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Spark Case Study
The promise of a smart home — delivered.
From scattered devices to a calm connected home system. Designed, tested, and ready in weeks — not months.
The Challenge
Bridging the Gap Between “Smart” and “Just Works.”
Most homes have smart devices. Few have a truly smart system.
Users like Shahrzad juggle lights, plugs, speakers, cameras—and endless apps.
Setup is confusing; routines are brittle; trust never forms.
The result: low adoption, low delight, low retention.
A smart home orchestration startup needed to bridge the gap between the smart home’s long-promised potential and today’s frustrating, fragmented reality — and deliver a solution that people would actually trust, adopt, and love.
Our Role
Spark brought in human judgment, taste, and facilitation that AI alone can’t match — pairing machine speed with real-world insight to make every choice credible, resonant, and ready to ship.
Cut through the noise ✂️ — using AI to process raw input fast, then applying design judgment to separate signal from distraction.
Made it feel human 🤗 — translating functional needs into visuals, flows, and tone that build trust and connection.
Designed for adoption, not just function 🎯 — aligning decisions with what real people will try, keep using, and recommend.
Kept momentum without losing quality 🐎 — making just-enough artifacts to validate ideas, without bogging down in process.
How We Worked
With the challenge clarified, we paired AI acceleration with human judgment to move from insight to a testable prototype in under two weeks.
🎧
Listen
AI distilled the raw interviews fast — we heard the nuance only humans catch.
🔎
Frame
We defined the real adoption barriers, not just the obvious pain points.
🩷
Design
We turned functional flows into visuals that signal trust, warmth, and clarity.
🚀
Deliver
We shipped a prototype that’s fast to test and credible for launch.
Design Highlights
Design That Builds Trust
Using Spark’s AI-augmented design process, we were able to identify the product’s target audience, problems to solve and big idea (Bring your home’s magic to life) to bring together a smart home system crafted to deliver the comfort, connection, and peace of mind its users need and value — and deliver on the promise of making their everyday lives run beautifully in the background.
From this big idea, the Spark team developed the calm visuals, clear steps, soothing color pallet, and modern typography to ground the mobile ap in the warmth of home.
DLS Snapshot — Gentle, readable system: contrast where it matters, soft elsewhere.
Home Screen – At-a-glance: what’s on, what’s scheduled, what needs you.
Setup Flow — Scan, personalize, finish; no manuals required.
Routine Suggestion – Arrives when it helps, not when it interrupts.
Outcome
From 💥Friction to 🏄♂️Flow
After
Multiple apps, unclear status, brittle routines.
High setup drop-off.
No shared family confidence.
One system, clear visibility, resilient routines.
3-minute guided setup.
Confidence grows week by week.
Before
Impact
What Changed (in Weeks)
▼Setup time: ~3 min vs ~25 min avg
▲90%+ device detection in pilot
▲2.3× routine adoption in week 1
▼Support questions –40% (projected)
“I finally feel like my home understands me—without nagging.”
What We Delivered
Hand-Off, Not Hand-Wave
✅ DLS foundations: tokens, type, spacing, icons
✅ Click-through prototype of core flows
✅ Usability findings + prioritized fixes
✅ Build-next guidance for engineering
✅ Content and tone guidelines
Timeline & Team
Speed Without the Stress
🎙️ Day 1–2: Interviews
🧭 Day 3: Journey + principles
🔑 Day 4–6: DLS + key screens
📝Day 7–9: Prototype + tests
🤲 Day 10–12: Iterations + handoff
Weekly cadence; decisions made in the work, not meetings.
Want this pace and clarity on your product?
We move quickly, keep it human, and design what ships. If that’s the energy you need, let’s talk.
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