Home Automation is one of the most sought after smart services. This project began as an exploration in features that could be a part of the 'new' home automation system. I then focused on the remote access and security feature of the home automation system.
Low Fidelity Prototype : The feature was developed as a solution to the following scenario
Jenny is a working mom with a teenage boy named Lucas. Most of the days, her husband is away at work. She looks after the house after she gets back from the office. Her office time works well for her as that is the time Lucas is in school.
The last few days have been really busy at work for Jenny. She hasn’t been able to clean the house. She decides to hire a housekeeper to clean the house as she has no energy to clean it when she gets back. She calls the housekeeper at 4 pm since that is when she can get back home. She doesn’t trust a new hire and wants to monitor how the housekeeper works- especially after the burglary last month when a person had broken into the house and taken her husband’s expensive laptop and her jewelry .
She is about to leave the office when her boss hands her some more work. It is too late to cancel the housekeeper’s service. She then remembers that she has recently installed ‘The Hub’, a centralized home automation system after the burglary and has an app for it. She then logs into the app (fig. 1). She then clicks on the ‘Remote Access’ button (fig2).
In the ‘Remote Access Menu’, she sees all the devices and services connected to The Hub and selects ‘Doors and Security’(fig. 3). Now, she can activate the notification to know if and when someone rings the doorbell(fig. 4). She also has the option to see who is at the door. Because she doesn’t want the housekeeper entering certain places - room where she has kept her expensive jewelery, her husband’s study with expensive devices, etc. - she can lock the doors to these places through the ‘Restricted Mode’(fig. 4). She can also activate the security cameras in these rooms.
She will now be notified when someone rings the doorbell and she can decide whether to let them in or not. She gets a text from her son Lucas saying that he has forgotten his keys to the house and he would need her to open the door for him. He doesn’t yet know that she is going to be stuck at work. She tells him that its fine. She now knows that she can remotely let him in.
At 4 pm, she gets a notification on her phone that someone has rung the doorbell (fig. 5). She sees that it is the housekeeper she hired. She records a message saying that she will be late and to get started with cleaning the kitchen, living room and the bathrooms (fig. 5). She then clicks on the ‘Open Door’ option. On the ‘Open Door’ screen, she selects ‘Grant Restricted Access’ as that will activate ‘Restricted Mode’ if it isn’t already switched on (fig. 6).
She now wants to make sure that the housekeeper does not try to enter the Restricted Areas and is only working in the specified areas. She goes back to her home screen(fig.2) and clicks on ‘View Status’. On the Status menu screen, she selects ‘Doors and Security’ (fig. 7).
She then sees that the ‘Restricted Mode’ is on and she has the option to view the camera footage of rooms where cameras are installed (fig. 8). She can also view logs of who has previously entered the house, what notifications the system has sent out and if anyone else with access to The Hub (her husband) has accessed the features of The Hub (fig. 8).
She clicks on ‘Camera Footage’ and is directed to the video feed of the rooms (fig. 9). After monitoring the housekeeper, she sees that the housekeeper has completed the job and is ready to leave. The housekeeper sends Jenny a text saying that she is leaving and that the bill will be sent to her address. Jenny then sees the housekeeper leaving on the door camera.
At 6 pm she again gets a ‘Bell Ringing’ notification (fig. 5). She sees that it is Lucas. She records a message saying that she will be late but she can remotely let him in. She then clicks on the ‘Open Door’ option and then the ‘Grant Open Access’ option (fig. 6). It automatically deactivates all the cameras and all the doors are unlocked. Lucas can now enter any part of the house. He texts Jenny saying that he finds this ‘Remote Access’ feature really cool. Jenny agrees.
Medium Fidelity Prototype
There are incidences when one needs to give access to someone to their house but security is a major concern. In this prototype, I have focused on the Remote Access - Security feature of the Home Automation System, specifically on being able to see who is at the door, let people into the house without being present and being able to control what parts of the house they have access to.
The interactions developed in this medium fidelity prototype of a Home Automation System are-
Remote Access to front door: enabling notifications when someone rings the door bell
Types of Access: Give Restricted Access to guests, Select the rooms they have access to, Give Open Access to family/friends, Record and send a message
View Status: View the status of the last remote access to the front door
User Settings: Access your profile, Add users as owner or guest to access the Home Automation System on the go.
Persona
Screens
Usability Testing Process
The prototype was tested by two users. Each user was asked if they have ever needed to open the door for someone when they weren’t in the house.
It was then explained that they would be testing a prototype and what they should expect in terms of the fidelity of the prototype.
It was also explained what the prototype was for - Home Automation System
Then each user was asked to perform the following tasks
A) Make sure you get a notification when someone rings your doorbell and you see who is at the door
B) On getting a notification:
1. Assume that the person you see is a housekeeper who you want to give restricted access to
2. Assume that the person you see is a family member who you want to give open access to
3. Assume that you want that person to come back later and convey that to the person at the door
C) Check the status of the last door access
D) View your profile
E) Add new user to the Home Automation System app
Revised Prototype
Here I have only focused on the 'Remote Access + Security' feature and how the app would flow.
The flow for locking/unlocking the rooms
The flow when someone rings the doorbell - restricted access
The flow for open access and ignore options
Screens
Future work
