Lead User Experience Designer / User Expeirence Researcher
What is SIMPLEconnect
SIMPLEconnect® is a smart fan application developed by Hunter Fan Company. It enables users to wirelessly control their SIMPLEconnect® product line of fans and adjust various settings.
Contex
SIMPLEconnect® was an outdated and underperforming application that had not been updated or redesigned for years. As a UX designer, I completely overhauled the application. During my time working on it, I implemented phased improvements and served as a liaison between the brand and IT departments to incorporate decisions from both branding and technology perspectives (including firmware and cloud account issues). Additionally, I functioned as a key business owner of the application, leading meetings, approving and producing consumer-facing content, and guiding the application's overall direction.
SIMPLEconnect® 3.0
Responsibility
Lead UX, Research, User Testing, App Store, Consumer Facing Copy, UI Design
SIMPLEconnect® Version 0 - 3.0
Outcome
Under my leadership, SIMPLEconnect® received multiple updates, which increased its review rating from 1 star to over 3 stars on both iOS and Android platforms. Additionally, I established numerous processes and created plans for user testing, including alpha, beta, and UAT testing.
App store rating at my time of departure (2021).
SIMPLEconnect®
The goal for the first iteration of SC was simple.
- Bring application up to baseline iOS Human Interface/ Google Material Design Guidelines.
- Begin user testing to see possible UX improvements.
Build out processes with the IT department (user testing, regression testing, design hand-offs, sprint planning, etc.)
Original Screens
State of the application at my time of hire.
Before enhancing the application structure, I updated SIMPLEconnect to meet standard iOS guidelines by using native UI elements such as toggles and form fields. As the sole UX designer at the company, I built relationships with the IT department and established communication channels for design hand-offs and sprint planning.
SIMPLEconnect® V1
The first iteration of SIMPLEconnect included basic updates with improved screens for profile management and logging in. After releasing this version, user testing was conducted to identify pain points in the application user journey beyond graphical critiques.
Discovery Phase
After the initial update to SIMPLEconnect®, I began a period of user testing, benchmarking, and wireframing to plan the application's progression. The application was extremely basic and lacked a login experience, splash screen, value proposition, and new account experience. In my first redesign, I conducted extensive user testing to identify where users were encountering difficulties in the application user journey. During this time, I created a phasing plan and presented it to business owners to guide us toward the next iteration.
Phasing Plan
SIMPLEconnect® 2.0
Key challenges for SIMPLEconnect® 2.0 included the application's lack of a login experience, splash screen, value proposition, account creation/confirmation process, email confirmation, and device pairing flow. User testing revealed that users had difficulty logging into their accounts and struggled with the account confirmation process. Many users failed at this step, which was essential for accessing the application's full features, causing app store reviews to plummet. Identifying these UX pain points through consumer reviews was crucial for guiding our sprints and setting priorities.
For 2.0 we successfully built out a better account creation experience, a new "before you start" user flow that helps new users add their device, better user error handling, redesigned email confirmation emails being sent to users, improved the overall look and feel of the application and updated the app to some company brand standards.
Android
Alongside iOS, I also designed and maintained a workflow with an Android developer. We updated Android at the same level as iOS and used the same processes that I was creating.
SIMPLEconnect® 2.0 for Android.
Discvery Phase 2.0
As with the first iteration of SIMPLEconnect®, I conducted alpha, beta, UAT, and public user testing on the application to validate our improvements and plan for the 3.0 release of our app.
I created phasing plans to guide meetings and begin conversations on where we wanted to take the application, how we may get there, who the stakeholders are, what pain points we are fixing for the user, and other aspects of the project.
From there, I went into a design phase and produced 3.0 screens.
Plan for 3.0 improvemenets
SIMPLEconnect® 3.0
SIMPLEconnect® 3.0 was a complete redesign with several major improvements. I increased the application's depth to allow for more dynamic user interactions, such as an advanced settings menu, a deeper settings menu, and a persistent support link. I also introduced new brand guidelines and interface styling across the application. This is the current state of the application. In this iteration, I focused on enhancing user enjoyment and design while providing more room for dynamic user interactions, such as multiple device handling, view modes, "homes" management, improved cloud device information, and firmware update flows.
