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Motivation:
There are a lot of different air purifier systems, especially now that air quality is a major issue both with climate change and CoViD-19, and they each have their own app and/or physical interfaces. It would be nice to control them all from a single interface.
The existing apps do not particularly highlight what the users are looking for such as pollen, allergens, smoke, pet hair, odors, and volatile organic compounds.
Users have trouble with connectivity issues using wireless to understand the purification system in real time. Some households have more than one air purifier from different brands in the house and do not want to download all the apps.
The apps do not interface with local air quality information from government/crowdsourced systems for the town or state.
The existing apps do not present the percentages of the harmful factors in this atmosphere.
The existing apps do not estimate when replacement parts or maintenance will next be required.
Task Analysis
Identify data sources (different air purifiers, local government or nonprofit-provided air quality data)
Automatic setup:
Identify control points for each air purifier (fan speed, modes of purification)
Identify information each air purifier can provide back to the system
Needs to know about different brands of air purifier and their API (Application Program Interface)
Maybe some kind of user setup for custom air purifiers if theirs is not already included?
Note: Depending on what type of model and brand the user purchases the air purifier there might be slight differences on the design and menu.
Task 1: Connecting Air Purifier System to the Purifo App
Purchases the Air Purifier
Opens the air purifier system
Inserts the HEPA filter inside the air purifier
Inserts the carbon filter inside the air purifier
Adds the pre-filter inside the air purifier
Close the cover of the air purifierAssemble the air purifier in a desire location
Plugs the wire into the outlet
Turns on the air purification systemDownload the mobile application for Purifo App in apple or google store
Name a location to associate with the new air purifier
Selects connect the device and associates it with the location
Read instructions of the connection guide manual
Add product type
Selecting product model
Connect your phone to a setup WiFi network to do initial configuration for the air purifier
Press the Wifi button of the product one time to make Wifi off.
The Wi-fi LED of the product is off, press and hold the Wifi button for 3 seconds to 5 seconds until a beep sounds.
Check if the Wi-fi LED of the product keeps blinking
Connect the Purifo network from the Wi-fi setting of your phone
Go to settings on your phone and choose W-ifi
Go back to the Purifo App of your system
Task 2: Reviewing Air Quality Data from monitoring systems already set up
Open the Purio App.
Select a location where you have monitors set up.
Select the type of information you’d like to review:
Indoor
AQI ground-level ozone
AQI particle pollution (also known as particulate matter, including PM2.5 and PM10)
AQI carbon monoxide
AQI sulfur dioxide
AQI nitrogen dioxide
Temperature
Outdoor
AQI ground-level ozone
AQI particle pollution (also known as particulate matter, including PM2.5 and PM10)
AQI carbon monoxide
AQI sulfur dioxide
AQI nitrogen dioxide
Temperature
Control
Alerts to turn on/off filter
Remind user to change filter when needed
Filter percentage used/until cleaning required
Turn on or off ionizer
Air circulation control on low to high speed
Night Mode / Quiet Mode
Auto Mode
Device Settings
Schedule Time
Change Location/Unit
Share Data with friendsInformation is presented combining data from all connected sensors
User can select an AQI subset to see the data from each sensor
Back button on each screen takes the user back to the prior screen
“Home” button takes the user back to the main screen (even if they have gone deeply into menus)
Task 3: Using (Alexa , Google, Siri) to control your air purifiers
Connect Siri to Air purifier
Use Voice control to turn on/off air purifier
Use Voice control to lower down the air speed
Ask Alexa to lower down the speed, turn night mode on etc
Flow Chart
We created a flow chart that demonstrates a breakdown of the Air Purifier system.
Link To The Flow Chart - Diagrams.net
User Interface Features
Setting up the Air Purifier
Connect device to the app
Wireless connectivity setup
When adding more than one air purifier
Home screen
AQI History thumbnail
Control Thumbnail (gear shaped to take you to settings and scheduling)
Indoor/Outdoor air quality
Select a location thumbnails (colored by AQI in that location, showing AQI number, shaped by what kind of location - house, factory, etc)
Main Screen for a Location
Indoor quality/temperature
Outdoor quality/temperature
Data sources (specific purifiers and their status)
Explanation about the air quality
Data source configuration/details page (Future Implementation)
AQI data by type
Brand of system and what information it provides(just AQI, just filtering, just temperature, etc)
Control settings for that data source (if it’s one you are authorized to control)
Settings
Turning on alert system to change the air filter
Check the history of each filter?
Scheduling
Time and Date to schedule when to turn off the air purification system
Low to high fan settings mode
Night mode setting
UI/ UX Design
Initial Research
Before we jumped into designing any interfaces we decided to do some research on competitors' existing solutions and educate ourselves with the subject matter..
Through competitive research from Winx, Dyson, and other smart air purifiers we were able to determine different strengths and weaknesses.
For example:
Analogy of home illustration in Dyson app
Includes indoor/outdoor temperature
Night mode/fan mode with schedule timer
Location of the air purifier
History of multiple filters in one chart
Education on air quality
In Depth information on the temperature of the outdoor and air quality
We also looked into how currently air quality is being determined and how they are being labelled and associated with the color indication.
Wireframes
Before we created low fidelity screens, we used paper and pen to jot down some important features we need to address.
We wanted to provide the users:
Indoor/Outdoor Temperature
AQI
Air Quality
Indication of good air quality displaying emotive
Ability to add additional air purifier
Design Decisions
The design decisions behind the app are focused on the user experience of being able to add different air purifier devices with convenience and being able to understand the different air quality and breakdown. Initially, users were missing the ability to see a breakdown of their allergens, pollen, and air quality.
Emotives are used throughout the application to engage the user interaction. Different emotions ranging from happy to sad indicate the average of the home air quality.
In the future, we would like to have illustrations that could create an environment for the users to be even be able to engage with the air purifier feeling welcome in their homes.
Naive User Walk Through
Our application will help users control the air purifier directly from their mobile phones. No matter where you are, you can control your air quality from mobile devices. This app supports controlling your machine directly from your equipment and monitors indoor and outdoor air quality.
Home
From the Home Screen, users can see an emotive display of the air quality at their current location (or the Home Location if they do not have location services enabled for the app or if their location can not be determined), as well as sensor integrated summary data for other locations. (Sensor integrated means that if there is more than one air filter or sensor at a location, the display on the Home screen will show a weighted average of the sensors based on data quality.)
On the bottom of the home screen is outdoor air quality and temperature data, for the current (or home) location, and for other locations which have been added for monitoring.
On the bottom of the Home Screen, users can access App Settings, Add a New Device, or access filter history.
If the user clicks on the Settings icon, that opens the Settings page:
Settings
On the Settings Page, users can see that the application has wireless connection settings and supports multiple linking devices. Users can set up a new device (also available directly from the Home Screen), configure notifications about air filter maintenance, or access filter history for all the configured devices.
If the user clicks on “Set Up”, they go to the Set Up page, where they can connect to a new air filter via wireless or Bluetooth. The app will link to manufacturer’s instructions for physical setup, and can suggest to the user compatible devices that they could purchase if they do not already have an air filter to set up.
If the user clicks on “Manage Devices”, they can disable air filter management and set recent devices.
Filter Alert
If the user clicks on “Filter Alert”, they will go to the “Filter” page, where they can configure notifications to occur when the air purifier’s filter is at a certain percentage used, (so that they can order a new filter) or when other maintenance needs to be performed. The application will notify the user when the filter needs to be replaced, so you can ensure that the purification fan is always at its best.
History Setttings
If the user clicks on “History” from the Settings page, they go to the History page, with air filter usage and AQI history data. (This page is also accessible via the “History” shortcut on the Home Page).
Schedule Settings
If the user clicks on “Schedule” from the Settings page, our application allows users to set the air purifier to keep it on and off when needed
Scheduling
The main schedule screen shows favorite locations with the filters configured in each, and then shows the other locations. If a location is selected, it will take the user to a Location Setup page (not shown), which lists all the configured filters or air quality sensors for that location.
If the user selects an air filter (from the main schedule page or the Location Setup pages) it will take them to the Air Filter Scheduling page (or an AQI sensor page, not shown, if the item selected is a sensor only).
From the Air Filter Scheduling page, the user can set what times they want the unit to run and turn off.
Users can also set the night mode to use low-frequency airflow purification while sleeping.
Monitor AQI Data
Going Back to the Home Screen, the user can also monitor AQI data
Emotive Display Icon
Clicking on any of the AQI emotive display icons will take the user to that location’s information page. Clicking on the Weather icon for the current outdoor location takes you to that location’s outdoor weather page:
Weather
The Weather screen displays current detailed weather and outdoor AQI data for an location. You can also access this information from the weather icon on the Location page.
Location
The Current Location screen has a dropdown menu for selecting an air filter, and the current AQI data for that filter is displayed below the dropdown menu. Below the air filter data is the current indoor and outdoor temperatures, and the forecast (outdoor) AQI for the location. On the menubar are shortcuts to AQI History (the same page accessible from the Settings page) and a shortcut to the Settings page, where this location’s devices will be displayed first in the device list (so a user does not have to remember or search extensively for the right device).
Air Purifier Breakdown
If the user clicks on the air purifier icon, it will bring them to the Air Purifier Breakdown page, where they can see more detailed AQI data (broken down into various components of AQI, like pollen, smoke/particulates, ozone, etc.)
Extensions
https://localhaze.humanlogic.com/faq/ provides air quality sensor “confidence” data (outdoor only, for public and crowdsourced AQI sensors), based mostly on update recency and an evaluation of sensor maintenance. In an expansion (outside the scope of this project) we could use this model to improve the user experience by helping them prioritize high-quality AQI data.
Kat Allen, Liheng Xu, Su Hnin Pwint