Andy Casey, founder of DemoPad speaks to Unity® about smart home systems and the DemoPad platform

We spoke to Andy Casey, technical director and founder DemoPad, the platform we use for our elegant, bespoke smart home control systems.

Introduce yourself?

I’m Andy Casey, Technical Director and founder of DemoPad. 

What is DemoPad and how did it start?

DemoPad was founded in 1999 by myself and Mike Cain, initially as a software consulting business. One of our early products allowed people to demonstrate products on an electronic ‘Pad’, hence the name DemoPad. We progressed into the control & automation industry in 2008 just as the Apple iPad was being announced, and have never looked back!

How does DemoPad stand out in the smart home control space?

DemoPad is one of the few solution providers which give installers complete freedom over the solution, particularly the graphical user interface, whilst also not requiring installers to be computer programmers themselves.

What do you think are the main issues/challenges with smart home user experience (UX) design and user interface (UI) design today?

I’d say the main challenge is to fully understand your customers, and their needs. One interface mechanism that works perfectly for one customer may be completely unsuitable for another. The key is to understand requirements & style expectations & deliver something that works for them. It must also be said that a balance needs to be struck between design excellence & implementation time, so as not to be cost prohibitive. Never before has so much power been placed in the hands of the installer, and of course with great power comes great responsibility.

How has Unity® used the DemoPad platform in its projects?

Having progressed through our training programme, Unity have gone on to create some of the most impressive UI designs we have seen here at DemoPad. One of the issues we face, allowing installers to dictate every aspect of the UX is maintaining a quality brand image - just as it is possible to create an outstanding interface with DemoPad, in the wrong hands the opposite could be true. Unity have always exceeded expectations in this area, and we are proud to have them use our solution platform.

Where do you see DemoPad in the next 5 years?

We are constantly improving our product offerings, and this is set to continue. Whilst some companies have struggled through the recent pandemic, placing employees on furlough & scaling back R&D projects, DemoPad took the decision to expand - employing even more technical staff & developing new technologies so that we were ready with new & exciting products when the world re-opened. A new cloud platform, digital signage solution and other hardware and software solutions are all either ready or undergoing final development. Plus, for us, control and automation is not enough, we see the convergence of control, automation, signage, interaction, monitoring & data analysis as the future - all held together with our state of the art cloud infrastructure.

Finally, what’s your favourite book Andy?

The Universe in a Nutshell - Stephen Hawking.