Designing an intuitive dashboard for IoT Products

Smart homes are soon becoming a more acceptable norm of society now with devices such as Amazon Echo, Google home, Alexa etc. But it is not just the technology that makes these products a massive hit among customers. A lot of thought has gone into designing such user-friendly IoT products.

As a product engineer or a UX designer who is working on an IoT project, your main focus is centered on creating and designing a product that brings immense value addition to your client.

One of the most crucial designs in IoT products involves the look and feel of an IoT dashboard which serves as the touch point for the user to interact with the device.

In this blog post, we are going to talk about the 4 steps involved in designing an intuitive dashboard for IoT products.

1. Break down the User Journey:

Take this a thumb rule – before you even get to the stage of picking up your pencil and sketch pad, spend some time to research and understand what kind of IoT product are you designing for?

It could be anything ranging from a smart system that controls the lighting of the house to a smart refrigerator that sends updates on the grocery list or a super efficient home locking system.

For better understanding, let us take the example of designing an IoT dashboard for a smart refrigerator that allows the user to track the details of grocery items and to set up reminders in the user’s mobile to stock up items.

Now, before we get down to designing this dashboard, as a product designer you first need to understand the underlying technology that will be used by the refrigerator such as, what kind of sensors would be triggered, what kind of data will be recorded, how will the data be analyzed etc.

Your job is to represent this underlying data in an intuitive manner. This is where your creative mind kicks in and is expected to think about the user journey and different use case scenarios. Also, while designing it is very necessary to be mindful about the target audience who is bound to use the product.

In the above example, the smart fridge is going to be used by a household which would include:

• a family of 4-5 members
• the users could be aged between 24 to 55 years
• the user could be either male or female
• pet-friendly house

Now based on the above user scenarios, you will be able to sketch out different user journeys.

2. Create the Skeleton with Wireframes

This is the fun part because here is where you actually visualize each and every action of the user. Some people call the wireframe stage as setting up the blueprint of the design and functionality of the product.

Now, when you are designing the dashboard of an IoT product, it is necessary that you visualize each and every step of the user and jot them down into squares, circles, and triangles. The key here is attention to detail. Step into the shoes of the user and think of the ways he/she will use the product on a real-time basis. Document scenarios that are not so obvious but have a probability to pop up.

In this stage, you also get to logically test the flow of user actions. Yes, ‘Logic’ is the word here. Don’t just go by your gut or instinct, you need to think if the steps in your wireframe make logical sense in the bigger picture. Sketch out as many possible scenarios here. Do not restrict your mind to – ‘this is it’! Explore different options and also be conscious to capture different user emotions while sketching the wireframes.

Don’t just put a button because it has to be there. Think of how you expect the user to navigate to a particular page such as – to check the grocery stock, to get alerts on food items that are running low on storage, setting timers for bakery products etc.

Once you have a gamut of ideas, sit down and evaluate the best possible user flows to create an unparalleled user experience (UX). This is the most important part of the whole designing process and so it is imperative that you get it right. The UX is the make or break deal for the success of your IoT product.

3. Bring your Product to life with Visual Designs

For all those creative artists out there, this is the stage where you need to find the Picasso inside you and splash those colors into the wireframes. But don’t just add any color – keep in mind factors such as color psychology and branding guidelines (if any) while choosing the colors.

Let us go back to our example of the refrigerator dashboard and see the kind of colors we could use.

It would be advisable to use a lot of white space in the design to give it a neat and easy user interface (UI). Also, depending on the USP of the overall IoT product, either blue or green could be a great choice of color for a dashboard.

If the highlight is more on the technology, then blue would be an ideal choice as it showcases intelligence and is a color that is most commonly used with electronics. But let’s say if the USP of the IoT product is to highlight health or any environmental benefits, then green would be an excellent choice to complement the messaging. Also, colors such as red, yellow and green can be used to indicate any functionality features to the user.

So, in a nutshell, while you are creating the visual designs keep the end user in mind and choose colors that are able to communicate instantly with the user.

4. Test your Designs – Time to Prototype:

This is the last and final stage of the design process where your designs are put to the ultimate test. With the help of many online tools such as Adobe XD or Invision, you can test your designs in real time and showcase the functionality to your clients.

This real-time feedback helps you to iterate designs on-the-go and incorporate all feedback at one point. It is important that all designers prototype their designs since quick and responsive designs translate into happy clients.

Thus, designing for IoT products can be slightly different from creating mobile apps and websites as User Experience is the key here. But with the above-guided approach, you can be assured of designing a vibrant and intuitive dashboard for IoT products

The Design Thinking Approach

Even though Design Thinking has been there for many years now, the aspects related to this commendable process have now evolved. And, the primary reason behind it is the gradual increase in online products and services.

As we know that Design Thinking is not just a way to deal with the design of a product but is a platform to create a complete brand for a business. With the advancement of technology, new methods have been introduced for keeping up with a proper Design Thinking process that may help in creating a better product. And, the new aspect has encompassed an ideology for the betterment of digital products and services as well.

• Focus on the emotional side of user’s experience

This aspect is not a new one. Building up user’s experience with a touch of emotion has been termed as empathy where a design thinking process uses the experience of the consumers to understand what they need and want. Being an emotional aspect, it is harder to deduce in terms of quantitative values, but it does reflect a powerful message over a customer who is looking forward to get a new product or service from you. It is believed that a product or service that is connected with the emotional sides of its user is more likely to perform well in terms of sales.

• Designing of diagrams for solving complexities

Design thinking process has been widely used for developing physical products so that their intangible and complex issues can be removed while researching. Even for services, design thinkers use physical models such as blueprints, data flow charts, diagrams, etc. to communicate, define and explore with other thinkers and solve any problems that may occur with the service. The aspect is still quite practical in the current world for the betterment of products.

• Using Prototypes for Design Thinking

Another aspect that has been a successful implementation for designing quality products is the use of prototypes. Whenever a new product or service is to be created a prototype model is created for better understanding. While diagrams are capable as well, a prototype offers a much more space and functionality with which design thinkers can communicate and end up with various solutions to any comprehensive situations.

Moreover, prototypes are a good way to interact with users as well. A model that has been created for demonstration tends to let users understand what the product will be used for and what benefits it would provide to them. In addition, a prototype model that can be demonstrated in front of the audience is a far better way of communicating than a complicated diagram.

• Failure tolerating culture

Design thinking process considers failure of designing a product as a learning step to achieve a better one. Even the best of companies have failed in designing products and services once or many times in their business period. And, there is no shame in failing in this aspect.

Creating products and services in the current scenario is not that different from how it used to be in the past. You will find that most aspects are just an evolved versions of the Design Thinking process that have been used in the past. Nevertheless, all these aspects are built to help create better products.

What is Design Thinking?

Gone are the days, when the performance of end user satisfaction was measured by GMV or revenues. Today, user experience has emerged as a separate discipline in itself. It focuses on solving the end user problems. This way companies can develop products and solutions that fit the user’s needs.

Design Thinking is nothing but a whiff of change in the mindset of the companies to align themselves with the end user requirements. It beautifully combines creative and critical thinking that helps the companies to develop products meant to solve real customer problems.

Many examples have proven how design thinking can steer business growth in the right direction. Here are 3 interesting examples of how companies have benefited from this new age design philosophy.

1 – Uber

Remember those days when taxi hiring used to be a cumbersome job. You need to call several hours before to reach the destination on a timely basis. But, Uber disrupted the market in 2012 with its cab aggregator service focused on user-centred design principles. What did the company do? It created a visualization of a taxi’s approach and solved many customer grievances with its ride hailing app, such as:

• Completely eliminated the risk of fake dodgers by creating a cashless payment drive.
• Put the responsibility on driver for exemplary customer servicing by giving customers the power to rate drivers and the ride

By focusing on customer requirements, Uber was able to bring a massive change in the traditional business model.

2 – m-indicator

Residing in Mumbai and commuting by local trains is not a piece of cake. A lot of challenges are faced by a common man face including train schedules, arrival times, route changes and delays. M-indicator app is the solution to all the customer woes. Its owner, Sanjay Teke launched this app while he was still working in a firm. What he actually did? He visualized the problem that a common man faces to avoid peak hours. By providing the train commuters a view of the upcoming trains the app completely eliminates second guessing and loss of time. No wonder that today, it is the most trustworthy app that provides detailed information about how to go around in Mumbai.

3 – Burberry

Once known as a fashion brand of the bygone era, the company pushed the envelope and created a niche market for itself by applying the design principles. What did the company do? In order to boost the revenue growth, the CEO of the company Angela Arhendts joined the social media bandwagon to convert millennials to its most loyal customers.

Burberry cultivated a social media environment of digital democracy, where users and the brand could collaborate freely on its designs and new launches. It not only attracted new customers but also strengthened its goodwill. The outcome? From 2011 to 2015, Burberry had posted a revenue growth of 68.1%

Conclusion

Design Thinking is nothing but putting yourself in the customer’s shoe to gain empathy and awareness about their needs. With such principles, you can bootstrap the business the smart way, acquire users quickly, and take customer retention levels to its peak.