App4Home — Redesigning the Smart Home Experience through Clarity, Consistency, and Intelligence
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Overview
Our mission: Redesign the entire mobile experience and build a scalable design system that could grow with App4Home’s ecosystem.
App4Home is an IoT platform that helps users control their smart homes — from lighting and temperature to energy consumption and security — all from one intuitive mobile app.
When the App4Home team approached us, their vision was clear: transform a functional but fragmented interface into a cohesive, human-centered experience that feels intelligent, approachable, and consistent across every interaction.
The challenge was not just visual — it was structural. The existing app had grown organically over time, with inconsistent UI patterns, unclear navigation, and limited feedback loops between user behavior and system automation.
The Challenge — Complexity Without Clarity
Smart home apps walk a fine line: too simple and they feel limited, too complex and users get lost.
App4Home needed to strike that balance — giving users powerful automation tools while maintaining visual calm and cognitive ease.
Through our UX audit, we identified three main pain points:
Fragmented interface — inconsistent card designs, shadows, and typography created a disjointed experience.
Cognitive overload — dashboards presented too many controls at once, without clear grouping or visual hierarchy.
Missing feedback and learning layer — users had little sense of how the AI adapted or what actions improved suggestions.
The Redesign — From Control to Confidence
We rebuilt the experience around clarity, adaptability, and emotional warmth — blending functional precision with visual simplicity.
The Dashboard: Calm Command Center
We reorganized the home screen into a clean, modular layout that balances data with context.
Dynamic greetings personalize the experience (“Welcome home, Sebastian”).
Smart summaries condense metrics (energy, water, gas) into quick-glance cards.
Quick actions bring the most-used functions — lights, doors, plugs — within one tap.
Each element was designed to be scannable, touch-friendly, and accessible in various lighting environments.
House View: Spaces, Not Screens
Instead of a device list, we created a spatial hierarchy.
Users navigate their home the way they think about it — by spaces (Living Room, Garden, Bedroom) — each with its own contextual devices and climate controls. Subtle transitions and empty states make the experience feel calm and intentional, even when no devices are connected.
Scenes & Automation: Empowering the Everyday
We redesigned scene creation to feel more conversational than technical.
Triggers and actions are organized through progressive disclosure.
Contextual cards, color cues, and friendly icons guide users through “if this → then that” logic.
The “AI Suggestions” area introduces smart recommendations based on routines, letting users like/dislike to refine personalization.
AI Recommendations: Learning That Feels Human
The new “AI Suggestions” feature acts as the intelligent layer of the ecosystem.
Instead of abstract automation, users see clear suggestions like “Movie Night” or “Wake Up,” each tied to devices and moods.
Micro-interactions (like/dislike) feed back into the system’s adaptive logic — teaching the AI through real-world context.
The Design System — Building App4Home DS
This system isn’t just a visual library — it’s a living framework for developers and designers, allowing new features (AI suggestions, stats modules, scene builders) to integrate seamlessly.
To ensure future scalability, we developed the App4Home Design System, a foundation built for consistency and collaboration.
Core principles:
Light by default: Neutral surfaces and subtle shadows emphasize focus and depth.
Unified spacing & radius tokens: Every element aligns to an 8px grid, simplifying responsiveness.
Color logic: Functional hues (blue = action, yellow = warning, green = comfort) paired with warm neutrals.
Component hierarchy: Cards, toggles, charts, and modals share a consistent language, built from atomic layers.
Illustrations: Custom onboarding and empty-state illustrations infuse personality without clutter.
The smartest home is the one that feels effortless.
The smartest home is the one that feels effortless.
Results
We didn’t just design an app. We designed how your home talks back.
40% reduction in visual clutter per screen.
2x faster user onboarding for smart device setup.
Improved comprehension of energy usage trends and scene automation.
Unified cross-platform visuals between iOS and Android.
