Connected Product Experiences
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This document discusses several connected product experiences and the lessons learned from them. It covers Philips Hue smart lights, Centrica Hive home automation, Wiithings health trackers, HP Instant Ink printer ink subscriptions, and Bosch's IoT cloud platform. Key lessons include reacting quickly to competitors or early customer interest; expanding product lines while de-risking with spinoffs; leveraging an existing brand; and engaging developers through open source approaches.
Connected Product Experiences
- 1. Connected Product Experiences on scale, experience and business models Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino @iotwatch April 30th 2021
- 2. My name is Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino @iotwatch on Twitter
- 4. Designing services that are valued over time and developing customer loyalty.
- 5. Philips Hue (2012-) In September 2012, LIFX raises 1.3M on Kickstarter. Philips had the hardware in R&D but no app. A London-based agency developed the app and it was on sale in Apple stores by October 30th 2012.
- 6. Philips Hue (2012-) It’s now one of 4 brands owned by Signify, the name of Philips Lighting which was spun out in 2016: • Color Kinetics • Lighting Components • Wiz • Wifi-connected lighting • Interact • Software platform for lighting control
- 7. Philips Hue (2012-) Now over 200 products which are controlled with the Hue Bridge. From launch, they published an API to allow developers to build third party apps. They’ve added more products and extensions since launch. Approx. sales figures in 2019: EUR 521M
- 8. Lessons from Philips Hue • React quickly to early adopters interest (LIFX) in the same way Pebble paved the way for wearables. • Keep investing while de-risking and spinning off • Built on the strength of an already recognised brand
- 9. Centrica Hive (2012-) Nest launched in 2010. AlertMe (Cambridge) was hired to design an app which was white- labelled. 1st generation product was launched in 2012.
- 10. Centrica Hive (2012-) In 2015, AlertMe was acquired by Hive and Yves Béhar was commissioned to design their new Hive 2. In 2016, a suite of new products are added (bulbs, sensors, camera). In 2017, subscription services are introduced with Welcome Home at £5.99/mo
- 11. Centrica Hive (2012-) Installation (£200) is now also available as a monthly payment. Sales: ‘over 1 million connected home hubs worldwide’ (2019)
- 12. Lessons from Philips Hue • React quickly to competitors (Nest) while bringing in expertise from others (AlertMe). • Build a suite of products that feel related to the core product experience (boiler management & leak prevention) • The space gets busy (Netatmo, Tado, Nest, Honeywell) so offering more flexible paying methods that feel closer to a utility payment becomes key. • Being clear about the savings (if any) is also crucial to buy-in.
- 13. Wiithings (2008-) Launched a wi-fi scale in 2009 just as ‘quantified self’ movement was starting (Fitbit was launched the same year) The scale could also tweet someone’s weight using the Twitter API.
- 14. Wiithings (2008-) They launched a children’s scale in 2013 and a Swiss-watch style activity tracker in 2014 with variants for sports activities. Acquired by Nokia in 2016. Bought back by the founder in 2018.
- 15. Wiithings (2008-) The company now has products in multiple categories: sleep tracking, contact-less thermometers, blood pressure trackers. Some are ‘clinically validated’ and FDA approved. In 2019, Wiithings Health Solutions was spun off as a dedicated B2B business.
- 16. Lessons from Wiithings • Design focused • Expanded into more challenging health products and sell direct to healthcare professionals with a focus on the data gathering/visualisation.
- 17. HP Instant Ink (2013-) Launched as a subscription services for ink, its printers do not work without specific connected ink cartridges. Customers pay for a certain number of pages to be printed/month on the basis of ‘frequent/moderate/occasional’ pricing. By 2015, there were 675 000 subscribers and the program was expanded across multiple printer models. It took them only 30 months to reach 500 000 customers.
- 18. Lessons from HP Instant Ink • For customers who are more focused on convenience than price. • Reviews from 2020 highlight the need for diligence when signing up as the product hasn’t fundamentally adapted to a paperless office / wfh reality. • The recycling scheme that is built into the service will help the business with its ESG reporting but need to align with WEEE directive and e-waste policies coming in with the Green Deal.
- 19. Bosch IOT Cloud (2016-) Bosch Software Innovations was born out of the acquisition of a software company in 2008. It was rebranded in 2020 and is a separate business called Bosch.IO The Bosch IoT Suite was launched in 2013 at their first developer event. Prosyst an IoT middleware specialist was acquired in 2019.
- 20. Lessons from Bosch IOT Cloud • De-risk the experiments by structuring different companies for projects. • Work to engage with different divisions of the business on specific projects. Act like an agency. • Work with open source in mind to invite engagement from developers (participated in the Better IoT certification mark effort)