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Linksys's new attempt to jump into the gaming market. With killer prioritization WRT32X is a router that truly speaks to hardcore gamers.
As the Lead UX Designer, I was responsible for delivering the site maps, wireframes and functional specs for the complex feature suites. Also worked with the research team to analyze the data and draw clear directions. Through rapid prototyping and testing I successfully defined and designed all the requirements.
This was an experimental project for Linksys. To test the waters of the gaming industry Linksys turned to approach they were famous for; use OpenWRT as the engine but with heavy modification.
With a robust OS as it's foundation all the focus was in the user experience. Despite the short time frame the product was planned to debut at the 2017 CES, we had to be extremely lean and agile.
We used a hybrid agile approach which emphasized quick design, testing and iteration. Since the development was outsourced overseas communication was core and at every stage of the project, at every round of user interviews, I made sure everyone was updated and involved in the UX- whether through presentations, through UX digests, or through same-day email recaps that summarized a day’s research findings.
Before we started design work, I worked with Linksys's Research Team to understand our potential users. We interviewed gamers ranging from professional rig owning hardcore users to the casual weekend gamer. We took the time to understand their personal goals and motivations.
We think routers has one function. Generate WiFi signal. But there are a whole lot more that a user can do to configure their WiFi settings. However these features are confusing, challenging and complicated.
A rough draft of the information architecture was created by sorting cards of all the features that open WRT was capable. Data hierarchy from usability and complexity was measured by previous data from user testing conducted from the past and the level relevance of data to our gamer users.
I adopted the difficulty structure of games and divided the features of the interface in a similar manner. The dashboard gave the average user enough information. Depending on the complexity and accountability, features were divided to two groups; normal and hard (advanced). Advanced features were hidden to keep the interface less intimidating but once revealed users feel empowered functionally and visually.
Keywords were generated by cross referencing common core values from users interviews and visual terms from interfaces that users were familiar with such as games, tech devices, game portals and gaming operating systems.
24 in-person tests were conducted. Test subjects were given a series of various difficulty tasks to accomplish with the assistant of google. From changing WiFi password to port forwarding we measured the time it took and the areas they searched. We tested our assumptions and iterated to come up with the most optimized categorization and user flow. Also determined the type and amount of features to balanced the intimidation of the interface.
The visual style was a blend of gamer enticing and Linksys professional. Despite this being their high-end product it was venturing into a new market. This allowed the UI team to try something different by exploring new typefaces and color schemes.
Visual inspiration was not only drawn from digital interfaces but also physical objects. I also attended Blizzcon to get a good sense of the gaming vibe and environment.
Most basic but most essential information displayed. Focused for average users.
Device prioritization enabled by Killer. Emphasized for gamers.
Basic and advanced feature configuration page. Basic features were designed for average users and advanced feature interface was designed to empower power users.
The router configuration interface at 192.168.1.1 is by far the nicest I have ever used. It's incredibly simple yet very powerful. See the attached screenshot. The main dashboard shows current network traffic, speed test results, and connected devices. Advanced settings like prioritization, port forwarding, etc. are easy to access and don't feel overwhelming. If nothing else, Linksys has hit a home run with the design of this new configuration page.
The WRT32X's firmware isn't just for gamers. It sets a new benchmark for user-friendly controls, and it's incredibly well organized.
The software powering the machine deserves far more credit. The Linksys WRT32X has been built from the ground up with gaming traffic in mind. To that end, the interface controlling everything is super-user friendly. In fact, on some fronts it holds as more user-friendly than the general consumer-grade fare. You can easily pull up the different devices connected to your network and then visually re-order them according to their importance. There’s nothing more intuitive than a good drag-and-drop system, and it’s deployed well here.
