Hive
Hive is the UK's largest smart home provider, offering millions of users control of their heating, security and comfort of their Home. In 2017 Wolf Olins completed a major rebrand from Hive.
I joined the team to lead some aspects of the Hive App redesign. Incorporating the new visual identity, improving the customer experience and supporting the launch of the Hive outdoor camera.
Front Door Alert
Person Detected
now
Old design
The original experience was created around the award-winning, engineer-installed smart thermostat. As the Hive ecosystem expanded to include products like security, smart lighting, and self-setup devices, the app had struggled to keep pace.
Along with with device contrail and navigational challenges, the original art direction used a lot of abstract iconography. Initially this worked with fewer icons, but with new products and features releasing at a growing pace it become increasingly difficult for users to understand and relate.
App Inconsistencies
Squads working in silos to quickly add new products and experiences led to inconsistencies in controls, onboarding, and navigation, increasing complexity for users and making each device harder to learn and use.
Example of Inconsistency between devices
Research & Prototypeing
Using a mix of research methods, I mapped how the Hive ecosystem is used daily by observing user tasks mapping them with technical processes and identifying pain points. I then developed new flows and designs to address these issues, validating them with rapid, realistic prototypes to ensure we focused on creating the right solutions effectively, streamlining the path to success.
Design
Art Direvtion
As part of this project, we reimagined the art direction by shifting away from abstract graphics. I briefed photographers and 3D artists to create high-quality images and models that we could use to accurately reflect different hardware states shown in the app. This had a significant impact on users understanding, and ability self setup reducing support contacts and contributing to an operational cost reduction of 35M.
In addition to 3D renders and photography, we explored colourful illustrations and tested them on various screens. While they received positive feedback, we decided to use illustrations solely for abstract concepts, opting for a simpler, less distracting approach by not combining them with the renders.
Control Screens
Product control screens were redesigned and rebuilt from scratch but kept functionally similar to maintain ease of use and prevent millions of users from needing to relearn familiar actions. The focus was instead on creating clean, accessible components that could be reused across devices.
Design system
Each component was designed to adapt seamlessly from iPhone to iPad. The example below illustrates how the onboarding flow transitions from a portrait layout to a horizontal design, optimizing the use of screen space on larger devices.
Shop
A key focus of the rebrand and redesign was to increasing product sales. Previously reliant on Amazon and its website, Hive expanded to retail stores like Currys.
I led the design of the in-app e-commerce experience, creating new components and an end-to-end flow that allows users to seamlessly purchase and integrate new devices into their ecosystem directly from the app.
Product Landing and purchase flows
