*Due to a non-disclosure agreement, I am unable to share detailed product images, features and other sensitive material. I have omitted confidential information in this post.

The Idea：A Wi-Fi Remote in Your Pocket

The ideal situation

Having a wifi management tool can provide users with a more streamlined and efficient way to manage their wifi network. It can allow users to quickly and easily make changes to their network settings, troubleshoot issues, and optimize performance. Additionally, a management tool can provide more comprehensive information about the network, such as data usage and device connectivity, which can help users better understand and control their network.

Yes, it is the ideal situation;
…how do people currently manage their wifi, though?

As we started to ask, we quickly realized that Wi-Fi management for individual users is not really a thing, or we could even say it’s more like hands-off management. To end-users, the only thing they care about using Wi-Fi is whether it works or not. That being said, when it comes to Wi-Fi management, the more common case is troubleshooting.

At the time, Optim users troubleshoot their Wi-Fi with physical solutions: restarting routers or calling for help, and they can’t do anything if they’re away. As for non-Optim users, they do similarly, but if they can access any online applications, they’d try first, and if they can’t solve it on their own, they will reach out with the ultimate goal of having a technician fix the problem.

It’s not difficult to notice the need for an assistant to keep the wifi-using process smooth at any given point. People use wifi management tools in order to use the Internet with greater ease.

Perhaps, a better question to ask here is

How might a wifi management tool improve the wifi using experience?

We need to look into what people care about while using the Internet. A home wifi user may be like “Is it functioning normally now? If not, I want to get it fixed ASAP.” No question it reflects the desire for Internet accessibility and problem-solving efficiency.

With regards to those meant for business purposes, according to our search results, they care more about stability, security, and cost.

Aligning on goals

Before beginning any design work, I brought together PM, marketing leader, and engineering leaders together as part of a couple of times of online meetings. People joined from Santa Clara, Shanghai, and Taipei, with the goal of agreeing to a unified vision.

Within the constraints

In order to ensure that the product meets the user needs while taking into account technical constraints and the existing business model, the product team has set the initial target audience as any end-users who own Actiontec-produced routers, a.k.a. the subscribers of ISPs. Due to the fact that end-users will be registered via their ISP account, there is a limitation in terms of the real-time data that can be obtained by Optim. This time gap may cause potential frustration for users, which will need to be addressed.

Additionally, due to the fundamental design of the firmware, there may be limitations in the capability that the Optim service can achieve in terms of device discovery and identification on a network. This will impact the way that we present topology and other relevant information in the app.

User journeys and promises

As we moved toward making “A remote in your pocket” a reality,
we narrowed our scope down to 2 hero scenarios that highlighted our user promises:

Optim's service for individual users can be activated immediately after their account is created by the ISP. The tasks for users after logging in to Optim are divided into two categories: "active tasks" and "passive tasks". The former includes settings such as WiFi and parental control, while the latter mainly involves receiving notifications and monitoring data.

To map use cases to Optim, we broke it down into six major features, and each feature functions independently:

• Overview - Topology
• Device
• Wi-Fi
• Security
• Traffic
• Parental Control

Scenario 1 - Multi-location frequent management 多點密集管理

Scenario 2 - Single-location casual management 單點鬆散管理

The User Journey

If trying to make it look linear, the user journey would be illustrated by transitioning from this:

to this:

As Optim starts to get involved, we want to make this whole journey as easy and smooth as possible.

With fewer incidents happening, ISPs receive fewer support calls. When issues do occur, Optim notifies and empowers users to handle the problems through its features. And furthermore, users can even proactively prevent hassles like traffic overload, malicious attacks, kids trying to access inappropriate websites, etc. All of this make it more of a seamless home network management experience. With Optim’s help, the users and their ISP would both have a good day!

Icon Design

Key screens iterations

Structure & Userflow Design Document

This project is currently in the stage of internal testing. We are eager to leverage what we learn from the feedback and apply it to future Optim experiences.

The first version proved the idea — a Wi-Fi remote in your pocket. When the project picked up again, the second version rebuilt it as a product ISPs can hand out. An ISP gives it to its subscribers under its own name and logo; underneath, it talks to the gateway the ISP installed. The router already has every setting — its web page follows the structure of OpenWrt, deep and technical. The project was to bring what a household actually needs from it onto a phone and a tablet.

I led the design, one feature at a time: each feature has its own design doc with its user flow, key screens, every state, responsive specs for phone and tablet, and a status for design, copy and development. The work is ongoing, and parts of it are already being built.

Challenges

How much of a router belongs on a phone?

A router’s settings are organised for the engineer who built them. A subscriber opens the app with one question — is my Internet working? — and occasionally a second one, like opening a port for a game console.

How do we stay honest when the network isn’t?

The app reads the network through the cloud. Gateways reboot, go offline, or get reset, and readings arrive late. Every screen had to say what it knows and what it doesn’t.

Insights

Home is an answer, not a menu.

Home opens on the state of the Internet, then Network Coverage, Devices, Internet Speed and Wi-Fi as cards. Everything advanced moved behind More. The header’s action sheet was removed in review — log out, help and settings were rarely used there — and its place kept for notifications.

Design the states before the screen.

Home was drawn in six states first: no network yet, connected, offline after a factory reset, offline unexpectedly, rebooting, and with no ISP logo. When the gateway goes silent, the app shows exactly what the cloud last reported, disables the speed test, and offers one way forward: reconfigure the Internet settings over Bluetooth.

One number, one source.

Home only shows the gateway’s speed result. A test run from an extender stays in that session and isn’t shown to anyone else managing the network, so every manager sees the same figure. While a test runs, the controls lock; if it finishes while you’re elsewhere, a toast brings you back.

Advanced settings, one level down.

More holds the router’s deeper features — speed test, port forwarding, adding an extender, the service store, security — and each entry says its latest state, so the menu reads like a summary. Port forwarding checks a rule the way the router does: first that each field is valid, then that the ports map, single port to single port or range to range.

Security without jargon.

Security groups a household into people and devices, with bedtimes, content filters and allowed or blocked sites, and a plain list of what was stopped. When a new device joins, it is marked New until someone looks at it, renames it, or acknowledges it — the history is kept for seven days.

White-label is a design constraint, not a skin.

Every screen has a slot for the ISP’s logo and a version without one. The ISP decides the connection type, the test servers and the welcome message, and bills the add-on services. The app matches the router’s web page and the ISP’s Optim dashboard in what it can do, but follows its own mobile design system.

Result

Nine design docs, each carrying a feature from flow to responsive spec: Home; sign-in and network setup, with Bluetooth gateway detection and an onboarding that resumes where you left off; Speed Test; Network Coverage; Devices; More; Port Forwarding; Security; and the Service Store. Most are approved for design, copy and development; the newer ones are in review.

Beyond this Project

The core features are moving into development, while Port Forwarding, Devices and the Service Store are still in review. The Service Store raises the next questions — how services are billed, who in a household may buy them — and will be designed alongside the ISPs who sell them.