Wink Experience Design Team

 

 

I oversaw the end to end experience, including when a customer sees Wink Relay on an online page, their first impression with the physical packaging, the unboxing, the unfolding of the instruction manual, the installation, the set up experience on the screen, and the continual experience of living with Relay in their home.  

 

The Wink Relay launched in November 2015. Check out the Wink Relay on Wink.com.

The Household's Central Control Panel 
Before Relay launched, the Wink platform was only available through the Wink mobile app. This meant that products like lightbulbs and outlets required personal smartphones to control them. Relay enabled control of these products to be accessible by the whole household in a central location. 

Because Relay is a shared device that is used throughout the day with any combinations of Wink products, there are virtually unlimited possibilities for what the experience could be. 

There could be one Relay in the house or one per room, one person living there or a whole family, one lightbulb connected or every light, window sensor, and outlet. I mapped out various scenarios to enable the team to prioritze which ones were the most critical. 

Because Relay is mounted on the wall, it requires design patterns that cater toward its specific affordances. These scenarios helped inform how to alter and adjust the Wink UI guidelines that were initially designed for personal smart phones. The Relay guidelines were pushed to be legible from far away, have a dark screen so it's not jarring at night, and simpler for faster "light-switch" like interactions. 

These flow diagrams depict how the user would journey through various touchpoints in the experience such as initial installation and set up of the Relay device, continued set up in the Wink app on their mobile phone, and adding a new lightbulb to the Wink ecosystem.

Before our software could run on the hardware prototype, I tested out the accessibility of the UI using an Android phone running the software placed at the height of of the Wink Relay. I tested the ease of use with people of various heights. This research determined what parts of the experience to keep on the mobile phone versus the Relay. 

 

These screens show how a user logs into their Wink account, sets up Wi-Fi, and goes through the software update. I worked closely with the Android engineer to ensure that the transitions between each screen were fluid and on spec. 

These UI screens explain how a user sets up their Relay. Since Relay is compatible with regular light bulbs as well as with smart light bulbs, there is a walk through wizard that asks customers what kind of lightbulbs they have. In the future, this flow would not be necessary because Relay should be able to detect what kind of light bulbs you have. But with the current technical constraints of home wiring systems, adding these steps ensured the best experience. 

 

Installing a Wink Relay can be intimidating because it requires replacing your lightswitch and handling electrical wires. I pushed hard for the team to create a step by step video to ease the process of installation for customers. I collaborated closely with the video team, mechanical engineers, and copywriters to put together this video. 

I helped put together the installation guide. Packaging designers designed the packaging and the installation guide, but I helped create the connection between the physical parts and the digital experience. I wrote drafts and edited copy for the setup flow, and ensured the instructions were consistent with the actual digital experience. 

This is a quick access activity screen where users can see what's going on in their home. It is a similar pattern as the activity feed on the Wink mobile app, but is larger and easier to see since Relay would be farther from the eyes than a mobile phone would be. 

This is the section where users can access all the devices in their home. When they select a device, it goes to screen where they have access to all the necessary controls.