By Maria Cury; Contributing writing and analysis by Tamara Moellenberg, Brendan Muha and Mikkel Krenchel 

It’s a summer evening and the side doors of the home are open to the garden. Lucas turns over the chicken on the grill and Hanna rinses tomatoes they’ve picked, while their toddler lets out a laugh from outside. The family has a smart TV downstairs, and smart speakers and smart security cameras scattered throughout the home. Lucas’s favorite smart device, though? He moves aside cutlery in a drawer and takes out a smart thermometer for roasting meat – “I love this thing.” With it, he can perfect his chars during the special meals he and Hanna prepare together, sometimes with friends over, ideally once every two weeks if they have time (but time is scarce for the first-time parents). They have thousands of dollars’ worth of smart things, but it’s the smallest and cheapest device that resonates most with how that family wants to engage with smart home technology.

As businesses scramble to get a foothold on what promises to be a digital revolution of the home, they have misunderstood many of the realities of modern domestic life. Over the past three years, researchers from ReD Associates have spent time with hundreds of families of diverse backgrounds, from working-class families in rural areas to professionals in coastal cities in the U.S. We met them in their homes and neighborhoods, accompanied them on their daily routines, talked intimately about their fears and aspirations, and closely observed how they use technology in their everyday lives.

Across the families we've spent time with over the years, we've seen five mistakes many companies are making about the smart home:

Mistake #1: Fully automating home tasks, instead of helping people get better at these tasks

Today, many companies are seeking to automate everything, offering what seems to be the ultimate value of convenience. Take, for example, Keurig-style tech like the Genie instant oven: families simply pop in a ‘pod,’ push a button, and soon dinner is ready). But across the U.S. we see people take great pride in performing – and even perfecting – some home tasks themselves (or at least appearing to do so – for some, this is more aspiration than reality). With the digitization of work and social life, people are craving the tangible, sensory satisfaction and skill-building that comes from that perfectly cooked roast or picking lettuce from the yard. The growing trend of home gardening is an example of this, especially among millennials and Gen Z: 38% of 18-34 year-olds said they plan to spend more on lawn and gardening in 2019 than they had the year prior, compared to the overall average of 29%[1]. And people are embracing tools that ease the challenges of the mundane aspects of home tasks, while still giving them an active role in the aspects that provide a sense of achievement or control. Some families we met, for example, loved their smart sprinklers because it automated the chore of watering while keeping them informed of the soil quality, and left the satisfaction of planting and harvesting for them to do. Companies seeking to resonate with today’s tech users should shift from a mindset of convenience (which users can quickly take for granted) to one of empowerment, focusing less on taking tasks away from people (especially ones they take pride in doing) and more on helping them get better at the activities they enjoy.

Mistake #2: Designing for individuals, not for collectives 

Personalization is trendy in today’s smart home industry, but whose preferences are these smart devices actually learning and catering to? The home is becoming more open, and what defines a “family” or “household” is more flexible and expanding. The average household size in the U.S. is going up for the first time in 160 years, reflective of other observed demographic trends such as growth in multigenerational households and growth in shared households (i.e. homes with an “extra adult”)[2]. Most smart devices are not used by individuals but rather by collectives that are more transient and flexible, with many people – extended family members and housemates, overnight guests, friends, neighbors, and house sitters – accessing and modifying the settings. More homeowners are renting out spaces to guests, entertaining is becoming less formal, and families are increasingly democratic in their decision-making and collaborative in their home tasks. For example, families we met are increasingly seeking to make decisions with their children, rather than for their children, around screen time and consumption of digital media, but telecoms providers often design for controls that are unilaterally determined and monitored only by a parent. And people often describe getting calls from Airbnb guests or grandparents who cannot adjust the temperature of the home using the smart thermostat while the “primary user” was away. The personalization logic, which prioritizes a single user and decision-maker, is working against how families function, creating challenges in how people access shared smart devices, and hierarchies around whose preferences these devices remember and prioritize. To succeed in the home of tomorrow, companies need to design solutions for collectives, not individuals.

Mistake #3: Prioritizing permanence and complete systems, instead of adaptability 

“Built-in” is everywhere in today’s high-tech home (for instance, the HGTV 2019 Dream Home boasts built-in smart blinds, pre-installed bathroom TVs, and built-in toilet speakers). But rather than wanting a system of integrated technology, we’ve observed people prefer portable and adaptable devices, and to build a system as they go. In an increasingly chaotic world, few families see their current home as their “forever home” and they express wanting the option to move quickly if needed. (Interestingly, the zeitgeist is at odds with the actual numbers: 9.8% of Americans moved from March 2018-2019, the smallest percentage since 1947, so people are moving less but feel like they are moving more.[3]) People want to be able to take their expensive smart tech devices with them when they (theoretically) move, and they also worry about how quickly a built-in smart device like an appliance touchscreen may become obsolete and outdated as technology improves faster than they buy a new device. As a result, we see people embracing makeshift ecosystems of devices that can be easily swapped out and upgraded (as a family enters a new life stage for example), or opting for more transient solutions like pocket-projectors instead of built-in televisions (for easy transport to a new home or a spontaneous camping trip). Companies should create more portable, upgradable, plug-and-play technologies that fit with changing needs, staying relevant over time.

Mistake #4: Prioritizing one modality or channel, rather than flexible interaction models 

Visions of the smart home assume users will constantly speak with their devices, or screens will cover the home’s surfaces– but it often seems to be either-or, rather than both-and. Companies are deciding which one modality (e.g. voice or touch) and which one channel (e.g. app or platform) to interact with a device. Voice interactions might become the dominant way humans interact with technology in the future: one in four US adults own a smart speaker and 33% of those adults use it multiple times a day; the number of smart speakers in US householders has grown 135% in two years[4]. But voice modalities alone are not always helpful – for instance, when having an intimate conversation with a loved one or preparing food in a crowded and noisy kitchen, or when seeking to limit a child’s exposure to technology. At the same time, people are becoming cautious of screens, the incumbent modality: as screens colonize more of people’s lives outside the home, people are finding more ways to restrict them within the home, for instance by banishing TVs to basements, or hiding mobile phones and tablets in drawers, in favor of fewer distractions. People are piecing together different interaction models – mobile apps sometimes, voice assistance other times, wearables, even old-fashioned knobs and buttons – as changing situations require. Are they in the company of others? Pursuing a focused task? Needing complicated information? Trying to relax? Offering a range of modalities and channels for different contexts and preferences is fundamental for creating interactions people value. Companies need to expand their range of interaction models, thinking carefully about when certain modalities and channels are useful and when they may be a source of frustration, distraction, or embarrassment.

Mistake #5: Optimizing everyday routines, but not helping special social occasions shine

Companies want to help people optimize home routines: the shower starts warming up as soon as the alarm clock rings, the espresso machine begins brewing as soon as the shower switches off. And indeed, 57% of Americans say that smart home devices save them an average of thirty minutes per day[5]. But families often have routines too chaotic or variable to optimize: people snooze their alarms when they go to bed late, occasionally shower at the gym instead of at home, or treat themselves to coffee from their favorite cafe on the way to work. We’ve found people are drawn to solutions that help them make special social occasions shine, buying many of their smart devices not with their everyday routines in mind, but for these high-value (even if infrequent) occasions. One couple we met, for instance, installed smart speakers specifically to make sure the same music could blast from every room during their house parties (which they rarely threw). Yet, during these high-value moments, many smart systems that people buy for these occasions stumble in their ability to coordinate and enhance overall experiences or moods across rooms and individuals. Companies should show how their offerings help people’s special occasions shine, not just their (unpredictable and varying) routines; ideally, smart home technology would be helpful for both scenarios.

These observations, coming from in-depth fieldwork on tech in everyday life conducted over years and across the country, have implications for how companies make and market their products for a connected home. Companies should shift from a mindset of convenience, automation, and permanent systems, to one of empowerment, intentionality, and flexibility. Products should feel updatable, intuitive for collectives of people (not just individuals), discreet and conscientious of the distractions of modern living, and should help the home shine on special occasions.

[1] National Gardening Survey 2019 Edition

[2] According to a 2019 Pew Research Center study

[3] According to 2019 Census Bureau data

[4] According to National Public Media’s 2020 Smart Audio Report

[5] According to a 2018 survey by CNET and Coldwell Banker

[Banner image by Ihor Saveliev, via Unsplash]