LittleBird is a smart home automation and smart access application that allows residents of communities to provide guests with access to their communities and apartment units. The LittleBird mobile app’s interface for sharing access credentials with guests was an overwhelming and confusing single-screen interface.
The LittleBird app’s single-screen guest access interface lacks the clarity needed for property residents to understand the implications of their selected options, creating significant property and personal security risks. This redesign project allowed me to update the interface into a simplified step-by-step guest access management wizard. To build the best resident experience, I explored competitor applications and identified successful and unsuccessful guest access credential management approaches.
During this project, I served as both a UX Designer and Researcher. I researched a variety of design solutions, created design comps, and developed prototypes to test the viability of various design solutions. I also collaborated with the development team to ensure that successful implementation of the design solution.
My goal for this project was to simplify the guest access user flow to reduce the friction apartment residents face as they granted property guest access to their communities and apartment units. During the research phase, I interviewed apartment residents, property guests, and property managers to identify pain points they experienced while using the LittleBird guest access user interface.
The updated property guest list includes more descriptive details about each property guest, including the type of access, the access period, and guest contact information. The updated property list help provide residents with peace of mind as they can quickly identify who has access to their community and apartment unit. Residents can also quickly add guests from thier contacts and edit and delete existing property guests.
I broke down the process of granting guest access into a simple step-by-step setup wizard updated with clear and relevant copywriting that helps users comprehend the implications of their selected options. First residents can input their guest's name and contact information. Their access credentials are sent to the contact information inputted here.
Then residents can select between two different Guest Access Types, Community Access, where guest receive access to the resident's community, and Unit Access, where guests receive access to the resident's community and unit.
Finally, residents can select between three different access period types. Today, provides guest with access until the end of the day at midnight. Daily access allows residents to grant daily reoccurring access on selected days of the week. Custom access allows residents to grant guest one-time or recurring access on specific days of the week during a specific date and time range.
If the user selects Today access, there are no additional options for the user. They are navigated directly to the Guest Access confirmation screen. If the user selects Daily access, they have the ability to select recurring 24 hour access on specific days of the week. If the user selects Custom access, they can grant their guest access during a specific time frame, on specific days of the week, during a specific date range.
I faced a challenge in deciding on the best approach to editing guest access. Sending users through the entire guest access flow could be beneficial, allowing them to change guest access settings at each step. However this approach forced users through unnecessary steps if they needed to make minor changes. Ultimately, I designed an interface where users could adjust access control settings as needed without navigating through the entire guest access scheduling flow.
The previous guest access user flow lacked clear confirmation messaging when users added, edited, or deleted a guest. In the redesigned interface, there are confirmation messages that concisely summarize the actions taken by the user and the implications their changes have on their property guests.
During the design process I explored a variety of different interface solutions to help make guest access management as simple as possible. Here are a few of the othe design solution alternatives and why I opted against them in the end.
I explored various ways to display the selection screen for guest access periods during the design process. First, I explored using accordion dropdowns for each different access period type. However, in the end, we determined it was more beneficial to break this step down into individual screens because the interface was too visually cluttered.
I explored various date and time pickers to simplify the user interface. Eventually, based on feedback from test users, I determined that the scrollable date picker was easier to use than a calendar interface, especially on smartphones with smaller screens and tap areas. It also didn’t make sense to provide a full calendar when access credentials are limited to 14 days.
I created options for recurring property access. However, after designing a flow for recurring access options, I quickly realized that the complexity of options outweighed the flexibility provided. Many options in the recurring access settings would only be used occasionally, generating more confusion among users. The final design does include some of the reccuring access features explored during this phase of the design process.
Throughout the design process, I explored various copy options for access control settings to provide users with the best context for each option. The options for access periods evolved from Full Time Access, Temporary Access, and Recurring Access to Today, Daily, and Custom Access. These new names and updated descriptive text help users better understand the use case for each option - increasing resident awareness and property security.
