THE HOME INNOVATION CHALLENGE RESEARCH+ANALYSE

1. NUKI

2. NEST

3. SONOS CONTROLLER

4. HUE

5. AMAZON ALEXA

6. INSTEON

NUKI

· Main purpose:

-turns the key on the inside of your door whenever you want. Turn it manually, activate by touch, with the Nuki Fob or operate your lock with the Nuki smartphone app

· Appearance and functionality:

-appropriate to the purpose, it is mounted on top of the existing door cylinder on the inside of your door, this makes it easy to use and accessible to everyone that wants to use it

-app has a simple and easy to navigate structure and offers a variety off features that cover a large target market (from hands free unlock, to timed locking, to auto-locking)

· achieving its purpose:

-it is an effective home improvement app overall

-the app and products are easy to use and understand

-security is guaranteed through strong encryption and subtlety of the physical products

-it offers new and useful ways to interact with your locks while keeping it as simple as using a key

· design elements:

• simple high contrast colour scheme (yellow and black and white) makes the important elements stand out
• yellow is a cautionary colour yet less aggressive than red and goes well with the safety purpose of NUKI

• simple visuals of a full and interrupted circle let the user know if the doors are unlocked or not
• visuals added to text help the user get information faster and easier
• text is a legible simple sans serif type that contrasts on the black background of the app (legible and uncluttered)
• overall very basic and simple visuals that help the user access the app easily and time efficiently

· context:

-home improvement app that specialises in home security (locks)

-one of the top apps in this domain

• because it specialises on one specific area of home improvement it is very good at what it does

NEST

· Main purpose:

-Control your Nest Learning Thermostat, arm and disarm your Nest Secure alarm system, see your home with Nest Cam, and know if Nest Protect goes off — all in one place

• Nest uses sensors, algorithms and the location of your phone to do the right thing automatically, turning off the heat and turning on the camera when you leave

· Appearance and functionality:

-appropriate to the purpose, focused on visual messages, colour and graphic elements that help understand the navigation process of the app

-because the app has a simple and easy to navigate structure and an approachable look it caters to anyone , a crucial factor for a home improvement app

· Achieving its purpose:

-it is an effective home improvement app overall

-the app and products are easy to use and understand

-it makes the process of managing your home easy and accessible

-because the structure of the app if easy to navigate and understand it does not limit its use to a certain age group

-many apps can give you data. But it’s much harder to turn that data into something helpful. The Nest app doesn’t just tell you what. It also tells you why

-Nest products can show you info that you’ve never seen before — such as why you used so much energy last week. What went wrong in an emergency. Or how long someone spent lurking at your door. This way, you can start to see patterns and understand your home better

· Design elements:

-layout: focuses on imagery and graphics which makes it easy to navigate and follow

-colour: colour coded (orange for thermostat management, blue for security management), this layout makes it way easier to understand and navigate, the user makes connections based on colours rather than text

-text: minimal use of text, simple key words, editable which makes it personalised

-graphics: graphics are used to aid in using the app, understandable and esy to relate to (shield for security, leaf for eco mode and so on)

· Context:

-all-rounder home improvement app and one of the top apps in this domain

-because Nest works across many different smart home genres, it’s fighting rivals across multiple fronts. Ring, Netatmo, Ecobee, Canary, Somfy and Elgato are all doing similar stuff with multiple devices and on the Works with Nest front, it’s obviously going up against HomeKit and Alexa too

• the one big thing Nest has against its competition is its tight integration with Google Assistant. There are exclusive things Google Assistant can do with Nest that others can’t do, like lock your door or arm your Nest security system

SONOS CONTROLLER

· Main purpose:

-Choose what to play, where to play it, and how loud. In one room or all over your home. Track down songs across all your music services with a single search. Create playlists in an instant.

-Sonos plays everything–the most popular streaming services, on-demand Internet radio, your favorite podcasts and audiobooks, your go-to collection of downloads

· Appearance and functionality:

-appropriate to the purpose, the Navigation bar makes finding what you’re looking for effortless. Everything you need — My Sonos, Rooms, Browse, Search and More — is now at the bottom of the app, so you can move between music more quickly than ever

- because the app has a simple and easy to navigate structure and an approachable look it caters to anyone

-it has the aspect of a classic music app such as Spotify making it easy to navigate

· achieving its purpose:

-it is an effective home improvement app overall

-the app and products are easy to use and understand

-it makes the process of managing your music and sound system in your home easy and accessible

-because the structure of the app if easy to navigate and understand it does not limit its use to a certain age group

- the Sonos app helps you quickly search through all your services to track down favorite music, send it to different rooms, and adjust the volume and other settings. You don’t even have to be in the same room. And if your friends have the Sonos app, they can do the same

- with Sonos, the songs stream from your WiFi network (not your phone), so there’s never any of the dropouts, delays or interruptions associated with Bluetooth.

· design elements:

-layout: similar to all music streaming apps making it easy to access and universal

-colour: simple black and white, modern sleek look and high contrast, not overwhelming for user

-text: legible sans serif modern looking typeface, only keywords (not too wordy very easy to navigate)

-graphics: imagery and graphics typical for a music app, making it universal

· context:

-music streaming app as well as a home improvement app

-allows user to use all their music streaming apps in one, that makes it inclusive and accessible to a large marke

• Amazon Alexa brings convenient voice control to your Sonos Home Sound System. Beam and One allow you to start and control your music with your voice. Amazon Alexa built right in. Or connect any Sonos speaker to an Amazon Echo or Dot over WiFi, and you’ve got instant, hands-free control of your favorite music and more

HUE

· Main purpose:

- With the Philips Hue App, you can easily organise your individual lights into rooms.

-Switch rooms on/off or change the colour or brightness of all your lights to match your mood or your activity

- Take full control and change the brightness, colours or white tones of your individual lights and create your own personalised lighting atmosphere.

- Transform your lighting into an extraordinary experience with our colour palette. Effortlessly choose from 16 million colours or any shade of white light.

-A different recipe for different needs. Energise your mornings, support your focus or switch to a more relaxing setting at the end of the day — whether you are reading a book, winding down after dinner or getting ready for bed. With the Philips Hue App, you can select different light recipes to enhance every moment

- Enjoy a sunset in Honolulu or a night out in London’s Soho district. Simply tap the scene to transform your room.

· Appearance and functionality:

-appropriate to the purpose, it has features that encompass the needs of a large target market

-the aspect of the app makes it friendly and easy to use relying on graphic elements and colour to create an easy to follow flow of the app

-you can configure your lights to help you fall asleep at night and wake up energised and create your own personal sleep routines to automatically dim the lights in the evening or gently wake you up in the morning

- with the app’s location-awareness feature, your lights will automatically turn on when you arrive at your front door or turn off when you leave home, this helps the user with time management

- Surprise your guests or simply never struggle again while walking into a dark home with your hands full. Whether you want to turn your lights on and off or change the brightness of a room, a lot can be done using your voice. Explore the possibilities of voice control* with your platform of choice, this offers users with disabilities help when interacting with the product but also adds to the convenience of it

· achieving its purpose:

-it is an effective home improvement app overall

-the app and products are easy to use and understand

-it makes the process of managing lighting easy and condensed

-offers a modern element to your home and can improve the atmosphere substantially

· design elements:

-colour: colour is a very important factor in this app, it helps the user navigate and interact with the app, for example if a light is off in a certain area of the house then the button for it will be grey, if it is on it changes colour to the set mood for that light, that helps you see the status of the lights even before reading if it is on or off

-graphics: graphics come alongside colour in helping the user interact easily with the app, imagery that helps you set appart different types of lights and different rooms make it easier to remember and access

· context:

-Pros: Connected ecosystem, great support, easy connection with any assistants

-Cons: More expensive than the competition

- Philips Hue is easily the most popular smart light product range available right now. This means that it has some advantages that other brands do not

• the product selection from Philips is incredible, so you’ll be able to purchase an entire selection of lights for your home, garage, your front porch, or anywhere else, that all work under one app or ecosystem

AMAZON ALEXA

· Main purpose:

-Use the Amazon Alexa App to set up your Alexa-enabled devices, listen to music, create shopping lists, get news updates

-Set up your Alexa-enabled devices, control or check status of your compatible smart lights, locks and thermostats at home or on the go

-Create routines to automate your smart home devices

-Connect to music services like Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio. Choose a song or playlist and listen on your Alexa-enabled devices

-View and edit shopping and to-do lists on the go, get weather and news updates, manage timers and alarms

-Use Drop In from your app to connect instantly with your compatible Echo devices, like a two-way intercom
-Call or message supported Alexa-enabled devices, at no additional cost

· Appearance and functionality:

-Being able to control multiple devices from multiple vendors using one app is potentially very powerful, although Amazon isn’t quite there yet in terms of offering a complete experience.

-For example, I couldn’t set my smart thermostat’s temperature, but I could use its quick actions. Light bulb support is better: I could turn a Hue light on or off and adjust brightness and change its colour. Nevertheless, it’s a move in the right direction

-Routines are a neat new feature, and let you perform multiple actions after you use the set trigger phase. For example, in my home, saying ‘Alexa, goodbye’ turns off all of my smart lights and sets my heating to Away mode.

· achieving its purpose:

-when it comes to breadth of support, Alexa is the device to rule the smart home and the system is getting better with every update

· design elements:

-layout: it has a fairly complex layout since it manages a lot of devices and app within it, it is however easy to navigate and understand

-colour: the general theme of the app is of muted blues, calming and easy on the eyes, feels secure and homey

-graphics: graphics as with most home improvement apps help make faster connections to what device or area you are connecting to with your app, so the echo speakers or lights and so on

· context:

• Amazon is no longer alone in the smart speaker space. Google entered the fray with the Google Home smart speaker and it now has the small Home Mini, the big Home Max, and the touchscreen-enabled Home Hub. Its smart Assistant now rivals Alexa for power. Apple also got into the AI smart speaker space with its HomePod

INSTEON

· Main purpose:

- The Insteon Hub works in combination with your router and smartphone or tablet to control Insteon devices in your home while you’re there, when you’re at work, or out of town. Control Insteon light bulbs, wall switches, outlets and thermostats.

-Receive instant email and push notification alerts from motion, door/window and water leak sensors while you’re away

- The Insteon Hub connects you to your home from any smartphone or tablet. The Insteon for Hub app works in concert with the Hub to configure, control and view the status of Insteon devices and sensors

· Appearance and functionality:

- Easy Device Scheduling: turn on your bedside lamp automatically to help wake you up in the morning, program the porch light to turn on and off automatically with the rise and fall of the sun
-Get Alerts on Your Mobile Phone or Computer: create alerts by adding water leak sensors, motion sensors, door/window sensors, receive instant push notifications and email alerts

-The Hub also stores the status of these sensors, so you can easily check on your sensors from within the app at any time
-Cloud-based Service: the Insteon Hub stores your homes configuration in the cloud which allows access from any number of smartphones and tablets you may own

· achieving its purpose:

- the app at its core works fine but there have been complaints about the interface being outdated and hard to interact with

-the navigation is a bit clunky and there is even a third-party app developed to replace the original app when using the instaeon app

-this is an example of a home improvement app that could get an update in terms of UI

· design elements:

-layout: complicated and not intuitive, fine as a core but can be simplified to feel more like a smarter app

-colour: a recurring colour, blue which is quite common in home improvement app, overall nice feeling design and atmosphere

-graphics: easy to understand and do help out a bit with the clunky navigation of the app

· context:

-Homeboy is an app that was designed to use instead of the original Instaeon one

-Use your iOS or Android device to control Insteon lights and appliances in your home from anywhere with an Internet connection

-Homeboy uses the native look and feel of your device to provide your entire family with a simple way of controlling the home. Set up your Insteon home and devices using Insteon’s own Insteon for Hub app, then use Homeboy to control it all. Just sign in with your Insteon account credentials.