We designed and developed a mobile app to support IoT-enabled commercial and residential water heaters for A. O. Smith, a global manufacturer of water heaters and boilers. With insight from customers, we built a single app and incorporated unique experiences for each audience in one place.

A New Need

A. O. Smith had a history of using their IoT technology with commercial gas water heating systems. When legislation in some states changed the game for residential water heating regarding energy usage, it was time to expand the focus of IoT capabilities to their residential heat pump water heaters for A. O. Smith and State Water heaters along with their residential brands—American Water Heaters and Reliance Water Heaters.

From the Ground Up

While we had already partnered with A. O. Smith in the past to create a family of apps, we challenged ourselves to take the project a step further. Our development team worked to connect A. O. Smith’s current applications to engineered Bluetooth hardware in their residential water heaters. Together, user experience and strategy stepped in to identify a user journey and create an experience to match it.

Testing and Re-testing

After identifying two main target audiences—homeowners and plumbing contractors—we interviewed several from each in California (the site of our product launch). We followed up with a 300-person survey and prototyped the first app designs based on our findings. In-person user testing followed, and our final designs brought together everything we learned.

An App for Every User

Our new mobile app enables multiple user types to have varying experiences all within a single app. With multiple audiences to consider, we pushed ourselves to create a robust environment with in-app tools designed for the unique journey of each user.

A Smarter Way to Get Hot Water

Now that A. O. Smith’s mobile app and IoT technology is accessible to homeowners and professionals alike, more consumers than ever can participate in energy-saving solutions for water heating.