Verizon’s Home Awareness
Facilitating a seamless, less-intimidating integration
of emerging WiFi-sensing technology for users.
- Sept 2023 to Dec 2023
- Product Designer Consultant
- Product Strategist
- User Research Lead
- Website redesign
- Additional WiFi-sensing information page
- Several use cases for future product
iterations & strategies
Project Overview
At the time of our project, Home Awareness is exclusively available to Northeast America Verizon users with new routers. Since the current user group is very small in proportion to their general customer base, Verizon recruited Berkeley Innovation to help promote this new technology amongst the public in order to one day monetize Home Awareness.
Thus, our project goal began as..
How might we monetize Home Awareness?
10 weeks. 4 sprints. 1 team.
The Home Awareness experience can be divided into several stages, starting from a lack of awareness and progressing to mastering the use of the technology.
My team and I analyzed this process through four key sprints: research, synthesis, ideation, and prototyping. Given the complexity of the project, we had the opportunity to engage in a broad range of design activities, including marketing and strategy. I was tasked with leading a two-week sprint specifically focused on user research.
Understanding Our Users
To begin, we looked at the competitive landscape of other disruptive technologies to understand their initiatives to address potential user concerns.
We focused on the following four competitors: Amazon Echo, SmartThings, Lighthouse AI, and Plume HomePass. One common detail we found with these companies is that all of these companies included some variation of an information page that allows new users to become familiar with their product that features new technology.
We took note that Verizon lacked this platform that could resolve the unanswered questions our users had.
After seeing some missing pieces in Home Awareness’ presentation to customers, we wanted to hear from users themselves.
We then sent out a questionnaire regarding their familiarity with Verizon’s Home Awareness technology, as well as ideal features and/or potential obstacles that would hinder them from purchasing the product. Promoting our survey on different social platforms, the resulting demographic ranged in both professions and age groups.
At the end of our testing period, we received 154 responses from people with a variety of tech experiences. Many of the responses displayed a lack of understanding towards the technology and terminology used by Verizon to advertise Home Awareness.
The results showed vague answers, but clear insights: people did not know what WiFi-sensing technology was and would refuse to buy into the idea until they were knowledgeable about it.
For our last research method, we conducted three focus group sessions to gain more detailed insights on the pain points both Verizon and non-Verizon users had with Home Awareness.
The structure of the focus group was statement-based, allowing our participants to convey their stance on the technology. We decided to structure our focus group this way in order to have a semi-open conversations that gave participants the opportunity to lead conversations while also ensuring that we were collecting information relevant to our project goals.
We found that the participants' answers were similar to ones found in the survey in the sense that they were not fully confident in their stances since they lacked a holistic view of WiFi-sensing technology.
Although they saw Verizon as a trusted brand, they would not blindly purchase a product from them if they did not understand the pros and cons of incorporating the product into their everyday lives.
Key Insights
Users are often cautious when their data is collected and question where this information is going.
General interest was expressed that they would be willing to share information if it was autonomous and they were given the ability to select what information is shared.
Users need to be guaranteed that their personal information is kept in good hands.
- Am I unknowingly exposing myself to digital threats or viruses?
- How is my data being used and why?
- Who has access to my personal information?
Home Awareness enters a large competitive market with other established companies such as Amazon Echo and Google Nest.
Users were unsure if they would be financially willing to switch products if they had something with similar performance capabilities.
There is a lack of awareness towards WiFi-sensing; therefore, customers are not confident that purchasing Home Awareness will add to their everyday lives and is worth the learning curve.
Are all age groups capable of this learning curve?
Users question the relevance and/or effectiveness of protecting their home.
Main concerns include how developed the Home Awareness product is at the moment and what current use cases are available. Connecting to cost, is purchasing Home Awareness the best option?
WAIT.
LET’S PAUSE.
Thus our NEW project goal became...
How might we motivate users to embrace Home Awareness?
barriers that prevent users from getting started with Verizon’s Home Awareness.
Ideating With Impressions
With our collected insights gathered into various categories and identified pain points, we decided to craft user archetypes before beginning to design solutions. By using these personas to gauge users' sentiments and concerns regarding WiFi-sensing technology, we were better able to see underlying areas of interest that should be used in our final designs.
Swipe to meet some Verizon and non-Verizon customers:
Given that the common denominator of all the archetypes is their lack of understanding towards WiFi-sensing technology, we found it important to prioritize building an inclusive relationship that would open the market surrounding this technology. By doing so Verizon can one day have a stronger platform of integrated products that are reasonably monetized.
It was this reasoning that led us to pivot from a traditional product strategy suggestion to a platform users could not only engage with, but also educate themselves. To start, we wanted to improve how Verizon displays Home Awareness on their website as well as look ahead to what the product’s impact would be after educating users.
Improving Home Awareness Pages
In our initial drafts for the Home Awareness page, we focused on presenting relevant information that many individuals noted they were unaware of during our research.
Keeping the general skeleton of the current page, we also included additional sections to create a better perspective towards WiFi-sensing technology while also highlighting the value of Home Awareness to customers.
2X2 Marketing Metric
At the same time, we also divided our efforts to analyzing what were the most optimal paths for the future of Home Awareness to take in order to reach its financial milestones.
Using the tactics and business strategies found from leading competitors, we began brainstorming different ways of outreach and customer satisfaction.
Prototyping Our Puzzle Pieces
Design Decisions and Product Positivity
Home Awareness Website Redesign
One of the biggest obstacles that prevents users from embracing Home Awareness is the lack of understanding of it's purpose and security. We realize that the Home Awareness page on the Verizon website is actively contributing to this roadblock.
By redesigning the site, we aim to guide users through potential uncertainty in a more informational format than what is currently shown on Home Awareness's page.
Though we provide WiFi-sensing information on the homepage, there will inevitably be users that have more questions and are interested in learning more. Therefore, we designed an external page that contains all available information with relevant topics including definition and data privacy.
Click here for video walkthrough!
Expanding Available Use Cases
Once customers develop a strong understanding of WiFi-sensing technology, they will become eager to integrate it into their homes.
Keeping in mind the insights found from our research, we provided diverse use cases that will push Verizon's initiatives of product
expansion and value-added services.
Pushing Marketing Initiatives
Lastly we introduced some fun/impactful marketing suggestions to drive home the plan of monetizing Home Awareness in the future.
Focusing on personalization, physical presence, and subscription strategies, we elaborated on high feasibility, high impact ideas that could be integrated within the company's next few iterations and/or launches.
For instance, similar to other platforms, Home Awareness can create amusing stats to include in Verizon's app. Some examples include “How many times you set off the fire alarm...” or “How many times your pet knocked something off your coffee table...”
Reflections
I am extremely grateful to be able to collaborate with Verizon on this project and dive deep into up and coming WiFi-sensing technology. Through this experience I realized that the design process is anything but linear. My team and I welcomed pivots and had the opportunity to reformat the project to better fit not only our skills, but also provide the best deliverables to our clients so that Home Awareness can succeed. It was incredibly rewarding to collaborate with Verizon designers to create a more inclusive smart home product and apply the HCD process to think beyond monetary goals in order to prioritize the community it's built for.
A big thanks to Desirae and Gary at Verizon for allowing my team and I to guide the project to areas we were interesting in developing in as well as being so open to new ideas. Their encouragement allowed us to grow as designers and the freedom to explore different mediums allowed me to solidify what areas of design I am most interested in.
Lastly, a special thank you to my team members: Amber, Claire, and Danielle! As a new designer I appreciated their guidance and advice on following the HCD process and creating a fun playground to design in.
thanks for stopping by