Role
Senior Product Designer

Project Space
Smart Home App
0-1 Projects
B2C

As the Senior Product Designer for Will TAP, a smart home app tailored for residents of Nomura Real Estate’s Proud apartments in Japan, I worked to create a seamless and user-friendly interface that allows residents to control smart home devices and receive essential notifications. The app also offers additional features designed to enhance the convenience and quality of life for apartment residents.

The goal was to balance diverse functionalities with intuitive design, ensuring accessibility for all users while integrating smoothly with smart home systems.

Will TAP was developed as a comprehensive smart home solution for Proud apartment residents, offering a wide range of features to improve daily living. The main challenge was managing the complexity of these features while ensuring ease of use and smooth device integration.

Main Features

• My Home Functions: Remote control and monitoring of locks, security settings, and select appliances (e.g., air conditioning, lighting, heating, floor heating).

• Apartment Functions: Reservation system for shared facilities and access to a digital library for equipment manuals and various application forms.

• City Functions: Access to community-related information, events, and shared spaces through a dedicated member web portal.

• Notification Functions: Alerts for lock/unlock status, parcel deliveries, management announcements, and shared space reservation updates.

• Additional Features: Family and appliance management, operation history, personal settings, and access to management rules.

Target Properties

• The app is currently implemented in Proud City Hiyoshi and will be introduced to additional Proud series properties in the future.

Hypothesis

• Organizing the app’s diverse functionalities into intuitive categories would improve usability and encourage adoption.

• Providing seamless integration with smart home devices would ensure high functionality and satisfaction.

• Clear communication of the app's capabilities would enhance user trust and engagement.

Streamlined UX Design

• Categorized the app’s features into intuitive sections to simplify navigation and enhance usability.

• Designed a unified interface that ensures all features are easily accessible and understandable for a wide range of users.

Collaborative Integration

• Worked closely with appliance manufacturers to ensure the seamless functionality of remote controls and monitoring systems.

• Partnered with system administrators to align the app’s design with technical and operational requirements.

Comprehensive Feature Implementation

• Designed specialized modules for key features, such as smart home controls, shared facility reservations, community updates, and notifications, ensuring an all-in-one solution.

• Developed flexible settings to accommodate the unique requirements of different Proud properties.

• Activation

  +200%

• App MAUs

  +80%

Impact

• Achieved an 80% adoption rate among Proud apartment residents since the app’s 2019 launch.

• Delivered a comprehensive smart home solution that combines convenience, community engagement, and efficient property management.

• Enhanced user satisfaction by integrating advanced features such as appliance control, notifications, and shared facility management.

Learning

• Intuitive categorization of complex features significantly improves usability and adoption rates.

• Close collaboration with hardware manufacturers is essential for seamless smart home device integration.

• A holistic approach to community and home management features fosters engagement and trust among residents.

This project successfully demonstrated how thoughtful design and feature integration can transform a smart home app into a comprehensive lifestyle solution for residents, supporting both daily convenience and community engagement.