactions are taking place on screens and devices outside the desktop/PC environment in products sometimes referred to as “convergent.” Converging are the traditionally distinct worlds of screen-based interaction design and the industrial design of physical objects. As a result, interdisciplinary design teams must collaborate to choose physical controls that will delight people and lead to a pleasing aesthetic, while still supporting the functional needs of the product. This often involves balancing the desire for simplicity of appearance with the need for sufficient controls to serve the product’s intended use, with minimum effort.

Finding this balance isn’t easy…