Smarter Design is Good Business

“Good design is good business.” The words of former IBM president Thomas J. Watson, Jr. back in 1973 still hold true. Though in today’s smart home marketplace, perhaps it’s better to say “Smarter design is good business.” As consumer products become more connected, it’s easy for manufacturers to assume that “smart” technology magically generates a highly desirable customer experience.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

All too often, companies assume consumers will put up with a painful experience for the privilege of using the latest technological gadget. Smart design doesn’t just happen. Making something that is technologically feasible, business viable and customer desirable requires collaboration across disciplines. It takes thoughtful research to understand user needs and iterative design to create an appealing experience. It’s about delivering value in a meaningful way, and that takes Design Thinking. Or, what we call the Honeywell User Experience (HUE).

When I first got to Honeywell four and a half years ago, Design Thinking was a new focus at the company. Our products have always been technologically advanced, trusted and dependable. That’s why you see thermostats, fire safety and security systems in 150 million homes and 10 million buildings around the world. Our mission in HUE is to apply Design Thinking principles and human-centered design practices to all new product development. We make it easier for customers —distributors, installers, users, maintainers— to do more with Honeywell products, software and services than ever before. Our recent iF and Red Dot design awards are recognition from our peers and confirmation that we are delivering on our mission.  The growing popularity of these products in markets around the globe also demonstrates how we’re delivering on our commitment to customers.

It’s all about the user experience

Have you ever tried to change a thermostat? It’s pretty scary – multicolored wires sticking out of the wall, drills, tools, settings for stages, cycles per hour, C-wires, hydronic, radiant, force air – what the heck? Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems were never designed for DIY installation. The mental model developed out of process control systems and it’s filled with technology jargon. Until recently, almost all thermostat installation was performed by whoever built your house or your HVAC contractor. Consumers’ attitudes and behaviors are evolving, and more of us are interested in installing more Internet of Things (IoT)-connected devices and expect a simple, flawless experience. This is a perfect situation for applying Design Thinking principles.

For our latest T-Series WiFi thermostats, which won a coveted Red Dot design award, we redesigned every customer touch point for consumers and contractors. We reduced the complexity of the installation process with a new Universal Wall Plate (UWP), a Quick Start Guide and online installation videos. Once the UWP is installed, updating your thermostat is as simple as pulling the old one off the wall and snapping on a new one. No more rewiring! And it looks good. The thermostat can now become part of your decor rather than a utility device stuck on the wall for generations.

Older programmable thermostats would let you change the temperature on a schedule. That’s great if you have a predictable daily routine, but many of us live life on the go. So we spent hundreds of hours with consumers and contractors to understand their needs and lifestyles, to design products with the entire customer experience in mind. We learned that people are looking for comfort when they're home and energy savings when they're away. Because of that insight, our new thermostats support app-based geofence technology, which can set home comfort or energy savings based on your location, home or away.

Interoperability is key in home automation. Our Lyric connected home ecosystem allows you to connect thermostats, water leak detectors and our new awareness cameras to our Lyric App. And, Lyric is the only thermostat directly supported by the big four home automation systems: Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung. 

Air quality and clean breathable air are major needs in metropolitan areas of China. Our design research team in Shanghai live with this everyday, but they still spent hours with people at home and work to gain a deeper understanding of unmet needs. Our commercial and residential air purifiers provide a healthier environment. The AirTouch X2 is a portable air purifier with app and cloud connectivity that packs high-performance into a small package. The app even lets you know when it’s time to order replacement filters, and when it comes to changing those filters, there is no need for tools and user manuals. It’s a simple slide-out, slide-in process.

Chinese consumers are very conscientious about the air quality both inside and outside of their homes. We learned that knowing the indoor air quality, measured in parts per millions (ppm), as important as know the time or temperature. The Honeywell Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) device monitors air quality and home temperature with an elegant display. It’s designed to be something you’re proud to showcase in your home, not a utilitarian meter you try to hide.

Design Thinking needs to be scalable at a large manufacturer, like Honeywell. When we look at the end-to-end customer journey and needs across every touchpoint, we find similar unmet needs and desired outcomes. For example, we found that people of China have similar needs for potable water as they do for breathable air. We’ve create a whole new line of water purifiers that “fit” Chinese households and are easily installed and serviced.

Planned Optimism

Building out a human-centered design mindset at a 130 year-old industrial conglomerate sounds like it would be a slow, long slog, but we pushed ourselves to build it while doing it “right and fast.” We started by hiring a talent power house of designers and instilling Design Thinking principles across the company. We enabled projects to lead with these principles to generate high value solutions for real customer problems. And, we stayed committed to giving customers products with an appealing user experience, superior performance and Honeywell dependability. Leadership from top to bottom has made Design Thinking, what we call the Honeywell User Experience (HUE), a top priority across the company, since its inception four years ago. These early wins confirm that the real trick is more in the “doing” Design Thinking than the talking about doing it.

We’re excited to contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable world—one that’s more connected, but also more secure. We’re working relentlessly to change the world in a positive way by anticipating customers’ needs and addressing them with appealing, reliable and dependable solutions.

It’s an exciting time to be a designer at Honeywell. And, we’re just getting started.