The Story
Portal is a new breed of smart WiFi that keeps you connected to the strongest, fastest WiFi at all times, specially when there are several other WiFi networks or devices around you.
$791k
Pledged on Kickstarter on a
goal of $160K
goal of $160K
4,562
Backers on Kickstarter
<7 minutes
Setup time from opening the
box to being online
box to being online
How it works
SET UP YOUR PORTAL
SET UP YOUR NETWORK
ADD YOUR DEVICES
The Challenge
The Portal team approached us to design and develop the core apps that allow users to configure the wifi router. There were several factors that made this an extremely challenging project. First off, we had to design the app to keep setup steps to be minimal. We also had to deal with a large amount of potential failure cases and ensure that the user could recover quickly and gracefully to accomplish setup. An engineering team distributed over 6 locations meant that we had to be extremely flexible and detail oriented to accomplish a launch before the holiday shopping season.
The Solution
Keeping in mind the challenges of a complicated technical project with a distributed team and several moving parts, we structured an internal team that could maximize the chances of success and reduce ineffciencies. We assigned a mobile lead local in San Francisco to work with the stakeholders from Portal. The lead coordinated all activities between the PM team, our Design / Engineering teams and Portal's server and network teams. We also changed our teams work timings to ensure overlap with the distributed teams.
We launched the product successfully before the holiday shopping season to the App Stores.
Services Offered
UI / UX
Prototyping
iOs/Android
Development
Testing
Solutions
Setup Flow
SETUP IN A FLASH
Simple
Walkthrough
Walkthrough
Step by step instructions with clear language and illustrations made it easy for users to set up the system.
On-brand Splash Screen
A well illustrated splash screen gave the users a warm first expression and boosted brand awareness.
Fun Loading Animation
While waiting for Portal to finish setting-up, an eye-catching loading animation made the wait enjoyable.
Managing Guests
EASY TO MANAGE
Easy-to-track Settings Flow
A clean design and clear call-outs allowed users to manage guest, roles and configure access with a few taps.
Increase Trust with Helpful Feedback
We increased user trust and security by letting users know what devices were connected and who had been granted access.
Shipping with Speed and Quality
A classic problem in a new product launch is to balance speed of execution to the quality of the product. In an IoT project of this nature with hardware/software integrations, there are several points of failure that could affect the user experience. We worked with the Portal Product and Engineering teams to come up with solutions to maintain quality while executing rapidly on features. We created realistic release schedules that allowed us sufficient time for testing. While the hardware was being developed, we coordinated with their backend teams to create a simulator for the device that could help us test the core functions ahead of schedule. This lead to continuous improvement of the product quality while not compromising on the release schedule.
Product Review
techcrunch
Portal router drastically improved my Wi-Fi connection
Reliable Wi-Fi is what a lot of us have come to expect in today's world of hyper-connectivity. I don't know about you, but my roommates and I just went with whatever router Comcast gave us. That was a rookie move because it only reliably works in one room (the room with the router) out of five.
