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THERMOSTAT
An thermostat that helps people saving energy by encouraging good using habit.
WHAT
The problem is people greatly lower/higher the temperature thinking that it will get cooler/warmer faster.
WHY
Because people could not realize that the systems operate at only one speed which means the house will reach the actual desired temperature in the exact same amount of time.
HOW
Design understandable interfaces to let users realize that turning the temperature way down lower or up higher just makes the system run longer. It wastes energy but withou getting cooler/warmer faster.
Design based on NEST thermostat.
Highlighten energy saving area
Thermostats working in this area means high efficiency and less money
Visualize time and speed separately
Display working time in energy saving area and non-energy saving area separately so that people could realize if they are wasting money and time.
For Example
1. John goes back home in a hot summer day. The house temperture is 74F.
2. While he is turning down the thermostat, he could see the time needed, 6min to reach 72F.
3. John keeps lowing down the temperature. 65F is out of the energy-saving zone. So he could see it needs 10min to reach 70F and 15min morn to 65F.
4. He sets the temperture at 62F thinking it could be cool down faster. But the time needed to reach the comfort temperature, 70F, is till 10min. Setting 62F is just a waste of time and energy.
Design Process
We started with user research and analysis of competitive products to figure out why people behave in this way and if there isany solution on market. We found NEST has made some progress but not enough. So based on NEST, we went through the full design process, brain stroming, sketching, prototyping, user testing and iterations, and finally got our solution.
Sketches
Prototypes and Iteractions
User Testing
