EMBR LABS | 2019
How does a wearable personal thermostat work?
The Embr Wave is a revolutionary wearable that hacks the way you feel temperature. It delivers thermal comfort to improve sleep, reduce stress and help balance your nervous system.
Embr had a successful launch, but was experiencing a higher than desired return rate because users didn’t understand how to use the product. Our team was first contracted to design a “Quick Tour” as an educational resource, so that users will have a better understanding of the product’s functionality. We were then hired to redesign their new user onboarding experience, so users can learn how to effectively use the product and reduce the product return rate.
MY ROLE
UX Designer | Project Lead
Managed an end-to-end UX process from research through testing and a team of UX designers. I then converted UX Design into final UI Design and worked with the development team through launch.
Team: 4 UX Designers
Skills: User Interviews, Data Analysis, Affinity Mapping, Competitive Analysis, Site Mapping, Wireframing, Digital Prototyping, Usability Testing, Presentations, Team Management
Tools: Sketch, Figma, Flinto, Photoshop, Zeplin, InVision
Length: 7-month contract
The Problem
People encountering the Embr Wave for the first time need a way to understand the benefits and functionality of the device so that they can have that ‘a-ha!’ moment of realizing that this device can make you feel better through a temperature shift. Then users will stay with the product and enjoy the health benefits it provides.
Phase 1:
Making Technology Accessible in a Quick Tour
We created a ‘Quick Tour’ experience that allows the Embr team, their retail partners, and customer proponents (who frequently demo to their friends and family) to quickly demonstrate the value that Embr Wave offers.
After our in-depth UX research, my team collaborated with the full Embr team; leadership team, customer service, marketing, product and development to refine a demo experience.
Jared Spool’s quote, “Good designers don’t fall in love a solution, they fall in love with the problem,” resonated with me while I was working on this project. We had a lot of things to communicate in a short time; how the technology & device works, the benefits to users and providing users a chance to test drive the device. All while considering the business’s objectives.
Now let’s take a look at how we go there.
Sneak peak at the final demo design
PHASE 1: 3 Weeks Research | Initial Concepts
We started by educating ourselves.
We had a lot to learn, about the company, the technology and users’ benefits. I dug into white papers, PR and previous user interviews to understand:
How the Technology Works
- Developed by MIT-trained scientists, the Embr Wave bracelet contains a Peltier device, a heat exchanger that gets hot or cold when electricity is passed through it. By reversing the flow of current, the Peltier device can either cool or warm a person’s skin.
- 49 students at UC Berkeley tested the product and reported an average of a 5 degree shift in how they perceived temperature
Business Challenges
Embr Labs made 6 million in sales when The Embr Wave went to market last year, however with rapid growth comes some issues.
- Desire to reduce return rate
- Managing expectations with a new technology
- People who want to share the device need a best way to explain it
- First-time users respond differently, need a way to understand the benefits
Who Benefits from Using the Wave
- People with Hot/Cold Sensitivity
- Women in Primetime (menopause)
- People with Medical Conditions ( i.e. Cancer, Raynaud’s, Parkinson’s)
A multi-tiered research plan evolved out of having access to lots of users.
Having access to past interviews, white papers and current customers we built a robust research plan.
First-time users (12 total)
We recruited people who fell into one of three categories; hot/cold sensitive, primetime or medical conditions. Then conducted user interviews and contextual inquiry observing them use the product out of the packaging for the first time.
Current Customers (15 total)
We sent out questionnaires to existing users who fell into one of the three user categories as well as consumers who returned the product. Past research also provided insights.
Employees Demoing the Product (8 total)
We sent out questionnaires to Embr employees who demo their product at conferences and stores.
Synthesis revealed common pain points and product benefits.
Qualitative Research: My team organized our research findings into two affinity maps to find common themes and pain points, using the program MIRO. Users were color coded by new users, medical conditons, primetime, hot/cold sensitive, returners, or sharers.
Users Fell Into Three Groups
We saw patterns in our research that helped us create three distinct proto-personas and map out their journeys. As we worked through the project testing solidified these three groups as being accurate.
The Intuitive
They trust their instincts and are very in tune with their body and its temperature needs. They’re bothered a lot by riding on a crowded train because of temperature and being surrounded by a large group of people.
The Skeptic
The Skeptic has a lot of fluency in technology but is reluctant to purchase a new device before verifying that it will do what it claims to do. They could benefit from the device but it’s going to be hard to win them over.
The Enthusiast
They’ve struggled with issues around temperature their whole life and immediately saw the benefit from wearing the Embr Wave. They bring up the device to friends and are happy to share a demonstration with anyone who’s interested.
“I questioned how the hot/cold worked and how it affects my body.”
Solution 1: Create a series of illustrations or, animations showing how the Embr Wave works.
When some people experience the Wave for the first time and find releif, they are a little baffled. They want to understand how it works. We had some users tell us that pictures help them learn, so we decided to tell the story in pictures.
“The time between waves is confusing.”
Solution 2: Explain that the waveforms come and go.
Some first-time users where left wondering how the waveforms actually move and work. To address this we learned how the waves actually move and looked for easy ways to communicate this to Embr Wave users. This evolved into an animated gif in the final quick tour.
“I don’t like cold, my pain gets worse.”
Solution 3: Give people the option to experience warming or cooling.
(Some people can not tolerate the opposite.)
“The device helps me sleep.”
Solution 4: During a session, describe how people integrate the Wave into their daily lives.
If we describe the benefits of the Wave while people are using it, they can understand how it will be benefitial in their lives. Other customer quotes:
- “I use it after my workout and it reduces my cooling off period.”
- “I get so cold in my office that I get stiff everywhere.”
“ I always look for outcomes from a device before I buy it.”
Solution 5: Prompt the user to check in with how they feel at the beginning and end of the ‘quick-tour.’
This allows skeptics to take note of any changes. This function also helps Embr understand what they can do to help their users.
A Note about Our Usability Testing Process
We based the Usability testing on two key heuristics:
- Time — the time it takes a user to move through the demo
- Ease — the ease at which a user navigated the demo
Over the course of seven months we conducted 60 usability tests in 3 phases
- initial quick-tour research
- quick tour & onboarding design
- New features (See ‘Designing New Features‘ on the home page.)
Working in an agile environment, in each phase we tested 3 -5 people at a time, iterating the design as we went. Overarching learnings were:
- That we could not call out specific medical conditions per FDA regulations. ( (We learned this from Embr.)
- How to adapt the visual design when Embr Labs developed a new branding platform.
- That we needed to make the timing of starting the device more clear.
- That the order of the screens was not really working, and saw potential dislike/misunderstanding of a pause screen.
- ‘Oohs and Aahs’ of self-reflection when people read quotes illustrating how users find relief at home, work, sleeping and in transit.
Incorporating the Quick Tour into Onboarding
Next, we redesigned the out-of-box onboarding experience, incorporating parts of the quick tour.
Onboarding is a similar, but expanded experience of the quick tour. It will allow new users to quickly understand and accept the value that Embr Wave offers, as well as set up their user profile.
The most effective flow was in this order:
- User profile setup
- How the Wave helps people
- Pairing
- How the Wave works (from Quick Tour)
- Try the Wave (from Quick Tour with tips for primary user goals added to the end)
Our Solution
By using the demo, onboarding process and improved features we designed, first-time users will understand the benefits and functionality of the Embr Wave device and realize that the Embr Wave can make you feel better through a temperature shift.
When all was said and done.
What the Survey Data Showed Us
We measured three metrics in our interviews and usability testing before and after experiencing our product.
This is the one that showed the biggest change, which surprised us.
We asked new users to rate their need for thermal assistance, and our first group was completely made up of users who are in the target groups– aka groups where we would expect to see a higher thermal need. Our second group of new users (not all in our target audience), however, rated their need as higher post-demo. Could it be that this product reminds people of their thermal needs?
