PROJECT DETAIL
CAs a part of Kingston University coursework the brief of the coursework was to select a topic based on personal ubiquitous computingand research, design and prototype a mobile application.
To design a product which helps in building a smart home, which is universal and cost effective.
To design a user friendly mobile application based on ubiquitous computing which can control the home appliances using the technology of Internet of Things.
Home Automation or Smart Homes is a network which connects the home appliances & services, & also allows them to remotely accessed, monitored or controlled. Smart Homes Trends It is predicted by Industrial experts that 15% of homes will turn into smart homes by end of 2015. It is also predicted that smart home trend will continue to grow with the market and will double across 7.7 million UK homes by 2019.
The coursework followed a 5D Design Process.
Surevys and focus group were conducted using surveymonkey on smart homes and what are the major factors participants wants to consider when building a smart home.
Maximum number of participants checked price as a most important factor followed by maintenance cost. Participants also wanted the product to be user friendly i.e. easy to use and reliable.
The participants were also provided with post survey questionnaire where they were told to rate the smart home product using the ‘Likert Scale’ ranging from Completely Agree to Completely Disagree. Maximum number or participants agreed on installing the smart home product and they also like the idea of controlling the home appliance remotely which will also help them to save time and cost.
One to One Interview were conducted to understand users, their needs and requiremnst. This also helped to create different kinds of personas.
Persoans were created to to understand different user types, their needs and pain points.
On the basis of surveys, interviews and personas user needs and requirements were listed down:
- Full control over your home
- Set modes or assists for quick usage
- User friendly
- Cost effective
- Able to show the electric usage weekly, monthly and yearly
The prototype should meet the above needs and requirements for target users.
Based on the personas, user journey was created showing the user emotions before the product and after using the product.
The image shows the detail flow of the user journey and also helps to decide the screens and steps involved in understanding the application.
How it Works?
Attach the smart connector with the mobile application. Login the mobile using social sign in. Once logged in select the appliance you are connecting to or tap on +Add New Appliance. Next scan the barcode through a barcode reader or enter the unique barcodeID of the smart connector. Now you are successfully connected with the appliance. Now you can view all the appliance you are connected to and can control them. You can also view electric usage weekly, monthly or yearly.
