SOLUTION

Create a smart light app with simplified features to decrease cognitive load and encourage a broader user base.

Increased accessibility to all essential functions on a single screen

  • Customize lighting by adjusting color, warmth, and brightness without switching screens

  • Vertical adjustment sliders for an intuitive experience, resembling a physical switch

  • Features are kept simple to ensure a user-friendly experience without overwhelming the users

Essential yet simple features that control lighting adjustments, leading to increased daily convenience

  • Control panel with an overview of every room, allowing users to control one or all rooms simultaneously

  • Timer allows users to customize which lights automatically turn on/off and when

  • Integration of "sunrise" and "sunset" feature to slowly brighten or darken the room when lights turn on/off

INITIAL DISCOVERY

Intrigued by my friends' dissatisfaction with their smart light apps, I learned about their specific frustrations.

I learned that my friends:

  • Were overwhelmed by features that seemed overly complex or unnecessary to their daily routines in their current apps.

  • Want an app with straightforward and user-friendly features for effortless everyday lighting customization.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

I analyzed 4 competitor apps with smart light features to explore their usability and UI.

Key takeaways:

  • (3 of 4) Basic functions are spread out through multiple screens and takes multiple steps to change color and brightness

  • (3 of 4) Contains complex features that can be overwhelming to those not tech-savvy

  • (3 of 4) Poor UI with low-contrast labels or awkward placement of main functions, decreasing usability

USER INTERVIEWS

I interviewed five people using or interested in using smart light apps to understand their frustrations and needs to build the optimal solution.

I wanted to learn and understand from the user’s perspective...

  • How might a smart light app be used and increase convenience

  • Frustrations experienced by users with current remote light control apps

  • Essential features users need and seek

To dive deeper, I asked users these research questions...

  1. What was your experience like the last time you used a remote light control app?

  2. What features did you like and dislike about the app?

  3. What would you expect an app that controls your lighting remotely to do?

  4. What features would you expect the app to have?

  5. What would be the benefits from being able to remotely control your lights?

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM INTERVIEWS

Users value essential but simple features that increase conveniency.

  • (5 of 5) seek basic features with lighting customization and avoid complex options

  • (5 of 5) value simplicity and prefer straightforward and easy-to-understand features

  • (5 of 5) feel frustrated by complicated features, particularly when not tech-savvy

USER PERSONA

Further empathizing with users by understanding their struggles.

QUESTION FOR DESIGN

How might we create a user-friendly smart light app with essential yet simple features to minimize the learning curve and frustration for users?

TASK FLOW ORGANIZATION + FEATURE PRIORITIZATION

Mapping out the vision for a user-centered design.

I created a task flow and MoSCoW analysis based on the results of my research to prioritize features that will best meet user needs.

DESIGN

I brainstormed features that would feel intuitive and simple to understand.

I focused on the essential features users needed, and made them straightforward to reduce the learning curve and user frustration.

1. User-friendly control hub with a comprehensive view of every room

Integrating clear and descriptive labels with relevant pictures for each room enables users to effortlessly select individual or all rooms to turn on/off.

2. Including all essential features on one screen with a simple, intuitive design.

Consolidating the essential functions on one screen eliminates the need to toggle between multiple screens for lighting adjustments. The use of vertical sliding bars for adjusting light fixtures adds a familiar touch, mimicking the up-and-down motion of a traditional light switch, enhancing user familiarity.

3. Timer feature based off of Android and iOS to bring familiarity with setting times for automatic lighting changes.

By incorporating features similar to the Android and iOS systems, users have a reduced learning curve when setting up an automatic timer for their lights due to the process resembling similar mental models of the systems.

USABILITY TESTING (FIRST ROUND) + MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS

3 main improvements were made based on user feedback.

1. Changed the background color to a darker shade for improved contrast while enhancing visual appeal.

2. Reduced spacing between the rows of buttons to achieve a cleaner and more organized UI.

3. Clarified navigation bar elements by adding description of function to reduce ambiguity.

USABILITY TESTING (SECOND ROUND)

A final round of usability testing with the high-fidelity design was performed to validate the changes.

Takeaways:

  • (3 of 3) Turned on/off the lights and adjusted the colors and brightness with no frustration or confusion

  • (3 of 3) Agreed the design was simple to understand and the features met their daily needs

  • (3 of 3) Scheduled a timer for their lights successfully and independently discovered where to click for the meaning of sunrise/sunset feature

FINAL PRODUCT + PROTOTYPE

REFLECTION

Learn from other designs around you

This was one of my first UX projects and going into it I had no experience with UI design, which became my biggest challenge for this project. To address this, I researched many popular apps for smart lights and took note on popular layouts, along with positive and negative qualities in their design. This helped me get familiarized with what elements are part of good design and what elements should be avoided. I also studied color schemes and analyzed how they were incorporated into the design and the effects different palettes had. With all the research in mind, I began drawing wireframes for my designs and critiqued and improved them along the way by referencing what I learned from my research and frequently asking for user feedback.

WHAT’S NEXT?

A user mentioned it would be useful to group rooms together and change one light bulb at a time. The next steps would be to incorporate these features into the design after further user research to determine a design solution that will best meet their needs.

PROBLEM

Smart light applications have enhanced usability with lighting control, but the frustrations that come with operating these applications persist.

Smart light apps offer a wide range of features to personalize light fixture settings, but many apps often have features that feel overwhelming and too complicated to use, discouraging a broader user base.

Simple Lights

Mobile application design | solo UX project | 16 weeks