Customer Centric Future of Smart Homes
SERVICE DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION, CONCEPT DESIGN
Digital Housing Innovations
What digital could be? – service design competition for smart living solutions was organized by KIRAHub for the Naantali Housing Fair Exhibition in summer 2022.
This time Tie Design’s team was reinforced by service designer Sini Tverin, who previously interned at Tie Design, interior designer and service designer Tiina Käyhkö and recent graduate Annika de Lamare, who has a Master of Business Administration in Information Systems.
Goal
The competition aimed to create a digital living concept tailored to the needs and wishes of residents in existing exhibition buildings.
The Design Process
In the beginning, we studied smart homes and focused on available customer insight. We looked at the everyday challenges of smart homes and searched for existing solutions that would make everyday living easier. Due to the housing area and gathered insights we defined our target group as families with children and/or pet owners living in smart homes.
Optimizing everyday life in smart homes according to customer insight
According to customer insight, the main issues that families with children face in managing their daily lives are clutter, disorder, hurry, lack of time, and grocery shopping. Our research found that, despite the presence of smart devices in homes, these devices do not effectively address everyday challenges. Smart homes lack integration and fail to meet user needs, leading residents to perceive them as a complex puzzle to manage.
Service design process according to the double diamond model
Through the service design process, our goal was to develop solutions that make smart homes smarter and more user-friendly. Using a double-diamond model, we ensured that the design takes into account customer needs and user experience in a holistic way.
Mapping
- publications and studies on smart homes
- commission, trade fair venue
- sparring with the jury
Research
- online survey, 65 respondents
- 11 theme interviews
Ideation
- future workshop
- prototype
Testing
- testing the prototype with illustrations and customer narratives
- conception
Implementation
- pitch deck
- prototype illustration
- concept presentation
- summary of the research
Service Concept
Our service SmartEntry is a proactive smart entrance hall concept that makes everyday life easier by automating the storage of goods and clothes in the entrance hall. It frees residents’ hands and minds so they can pay more attention to each other.
SmartEntry connects existing smart devices into a resident-serving digital system, where data moves between devices and external data sources, anticipating and simplifying the daily lives of residents. The requirement for the successful implementation of SmartEntry is a transparent, secure data transfer for users.
Honorable Mention for the Entry
The SmartEntry entry was pitched to the jury and the fair audience at the Naantali Housing Fair in August. The jury included judges from ABB, Abloy, Yalen, Genelec and Schneider Electric.
Out of six entries, Smart Entry received an honorable mention for its good focus on the user experience and the housing fair spirit of the concept.
Next steps
When implemented, SmartEntry will enable new forms of collaboration and revenue streams between hardware and software companies dedicate to smart homes. We are happy to discuss the concept and its development with companies using security, sensors, lighting and artificial intelligence.
More information on the competition KIRAHub and about the concept suvi.ferraz@tiedesign.fi.
User-centered, vividly described scenarios, enhanced user experience, and empathetic presentation.
– Criteria for the jury’s honorable mention
Website and Corporate Image Development
Redesigning Logo and Visual Identity
