DFC@Home
Delta Faucet Company
Led UX direction for Delta Faucet Company's smart home IoT mobile app — driving it from a cluttered, ADA non-compliant web app to a best-in-class mobile experience that reduced support calls by 25% and resolved 66 accessibility failures across a 4-year engagement.
Business Impact
Over a four-year engagement, this work moved Delta Faucet Company from an ADA non-compliant, cluttered web app to a best-in-class IoT mobile experience — measurably reducing support costs and setting a new internal standard for user-centered design.
The Starting Point: What Was Broken
Cluttered UI
No clear visual direction. Important information missing, too many choices presented upfront with no clear hierarchy.
Low Task Completion
Test data was unambiguous: unlabeled icons and a busy interface led to confusion and consistently low task completion rates.
Non-ADA Compliant
Low contrast text, unlabeled icons, and gradients obscuring text created accessibility barriers for a broad range of users.
Strategic Design Requirements
Brand-Agnostic Visual Identity
Create a unified visual identity that could serve both Delta and Brizo smart water product lines without favoring either brand.
In-App Installation
Physical installation instructions lived on YouTube and in PDF manuals. Moving them in-app was critical to reducing drop-off and support calls.
Research Infrastructure
No user testing program existed. I persuaded leadership to invest in UserTesting.com and then built the entire research program from the ground up.
Scalability
Design an extensible foundation that could absorb new IoT product lines including steam showers, lighting, and audio as the platform grew.
What I Drove
- 01
ADA Compliance Program
Championed and directed a comprehensive ADA audit — an initiative that had no organizational precedent. The audit surfaced 66 accessibility failures, all of which were resolved under my direction.
- 02
User Testing Infrastructure
Secured budget and organizational support for UserTesting.com when no testing program existed. Designed all test protocols, recruited participants, and synthesized findings into actionable design decisions.
- 03
Call Center Intelligence Partnership
Initiated a cross-functional partnership with the customer support team to mine real call center pain points — turning reactive support data into proactive design inputs.
- 04
Animated Installation System
Identified that PDF manuals and YouTube videos were driving support calls. Championed in-app animated installation instructions, keeping users in the experience and directly contributing to the 25% support call reduction post-launch.
- 05
UX Writing Overhaul
Directed a full rewrite of in-app instructional copy — replacing engineering terminology with plain-language directions that reduced cognitive load and improved task completion.
- 06
Competitive Intelligence
Led a comparative analysis of Kohler and Moen mobile apps, IoT review platforms, and smart home forums to benchmark the market and identify whitespace opportunities for Delta.
Building a Testing Program From the Ground Up
Test Design
Participant Targeting
Connecting to Voice Commands
Visual Direction Concepts
Before & After — Phase 1
Phase 1 resolved the cluttered UI and introduced product photography, drawing visual inspiration from premium relaxation apps like Calm.
Animations for Installation
Real World Familiarity
- Involved branding in UI refinements, providing more clarity on aesthetic
- Expand upon installation instructions by adding the connectivity steps, via an animated Lottie file
- Aesthetic similar to a printed manual - Pace of animation and limited text would not tax the cognitive load of the user, for easy comprehension of the step-by-step instructions
- Simultaneously used Facetime and screen sharing available on the 'Live Test' feature in UserTesting.com to observe app usage while participants physically installed the module.
Scaling the Product: Steam Shower Integration
Multiple IoT Products, One Unified Experience
