Kai Horan
← All work
Knocki2018–2019Principal Product Designer

Fixing the first ten minutes of a smart home device

How analytics and in-home testing turned a setup flow that lost half its users into one that kept four in five.

Executive summary

5 min read
What I did
Led the redesign of Knocki's device setup, from instrumenting the funnel to shipping a reordered flow with barcode scanning, clear error recovery and how-to videos.
Who with
The CEO, a project manager, our full-stack and mechanical engineers, QA, customer service and an offshore engineering team.
Intent & reasoning
Thousands of devices had shipped to more than 10,000 users, and the analytics showed a steep drop the moment people started setting up their device.
Outcomes
63%improvement in provisioning drop-off
51.2%18.9%drop-off from start to end of setup
7.7 hrs2.4hrsaverage time from start to end
4.7 hrs1.3hrslargest gap between steps
The hook
Some of the biggest problems weren't on the screen at all. They were in the box. Read the story ↓
Knocki project cover
01Context

Half our users quit before their first knock

Knocki turns any surface into a remote: tap a pattern and it triggers your smart home. After we stood up our Mixpanel dashboard, we saw a drop-off once a user started the provisioning flow to set up their first device.

The starting point

10k+users
5k+devices fulfilled
51.2%attrition from start to end of setup

Our (small but mighty) team

CEOProject managerFull-stack developerProduct designer (me)Mechanical engineerQA engineerCustomer serviceOffshore engineering
02The funnel

Six steps from the box to a first gesture

We pulled a month-long sample to find the largest areas of opportunity: every step from opening the box to triggering a first gesture.

  1. 01Complete location & mounting
  2. 02Enter serial number
  3. 03Connect the Knocki
  4. 04Add a gesture
  5. 05Add a task
  6. 06Trigger a gesture

A month's sample: 130 users, 68% iOS, 32% Android

51.2%attrition from start to end (goal: 25%)
7.7 hrsaverage time from start to end (goal: 3.5 hrs)
4.7 hrslargest time between steps (goal: 2.5 hrs)
03Research

User testing in an office that happens to be a house

Six participants in a moderated study: self-declared early adopters who already owned at least one smart home device.

  • 6/6had trouble connecting to the Wi-Fi
  • 5/6were booted back to the very beginning when Wi-Fi failed
  • 4/6struggled to open the packaging
  • 4/6struggled with the technical language
  • 3/6mounted it, then had to take it off the wall to connect it
“Wait, there are screws in here? Where?”
“WHAT? I have to start all over? Yeah… I wouldn't do that. I'd hand it to my daughter to deal with.”
“Okay, it's telling me there was an issue validating my device and to verify it but I have no idea what that means or how to ‘verify’ it.”
“Honestly that was a battle. I think I would just leave it and deal with it on another day.”
“Am I able to change this [the location] later? What if I want to move it?”
“I have to perform the hard reset button but it doesn't tell me how or where that is.”
04The redesign

Connect first, mount later

Failures were costly because of the order. Moving connection before mounting meant a Wi-Fi problem never sent anyone back to the wall, and picking a location stopped feeling like a commitment.

Original step 1: Complete location & mounting
01Complete location & mounting
Original step 2: Enter serial number
02Enter serial number
Original step 3: Connect the Knocki
03Connect the Knocki
Original step 4: Add a gesture
04Add a gesture
Original step 5: Add a task
05Add a task
Original step 6: Trigger a gesture
06Trigger a gesture
Revised step 1: Scan the barcode
01Scan the barcode
Revised step 2: Connect the Knocki
02Connect the Knocki
Revised step 3: Complete location & mounting
03Complete location & mounting
Revised step 4: Add a gesture
04Add a gesture
Revised step 5: Add a task
05Add a task
Revised step 6: Trigger a gesture
06Trigger a gesture
Old
Old serial number entry screen
  1. No instructions on where to find the serial number
  2. Unclear why you had to pick your Knocki's color
  3. Four tiny boxes: tap, type, tap the next one
  4. The help link led to a paragraph of text
New
New barcode scanner screen
  1. An engineer suggested just scanning the barcode, which carries the serial
  2. Diagrams show where it is: the packaging, or under the third battery
  3. Manual entry stays as a fallback
  4. A minimum type size, systematized throughout
05Recovery

Tell people what happened, then what to do

Clear connection states, and a troubleshooting path that ends with a way to reach support if it still fails.

Old connected state
Old: connected
Old error state
Old: “Could not link”
New success state
New: success, then Done
New error state with retry and contact
New: Retry or Contact us

Videos instead of diagrams

Video step: turn Knocki on
Turn it on
Video step: mount with command strips
Command strips
Video step: mount with screws
Screws

Short looping videos for each mounting step, with skip logic to cut extra screens.

06Results

Every number beat its goal

The change was significant, though something still happens between setting up and the first trigger.

Attrition, start to end51.2% → 18.9%Goal 20%
Average time, start to end7.7 hrs → 2.4 hrsGoal < 3 hrs
Largest time between steps4.7 hrs → 1.3 hrsGoal < 1.5 hrs

What I'd address next

01

Improve the Wi-Fi connection flow itself.

02

Automate steps with contextual clues, or shortcuts like repeat task packages.

03

Move step buttons within thumb reach.

04

Track where people pause on a screen, not just where they leave.

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