Smart Aquatics is a cutting-edge fish care app and sensor designed to achieve optimal fish wellness. Inventory (fish) loss is a major expense for all retail aquariums. With Smart Aquatics’ intuitive software, users are able to monitor water quality parameters, receive intelligent alerts and access detailed insights to maintain a healthy environment for each tank, all while being away.
In Collaboration with Caroline Ferguson, Chloe Unflat, and Madison Rothell
My Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
App Onboarding, Data Analysis, and Website Design
01 Background
WHAT NEEDS FIXING?
THE PROBLEM
Shop owners can’t be around all the time to tend to the tanks and ensure that the water quality is at a healthy level. This is the main cause of fish casualties which is a huge expense to the business. Unreliable staffing is also a big contributor to this loss.
WHERE'S THE VALUE?
OPPORTUNITY
To dive into an untapped market and prevent fish loss using IoT technologies. The term IoT, or Internet of Things, refers to the collective network of connected devices and the technology that facilitates communication between devices and the cloud, as well as between the devices themselves.
Our innovative fish sensor and app has the potential to capture a substantial share of this undeveloped market and revolutionize the way fish care is approached, all while saving fish lives and money for business owners.
SOLUTION
CREATE AN INTERNET OF THINGS TECHNOLOGY FOR AQUARIUM OWNERS TO MONITOR FISH TANKS AND WATER QUALITY TO PREVENT INVENTORY LOSS.
02 Solution
WEBSITE
LEARN ABOUT SMART AQUATICS
The Smart Aquatics Website is designed to educate aquarium owners on the product. Here, they can learn about our different types of sensors and how the app functions.
POINT OF PURCHASE
ORDER SENSORS ONLINE
After learning about sensors, aquarium owners have the option to place an order for sensors online.
Above is a walkthrough of the app. Users begin by setting up their sensors in designated tanks and syncing their sensors to the app via Bluetooth connection. To customize settings for each sensor, they are prompted to edit them one by one on the app after they have set them up in their designated tanks. The sensors are categorized by Freshwater, Saltwater, and Brackish, making the process more streamlined.
ONBOARDING
SYNC SENSORS TO SMART AQUATICS APP
Pair Sensors
Sensor search with Bluetooth and Mesh Technology
Sensor settings
HOME PAGE
CHECK ON TANKS THAT NEED ATTENTION
App Home Page
Enable Notifications for high notice alerts
List of sensors with aquarium levels
User Settings
TANK ANALYSIS
TANK INFORMATION AND WATER STATUS
Toggle between water quality parameters
Highest priority is shown immediately upon opening the page
Visual graph readings
03 Research / Process
INSPIRATION
DATA ORGANIZATION
For the UI, we were heavily inspired by the Apple weather app, the Philips Hue app, and the Ring app. The weather app is a great example of organized and understandable data. The Philips Hue app is a good example of how sensors can be set-up and connected to an app. The Ring app is a nice example of live footage that connects straight to your phone.
STRATEGY
INTERNET OF THINGS TECHNOLOGY
I conducted field research using the Phillips Hue app, which inspired the onboarding process for our application. The intuitive mesh technology used for connecting devices via Bluetooth proved to be the optimal method for managing multiple connections simultaneously. Given that many aquariums typically have over 20 tanks, ensuring a seamless and efficient sensor pairing process was a top priority.
Reflection
WHAT I LEARNED
TAKE TIME TO ENHANCE THE EXPERIENCE
Designing the user flow and onboarding process for this app was both valuable and enjoyable. During my research on solutions for aquarium tank sensors, I was excited to discover mesh technology. The design approach from Phillips Hue Lightbulbs was particularly inspiring, and I was pleased to incorporate similar concepts. Additionally, I honed my prototyping skills in Figma, where I enjoyed creating various components and animations. However, the app is not fully functional and did not undergo enough usability testing. If this was a real product, I would include more features such as edit functions for the tanks, a better navigational system, and different notification customizations.