App in need of serious redesign - Yes or No?

@milehiguy Specifically for a tablet, I will look into what that would require technically. I know a phone landscape mode would be very difficult for the same reasons that a dark mode would be difficult- the app was built very quickly without any components. So an update would require a 100% redevelopment.

But it might be possible for us to make a mode that would add margins to the side during a landscape mode. I will inquire about this.

We had planned a 3.0 app and would probably be well on our way through it by now if the virus didn’t hit. So the 3.0 rebuild was pushed to 2021 while we secure our planned Series B funding. Very possible it would simply be an alternative though, rather than a replacement, similar to SmartThings. In the meantime, the existing app will see some massive changes.

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I’m sorry you feel that way. Your frustration is understandable. The difference this time is everything in my first reply above is designing and in development :slight_smile:

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Please, please, please bifurcate The single Wyze app into a home and a health, two independent applications.

Or please show an example of how the new Wyze scale would be a dependent and integrated component of all of the other Wyze devices.

I for one would not like to upgrade my application to use the Wyze scale and jeopardize Stability and usability of all of my other Wyze products. As my 2 1/2 years of experience with Wyze has shown, it is very likely an update for one product will disrupt the operation and usability of another product by many ways within the Single app.

Thanks for the article! I will share with the product team.

For some background, I came from Microsoft, where accessibility was practically a religion. Products were blocked from shipping if they were not accessible- no matter cost. They spent a remarkable amount of resources training us up through workshops and talking with differently-abled users.

Our home page is pretty terrible- it’s more of a device list. I’m hoping to move us away from the idea of “devices” and move toward “capabilities” that surface controls and insights. I will keep your input in mind when designing it and make sure it is done the right way this time.

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I appreciate you coming to the forum with a real response to this.
You seem to be going in a direction that would cover my problems with the app. Tiny fonts and very little contrast.
We have been told that implementing Dark Mode is much more difficult than it would normally be but no real detail as to why.
A few of us are developers for other platforms and would understand an explanation.
I don’t like the idea of one app for all Wyze products. Cameras, sensors,don’t fit well with scales and bands.

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I wasn’t aware of this issue regarding event deletion- I made a note on my desk and will attempt to replicate the issue when our developers are finished with their initial redevelopment and have the pattern fixed. Thanks for pointing this out!

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Couple of problems. With design, the US design team is me, two others, and a manager. We need to triple in size. Then we will have the ability to create a design system from what exists. Then, we can create the design system we need. And then it can be applied to the app.

With development, we don’t have a component library and there isn’t a structure to the app. A lot of things are built custom. There is no single source of truth that a theme is generated from. It is a big bowl of spaghetti, due to our early remarkably quick growth. With many apps a designer can say “Okay, these existing grayscale colors can switch over to this. And we can use a few special rules like using lighter grays to represent higher elevation. Done.” The problem is that we don’t have that existing theme file to convert. So every view would have to be redesigned. This would take about 6 months to get out into the world, we would celebrate, and then we would be faced with a doubled workload thereafter due to creating a light and dark mode for each screen. This is why we need a design system to pull from.

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Thats for sharing, It might be time to have an internal priority discussion.

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The very bottom of the home page is nearly invisible. The time code is too small in the normal portrait mode. It is better in the horizontal mode but the white text might be better if it were red or blue. IMHO.

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Austin, I sense that this is the direction you would like to go in. Do you have the blessings of Wyze to do this and one must assume that it would be a side project along with your normal responsibilities?. Usually in programming, as I understand it, modularity is typically the path taken in development as some of the routines and sub-routines can be called at different times for reuse. I assume that is the approach you wish that had been used rather than the hodgepodge method used to rush an application To market in support of a product that outgrew expectations…

When Battery % is on, I know it is on the screen but it is so tiny as to be useless, even with a magnifying glass. Same color text on same color background on the phone app - get a color blind person to review your work, that blue on blue, orange on orange is is next to impossible to see well. Tiny grey text on white background is very difficult read also. And when you get around to it, PLEASE put the heart rate on the main screen with steps. Actually heart rate is more important to me WHEN I AM EXERCISING that the number of steps. That is how I set my pace to be not so hard yet not so easy. A 74 yo has to get the heart rate right (as does anyone else who exercises) . I can always look at my step progress AFTER I am finished but fumbling around over several screens to get to heart rate is a no go for me…that is why the Wyze Band ihas been relegated to my chest top rather than my wrist.

Jim Russell

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Ok, I understand. The app was built in pieces as needed.

I believe Wyze is facing a common issue with early development commonly called “design debt”. It’s common in startups and even large established shops.

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Thanks for the reply @AustinByr. Like most others, I use my iPad in landscape mode 95% of the time and keep it locked in that orientation. As you can imagine, below is what I see when I launch the app. In addition to being oriented incorrectly, there’s a ton of unused screen real estate. All other screens/menus, etc. are similarly sideways. Thanks again for agreeing to look into this. As someone who worked in IT design/programming for decades prior to retirement, I do appreciate the scope of the task ahead of you. :wink:

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But that doesn’t indicate modular in design… Only added to as needed to function

#wyzeband

I would like to request some changes to the wyze band app:

  1. Add a “do not disturb” or “sleep mode” for the band app on the phone which can be set to cover a time span (say 12pm to 8am). This mode causes the band to go completely dark and stops heart rate checks, notifications, etc. If you touch the band, the band does not respond (no light). However the band continues to track steps and sleep.

Why is this needed:

  1. I took a shower with the band and the band somehow managed to reset itself. I had to re-initialize the band and lost a day of data.
  2. When I am sleeping and touch the band, it lights up and wakes me up. Also the heart rate led lights up on a regular basis and wakes me up.

Without a change to the app my solution is to take off the band when I shower and sleep. Without a change to lock out the screen, I may stop using the band.

Thanks!

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My frustration is the result of several concerns - This Thread" - “jerky pan cam” - “slow or no notifications” - “events that never load” and others that are never fixed. The useless “We are looking into that” answer.

To say I am surprised an actual Wyze person is posting here is a positive sign. Maybe for once something will actually change - hopeful but still guarded.

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Widgets for Android. We need widgets that can be added to the homescreen. What’s the point of having a shortcut that can only be tapped after opening the app. I have home/away shortcuts to turn certain cameras off/on in a certain group. If gotta open the app first I can just tap that group which makes the shortcut useless. Home screen widgets would save some time!

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I suspect the biggest problem is there are no seasoned veterans on staff, both in management and in Dev.

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Austin,

Thanks for the insights as to why a redesign of the app is so problematic.

However with a recent report that Amazon is, or soon to be, offering it’s own $30 camera, I would say it is imperative you prioritize the redesign.

With Amazon’s clout ($$$) they could eventually bury Wyze.

We, your active existing customers, have offered valuable insights as to what needs be done in order to maintain a competitive edge.

I suffer many of the same issues & complaints presented here.

Rather than repeat them all, the 2 or 3 which rise to the top: either a dark mode or at least a global change of contrast would benefit most in the short term. Landscape mode and separate apps for health are others.

The issues you raise underscore the need for a total re-evaluation and re-design of the application.

Do realize you are hearing only from a small group of users astute enough to utilize and feedback through this forum. There are undoubterldly many more customers who would welcome these hoped for changes.

Promptly tackling these issues will help keep Wyze on the positive side of the growth curve you were all so surprised by.

Thank you for listening, and even more so for acting.

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