Cyberus
Student Project
Date
September 2021 - December 2021
Hats Worn
UX/UI Design
Visual Design
UX Research
Awards
International Design Award
Indigo Design Award - x18
European Product Design Award - x2
Team Members
Jess Lam
Colin Cheng
Aliya Walton
Sean Griffith
The Brief
With a rise in smart home technology in everyday life, online security is at the forefront of everyone's minds. Many homeowners are wary of bringing smart home technology into their homes. How might we bridge the gap between smart home security and their users to protect smart homes from the risk of cyber threats?
The Solution + My Role at a Glance
With the rise in smart home technology, cyber security is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. There are perks in using smart devices but there’s a well-warranted lack of trust created by the inaccessibility to knowledge on the best practices to keep their home and information safe.
As a team of 5 students, we created an award winning solution - Cyberus. Cyberus is a hybrid smart home security tool created for people in the modern city, bridging the gap between security and users by informing and educating them about their smart home security system.
I was our Interaction Design Lead, mainly focusing on the main UX/UI of our mobile app (light and dark mode), while also assisting in the design of our experimental circular UI (CUI).
The Research
How did we start?
Problem Space
With the rise in smart home technology, and a rising rate of cyber attacks against our most sensitive privacy, online security is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Report showing that smart home devices may suffer from 10,000 hacking attempts every week. There are perks in using smart devices but there’s a well-warranted lack of trust created by the inaccessibility to knowledge on the best practices to keep their home and information safe.
Psychological needs place a huge role in what motivates humans, focusing specifically on the role security psychologically as a human factor, we created Cyberus based on the need of the feeling of secure in the new and developing age of smart home technology.
Research Methods & Insights
After extensive online research, an online survey of 60 smart home users, and 12 interviews, we came away with 3 main insights.
Convenience & Comfort. We found that smart home users value their comfort over security when using a smart home device.
Feeling Protected. Our interviewees believed that knowledge can make them feel protected as well as a good awareness can make them feel in control. They would like to gain knowledge on their cyber security system and a product or service that can spot out the problem before things happen.
A Hybrid Solution. Smart home users believe that security system in a hybrid mode (in both digital and physical) can give them more flexibility and the power of control, rather than just being an app. Participants in our research see a physcial, tangible device as the sense of secure, solid, and protective to their smart home.
We also dove into the competitive market of smart home security systems from popular brands like the Google Nest, Vivint Home System, and Amazon Ring. We identified the key features of each products, as well as their business value and feature complexity, to help us uncover design opportunities for our solution.
Building It
How did we make it?
We developed a digital prototype, the Cyberus App; and a physical product prototype, the Cyberus Hub, that is embedded with a non-touch screen and a circular user interface on the top of the device, controlled by the dial and button built on the side.
Early User Testing
Early in the process we made sure to test with our customers in a variety of ways:
Card Sorting. To uncover user’s mental model and how their domain knowledge is structured, and it serves to create an information architecture and labeling system that matches users’ expectations.
A/B Testing. To identify which version a design approach is better when multiple versions are created at the same time. The test measures which one performed better with our users.
Moderated Usability Testing. To validate the overall interactions, visual identity, and experience of the digital and physical prototypes through mission-oriented usability testings.
What We Made
Cyberus is a hybrid smart home security tool designed to protect smart home users from cyber threats and bridge the gap between security and homeowners by informing and educating them about their smart home security system.
Cyberus offers transparency, knowledge, and management tools in both digital (Cyberus App) and physical way (Cyberus Hub), giving user’s the full control, full access of the information that they need to keep themselves safe against cyber hacking and device failures in the ever-growth smart home era.
Feature Highlights:
Control & Customization
Cyberus is designed to allow users to control and oversee what’s in their network manager and be able to add any additional networks into the system. Smart home users can control the devices and view the devices currently in their network and control any smart home devices’ functions in the network.
Security
To aid in educating and informing, users are allowed to see reports on how their home security system is scored and allow them to view detailed descriptions on how they can improve network system for security.
Awareness
Get alerts when suspicious behavior and cyber threats are detected, and take action to prevent them before it harms the smart home system.
Wrapping this up
Takeaways!
An app is not a solution.
During a check in with our professor in the middle of the project, we were reminded that an app isn't a solution - it's just a way to reach a solution. In Cyberus' case, the solution was finding a way to make customers feel empowered and safe while integrating smart home tech in their lives.
Always user test.
It is so important to keep in mind that what makes sense to you, someone pouring hours over the same pixels, doesn't make sense to everyone (or anyone!) else. For example, we were playing around with using more branded and unique terms throughout our app. There came a point, however, during testing where our customers just had no idea what meant what.
Nothing is boring.
At the beginning of the class, there was some concern that focusing on smart home security wouldn't be the most exciting problem to tackle. However, there is no such thing as a boring problem - the traditional ways of solving that specific problem just might be open. In fact it's important to run towards those "boring" problems, because then you have an opportunity to truly innovate and disrupt.
An app is not a solution.
Always user test.
Nothing is boring.
The Solution
Final Solution Gallery
A beautiful collection of additional deliverables or media.
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