IoT Sofa Audio Mobile App
UX/UI Design / Product Design / IoT
This state-of-the-art audio app is designed to provide the sectional users a fully immersive audio experience with the sound system embedded in the sectional couch.
This app is one of the projects that I work on being a UX Designer at CitrusBits, a mobile app design agency based in Pasadena, CA. Feel free to reach out for more information.
ROLE
UX Designer
TEAMMATES
Product Owner (Breann), Design Manager (Kevin), Engineering Team
TIMELINE
2020/6 - 2020/8 (2 months)
TOOLS And METHODS
Sketch, Zeplin, Abstract, Marvel, Keynote, Competitive Analysis, Prototyping
Overview
Our clients, Osac (the sofa company) and Hard-oon-man (the audio company), are working together to create the sectional sofa that is embedded with the state-of-the-art audio sound system to provide the users a fully immersive audio experience.
I was the main UX Designer in a team of software engineers working with these 2 companies to create the mobile app that guides the customers to engage with the audio system and enjoy the great sound with the comfortable sofa.
RESEARCH
Competitive Analysis of similar device-connecting apps
Guiding the customers to use the connected sound & IoT system and help them onboarding easier in the app are very crucial use cases. And, through competitive analysis, there are some issues found with the current products:
1. Device connecting use cases unclear
2. No users customization available
3. Lacking the IoT “Home” guiding function
PROTOTYPING
Ideate, validate, and sync with stakeholders
Ideate and create the design with Sketch based on the required product features and insights gathered from research to meet both business goals and customer needs, for example,
(1) Customized audio presets
(2) Device connection indicator on the home screen
In addition, we schedule weekly meeting with stakeholders to make sure we are all on the same page and the solutions are feasible and good to go.
VISUAL DESIGN
Creating the design guide that matters
Creating the design guide that fits the feel of the IoT audio app product to the end users and also check in with clients to make sure their branding assets are also being implemented in the app.
More importantly, creating the standard fonts, colors, icons, and feeling that not only makes the whole product experience consistent but also allows the engineering team have solid guide to follow during the development phase.
USER FLOW MAP
How to navigate the app
SOLUTION
Final Product
LEARNING
Tackling Usability and Technical Questions
There are a lot of questions arose during the process:
1. Small Device Optimization
The initial design was based on iPhone 11 screen size. (414*896) However, given that not all the people are using the most update-to-date devices, the design for small device to optimize the product was also crucial and needed from a product perspective.
Small Device Optimization: iPhone 8 (375*667)
2. Accessibility: Fabric Selection Screens
The original UX design (scrolling in the same screen with all the onboarding info and 3 categories of fabric selections) made it hard for the low vision users to read the content.
To avoid that, the design was revised to separate the fabric select options into another screen. The screen readers are able to go through all the option content, and this greatly improves the product accessibility.
Separated screen for the fabric options
Learning
Tackling the low vision usability issue from the other perspective, for example, engineering team, allows me to see the broader picture of the product. It is the users that will eventually interact with the product we are designing, and they have different preferences and specific needs.
Since we might overlook some critical issues that can be handle quickly, like the accessibility issues, the feedback system from other stakeholders really helps shaping the product overall experiences more thoughtful and even smoother.