Find a Problem, then Crush It

These days, its very common to have a programmable thermostat.

I have a fairly advanced one. It stores separate programs for heat and cold, with each program storing four points in time to set temperatures for. It will do this separately for each day of the week.

I hate it.

And not just a little bit, either.

Consider the typical use scenario:  

I'm cold

1. Walk to thermostat
2. open lid
3. locate 2nd button from the top (from a series of four identical buttons)
4. Press 2nd button from top
5. Read dark grey text (on light grey background) to see what mode you're in
6. When the mode is "Heat," read the dark grey numbers to see what temperature you're at
7. Then hit the "^" button to change the current temperature to the desired temperature
8. The display will replace the temperature you asked for, with the temperature it actually is (making you wonder if you've changed anything)
9. After a few minutes, the fan will kick in to let you know the furnace is increasing the temperature (It worked!)

This blows. Here's what I want: I'm cold

1. Walk to thermostat
2. Read the current temperature
3. Turn the dial to the temperature I want
4. See the display showing my change ("I got it.")
5. Go back to whatever the hell I was doing before

I'd looked into wireless thermostats and programmable thermostats. I figured there had to be a thermostat that logged its settings and temperature to give the homeowner the full picture of what goes on in their house.

I mean, how many people know what the ideal settings for their house should be? TheHellIfIKnow!

(I mean, I set my thermostat to stay at 55 when I'm not home in the winter, before I realized that my house won't drop anywhere near that temp over the course of a normal work day.)

So there's a big gap in user interface. People used to build a small box and all the controls had to be buttons on that box. Wireless access removes that issue. I figured someone would make another box and then some solid web app to tweak it out. Obviously, I suffer from a lack of imagination.

Enter these guys:



This is just full-on awesome UI design. Simple up/down controls that feed software that learns what you want over time. *Standing Ovation* Wireless? Check. Controllable by your smartphone? Check. Remote internet control? Check. Plot usage and temperature over time? Check.

But I don't feel like paying somebody to swap out my thermostat. 

Oh really? Here's the how-to installation video on YouTube:



Talk about the modern customer experience in action. That's a home run illustration of how to remove the fear factor and let the customer's want take over.

Want! Want! Want!