Project Type
Mobile App Design
My Role
User Research, Feature Scoping, Wireframing, Visual Design
Duration
4 Months
Team
Me , Yash Rathi
The growing use of smart home devices has left users frustrated with the need to manage numerous apps for each device. In fact, 90% of users report annoyance with juggling multiple apps.
"I dislike the idea of downloading more apps to just use one device at home"
To reduce such frustrations from our user's daily life, I designed Ebode. Ebode is a smart home management platform that simplifies control, automation, and energy monitoring. It lets users group devices into customizable scenes based on moods, events, or schedules, enhancing convenience. With a focus on energy efficiency, security, and device autonomy, Ebode empowers users to make informed decisions while ensuring their home’s safety. Our design prioritizes user control without compromising security.
Device Autonomy
Easy Access and Effortless Control of your all your smart home devices in one interface. Switch on/off, edit settings and automate for a seamless experience.
Color-coded toggles for intuitive usage
Devices
Rooms
Scenes
Add and Control individual devices
Control a room full of devices in one click
Create clusters called "scenes" based on mood, occasion, weather, anything and everything.
Automate devices, rooms and scenes based on various triggers
Home Security
Tap into home security and CCTVs to see live footage, reducing anxiety from theft or safety concerns of loved ones.
Energy Consumption
Enabling sustainable choices by monitoring power consumption and consciously use devices.
Family Access
Easy Access and Effortless Control of your home
Manage multiple homes
Add, remove and manage members in your smart home
Ensure only trusted folks access your home by managing who accesses your home
Give different levels of access to different people, as an admin
Image Source: Generative AI @ Leonardo.ai
I conducted 10 semi-structured inteviews to understand what the users want and how they use these apps. The participants ranged from the age of 18-50 and live mostly in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.
90%
Users find switching between different apps to control devices frustrating
#One App for all Devices
6/10
Users are concerned about the safety of their homes when they are away
#Home Safety
8/10
Users wish they were got to know about their device's health.
#Device Knowledge
70%
Users have no means to observe their energy consumption patterns
#Energy Consumption
None
Only 2
1/5
40%
While some apps offer the features in question, none provide them all in one place. This gap in the market defines the scope of our solution.
#Energy Consumption
#One App for all Devices
#Device Knowledge
#Home Safety
The four problem spaces identified through primary research served as the foundation for solution development. The features identified to tackle the four problem spaces are as follows
Device Autonomy
Add Devices, Manage Devices, Group Devices
Family Access
Add Family Members, Access Management
Automations
based on various triggers
Notifications
About device health and performance
Energy Monitoring
Energy Consumption data based on time and device
Security Monitoring
Connect CCTVs and home security systems.
Colors
Primary
#DADADA
#B6B6B6
#333333
#202023
#22ADFC
#2EFFC0
#04303D
Secondary
#F8EE96
#E2255E
Type
Nunito
AaBbCcDdEe
1234567890
Buttons and Switches
BUTTON
Active
text
Active
BUTTON
Disabled
text
Disabled
DEVICE
ROOM
SCENE
SWITCHED OFF
Device Autonomy
Onboarding
Device Clusters
Energy Consumption
Home Security
Problem Space
Working on a personal project allowed me to explore different problem spaces relevant to contemporary world.
User Research
Conducting user research helped me learn how to take interviews without getting suggestive.
Feature interdependency
To create a logically sound app, mapping features together was definitely an educational process for me.
Flexible Design Choices
Letting user's create scene based on any theme made me make decisions which allows customization of scenes.
