Go Green with Nest.

Duration

8 Weeks

My Role

UI Lead / Prototype Lead

Tools

Figma, Adobe Illustrator

Team

4 other designers

The Problem 🙋

Google has decided to launch a new version of the Nest thermostat, targeting environmentally conscious and budget-aware users. Our team's task is to integrate this new thermostat design into the user interface and mobile application.

The Redesign of Google Thermostat

The Solution 💡

Target Users

Environmentally conscious consumers

Homeowners seeking to reduce their utility bills

Ultimate Goal / Solution

We are committed to improving energy efficiency and promoting an eco-mode with a one-click switch feature to fulfill the company’s social responsibility and effectively reduce energy consumption. Our goal is to enable consumers to track their energy-saving achievements effortlessly through smart thermostat technology, while participating in the creation of sustainable green homes.

Our solution integrates smart thermostats, energy optimization, energy-saving tracking, and tree-planting incentives to enhance environmental impact.

Concepts 🆚

We developed 3 design concepts tailored to different business needs and target users: Friendly, High-end, and Green and Affordable. Ultimately, Green and Affordable was selected as the business goal, and the core design concept was finalized.

Winner Concept

Mood Board and Data Analysis

Design Directions

Mood Board

We tabulated the features of 60 images and identified recurring themes and visual elements. Based on this analysis, we extracted the most prominent design guidelines to inform our design decisions.

We collected over 300 images that capture the essence of our design goals.

Design 🧑‍🎨

Task List and Flow

We created content lists and task flows for our apps and devices using the original Nest functionality as a baseline. This helped us analyze how our features go beyond the user experience provided by Nest.

After initial validation of the design concepts through A/B testing, we utilized this information to guide the design process.


Sketch/App Features

Our goal is to explore multiple visual directions to stimulate creative thinking and identify potential solutions.


Wire flow: Create a basic wire flow to sort out the flow of users through different features.

Low-fidelity wireframes: create multiple rough ideas (20+) to explore different visual approaches.

71

Home

Schedule

Energy

Plant

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Good Morning,

Ascanio!

20 minutes

Current Eco Levels - Good

Home

Schedule

Energy

Plant

M

T

W

T

F

S

S

6am

8am

10am

12pm

2pm

4pm

6pm

8pm

10pm

12am

Schedule

Add

Transition

Transition

Transition

Key Features of the App



Home - Adjust temperature

Schedule - Comfort/Eco Mode

Saving - provides energy/money saving reports and recommendations

Plant - see your environmental impact and tree collection


Plants

My Garden

View

Home

Schedule

Energy

Plant

Monstera

Energy Saved

1W

1M

3M

6M

1Y

All

M

T

W

T

F

S

S

Energy Usage

Home

Schedule

Energy

Plant

This Week

10% more than the average user

$40 Saved

(Final Wireframes)

User Testing

SUS Survey

SUS Result with 95% confidence interval (APP)

87.0%

57.0%

72%

SUS Result with 95% confidence interval (Device)

93.5%

78.5%

86%

Take Away

Most users found the task operations straightforward, some experienced difficulties switching to the energy-saving mode recommended by the app and distinguishing between editing and adding entries on the schedule. These findings highlight areas of the app interface that require improvement.

Design Iteration

App

Device

Home Page

Heating

68°

45°

32%

12:27

Improved visuals and typography

Reduced Visuals

Focused Functionality

Button Accessibility

Indoor

Home

68

68

20 minutes

Heating

Mon 12:27PM

Scheduling Temperature

Simplified application of Eco mode

Intuitive Eco mode application

Innovative Design

Focused Functionality

Energy Saving Page

Eco Mode Incorporation

Improved Visual Keys

Reduced Visual Graphs

Reward system Integration

Improved Saving Illustration

Plant Page

Plant Reward System

Improved Layout

Schedule

Toggle to switch modes

Compare ECO temperatures to the ideal preferences.

Apply ECO mode

Saving

Track money savings, energy savings, and recent saving chart

See the the impact when using the Eco mode

ECO Mode

Plant

Track your plant progress

View the plants you’ve collected

Plant

Save another 500 kWh energy and complete planting a new tree

See the feet and environmental impact

Take Away

Keep the design consistency between App and Device.


During the device prototyping phase, we encountered challenges as the users were restricted to keyboard-only operations, without the option to use a mouse.

Contact me if you want to learn more about Nest! 👋

Explore Prototype

Hi-fi !

Home

Set ideal temperature for now.


© 2024 xirun zhou. All rights reserved.
Designed with passion for impactful user experiences. 💗