MONZO
Imagining a Smart Oven app for Monzo as a Design Challenge
PLATFORM
iOS App
TEAM
Just me
TOOLS
Adobe XD, Abode Illustrator, Keynote, Pen and Paper
KEY SKILLS
User research, visual communication and prototyping
TIMEFRAME
3 days
ROLE
Product Designer
Introduction
Context
Due to the secret nature of the project we don’t have access to the actual oven but we know that it doesn’t have any buttons or displays on it, to the point that the exterior is entirely made of brushed aluminium. Doesn’t even have a glass window.
The only interactive bit on it is the handle to open the door. All the remaining functions must be entirely managed from the app (and that’s what we need you to design).
Thanks to wireless connectivity and a bunch of inputs and sensors the oven can potentially communicate all this information to and from the app. These are not requirements, just the ingredients we can take advantage of.
The oven has a built in Full HD live video camera (hidden on the top, looking down to the tray).
Design Brief
The app should “work”. Your design must get to a point where engineers could start putting together an MVP. It should be able to support any reasonable actions an oven user might want (eg. “I forgot my kids at school, I need to turn the oven off right now” or “this roast needs 10 more minutes”).
Pixels matter. We expect them to be crisp and tidy, paying attention to margins and alignments, making good use of platform conventions, etc. Wireframes are not a valid outcome for this task.
Unless you have time to spare don’t worry about things like pairing the app with the oven or user onboarding. Focus on the basic operations around cooking.
In this stage you’re on your own so feel free to make assumptions about how the tech works or who our users are. Take notes of those assumptions and decisions though.
Send us the result in a prototype with an explanation, a Sketch file, an article or even a video, totally up to you.
Process
01 Discover
I decided to speak to some home cooks in order to understand what features they may need. Due to time constraints I made up a quick Google form survey to send out to some friends I knew were into home cooking.
DECISIONS FOR SPEED AND EFFICIENCY:
Utilise as many standard iOS components as possible to reduce build time
Design flexible components that can be used in multiple locations
Align with Monzo’s current look and feel for consistency and speed
Timer functionality is essential to cooking and can be integrated using native phone timer app
02 Define
3 features were highlighted by users that they would like to see in the smart oven app. The timing feature was included to add value for users when using the oven.
ESSENTIAL TO USERS:
🔥 Turn oven ON and OFF from the app
🎛️ See and adjust temperature from the app
👀 See inside the oven without opening the door
ADDED VALUE FOR USERS:
🚭 Turn off oven automatically if smoke is detected
⏲️ Set time within smart oven app
03 Ideate
I created a simple user flow allowing the user to move between states and functions easily.
Create a design system to be used across the App to ensure consistency and speed of development.
04 Prototype (+ Test)
I created a quick prototype in Adobe XD to see how the flow felt on mobile and showed some friends for feedback. Some tweaks were made to increase user comprehension and size of text.
Watch the video and try out the prototype or below:
05 Submit
This was part of a design challenge during the interview process for Monzo. I submitted the task but unfortunately I did not progress to the next round of interviews.
