How Ninja entered into the connected product space
A case study on transforming vision into reality with a connected experience app.
Role
UX/UI Design
Team
SharkNinja
Duration
4 Months
Entering a Connected Space
After 15 years of being in the home appliance market, Ninja was looking to branch out into the connect app space. In order to justify this investment, my team (myself, another designer, and our manager) was tasked with creating a proof of concept design that would showcase the benefits of this app to the company and validate the user experience.
Helping Busy Cooks
The goal of this app was to help make cooking enjoyable and approachable for the busy user.
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Take the guesswork out of grilling.
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Make trying new recipes exciting.
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Allow the connected experience to time manage so users can easily multitask.
User Flow Considerations
It was important for us to consider all the different physical and digital aspects of the connected experience. At the start of the project, we mapped out what the flow would look like with the end goal of completing a recipe for steak and cauliflower. We considered what this would look like from the perspective of cooking, using the appliance, and using the app in tandem.
Designing for Easy Browsing and Selection
I explored a number of design options for the home screen with the goal of creating a compelling experience of selecting a recipe from the app.
The selected design was chosen because of the dynamic interaction and opportunity for visual design.
High Fidelity Wireframe Flow
The experience of connecting the app to the grill and using it to follow a recipe for steak and cauliflower was then brought into high fidelity. This flow depicts the in app experience as well as the interface of the grill.
Connect
Pair app with grill
Select
Select a recipe from ingredients
Cook
Follow recipe with the app
Users Wanted More Precision Control
The flow was tested with 12 users. The main take away from the testing was that users care more about precisely cooking protein than following a full recipe.
More of This
Programing cook settings, Learning about cooking with the grill, clean UI.
Less of This
Following a full recipe felt overwhelming. Users wanted a focus on grilling.
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We Decided to Pivot
With the feedback we learned from user testing, we decided to change our direction to focus the experience around using the app as a precision control for the grill. We wanted to have the app make setting up and tracking a cook feel seamless and allow users to feel empowered to get their desired results without any guesswork.
Updated User Flow
The user flow was updated to bring the user through the process of using the app to cook a steak to medium well, adjust cook settings to well mid cook, and track the resting progress.
This flow had a UI challenge in making the passage of time visually engaging.
Program
Adjust grill settings
Preheat
Track preheat progress
Track
Track cook & rest progress