Smart home dashboard

Overview

The initial smart home experience on Alexa was limited to simple on/off actions using voice. As the connected device ecosystem grew, customers started expressing a desire for quiet control of their home as well as an at-a-glance overview of the devices in their space. 

Very few models for this sort of control existed outside of the extremely high-end market. We sought to bring high-end control to everyone with an Alexa device.

My role

  • Lead UX designer for evolving the smart home experience 

  • Acted as QA for the UX and VXD as our engineering team was an away team unfamiliar with the device patterns

Impact

The Smart Home Dashboard launched on Echo Show giving customers expansive controls of their home using voice or touch. 

The Dashboard has since scaled to tablets and mobile as well. The ‘Grow With Me” framework that I developed has been extended to all connected/multi-device interactions across Alexa.

Approach

Conducted competitive analysis with a focus on high-end smart home systems

  • Constructed a framework/system to support the variety in home layouts, preferences, and the smart home device ecosystem (internally ‘Grow With Me’)

  • Used conceptual storytelling to paint a longer term vision for a ‘smarter home’ that put the near term goals in the greater context to drive alignment with partners and leadership

  • Voice frameworks were particularly important for ensuring an experience that could scale to support the myriad configurations customers may have within their homes.

I conducted concept exercises to drive vision and alignment across the organization and with our 2P and 3P partners.

The experience launched across all Alexa endpoints with positive reception in the media and from customers.