Angelcare Case study Consumer services
Angelcare and Mobilogie reinvent the baby monitor.
Profile Angelcare offers parents peace-of-mind by building innovative high-quality everyday baby products. Mobilogie and Angelcare s partnership to create the Video Movement & Sound Monitor for smartphones and tablets succeeded in reinforcing Angelcare s best-in-class, marketleading position. This new gadget is the Cadillac of baby monitors. Fox news Founded in 1997 Sold in 60 countries International, award-winning company Partner with Mobilogie since 2012
Research Understanding a new generation of parents Angelcare needed to refine their flagship product for a new generation of tech-savvy users. Our goal was to create a product that was more adapted to the reality and lifestyle of today s parents. Constantly connected and always on the move, they depend on their mobile devices to accomplish a myriad of tasks. Why shouldn t they be able to use their smartphones and tablets to help them in their roles as new parents? Improving the parenting experience Mobilogie helped Angelcare add value to its core offering by developing a simple, user-friendly add-on. The mobile extension takes the parenting experience to a whole new level. It equips them with a powerful new tool and facilitates their job, allowing them to check on their baby remotely, from anywhere at anytime. They can even speak to their children, sing them lullabies, and take pictures and videos of them via their smartphones. Canada s first, multifunction, baby monitor app Increased competition in the baby monitor market Greater awareness of Angelcare among new parents Higher app ratings than previous versions Watch over your baby from anywhere at anytime.
Kickoff Limited initial scope To facilitate creativity and free ourselves of onerous specifications, we limited the scope of the initial project, opting to build out the different features through iterations. This development strategy has become a best practice at Mobilogie since proving successful in past projects. Involving partners A project of this magnitude demands a significant commitment at every step. However, the kickoff is the most critical phase. Having a remarkable and engaged insider from Angelcare to work closely with the development team proved to be a real gamechanger.
Development Testing the user experience Our focus was to keep the app simple and intuitive. This wasn t an easy task, because it relies on a robust set of features. To ensure we met these expectations, we conducted crucial and extensive user experience testing. Focus groups of new moms zeroed-in on usability issues and helped define the perfect user experience. Answering consumers demands 1 2 Being able to access the app s camera over the Internet or in non-connected mode, which doesn t even require Internet access! Enabling multiple users. Up to four people can view the camera at once, from anywhere in the world. What s more, parents can easily invite others to view camera sessions and manage their permissions. 3 Ensuring the highest quality video day or night by adding a nightlight and night vision features was also a top priority.
Fostering safety first for babies It goes without saying that safety and security were of the utmost priority. We created an app that parents will rely on to monitor newborns. It needed to be perfectly thought-out, designed and evaluated. This is why security improvements and extensive testing were a major part of the plan to ensure that both the app and the cameras were impervious to hacks. The motion sensor controls and sound meters also needed to be very precise. This device saves babies lives. Safety s paramount. Collaborating across the globe The challenges posed by a 12-hour time difference in workdays made collaborations and deadlines tricky. Through teamwork, we implemented an overseas communication strategy with the hardware and embedded software partners and as a result of the new protocol MSI and Covia helped us to deliver the best product possible. The diversity of specializations and the dedication of the members on each of the project s sub-teams was a fundamental part of making the partnership a success.
Launch We organized comprehensive beta testing to validate the app s features and functionality. Participants gave us great feedback which we were able to address by simplifying the app s features. Reinventing a product that has been around for 75+ years Re-engineering the baby monitor was an idea whose time had come. Tech is more and more present in our everyday lives and continually reinvents the way we interact and behave. Ripe for disruption, the baby products industry must also adapt. Through their partnership, Angelcare and Mobilogie aspired to create an updated baby monitor that s more tailored and appealing. Our new Video Movement & Sound Monitor is the next evolution of baby monitors. The device is so innovative that it literally turns a phone, computer or tablet into a mobile monitor, allowing parents to watch their children from anywhere in the world and giving them precious peace-ofmind. Roxane Popoviciu, Product Director at Angelcare (Angelcare s website)
Analysis Maintenance and improvement Always eager to improve the user experience of our products, we decided to conduct a second round of beta testing. Finding Users experienced difficulties following the steps to set up the camera function on their smartphones. Solution Created new steps for them to better understand the process. Added clearer wording and illustrations to those steps. Integrated a progress bar. Included pop-ups to remind users to verify their network connections Asked users to reset specific settings before proceeding to the next step. Result A friendlier app and happier parent.
Project manager s overview Angelcare felt pressure from its competitors, webcam companies and mobile app developers. Creating and launching a new mobile app was not the first solution that came to mind, but Angelcare could ill afford to fall behind in their rapidly changing competitive landscape. Adding a mobile app to complete the existing product made perfect sense from a business point of view, but Angelcare didn t have the knowledge in house to follow through on this innovation cycle. That s where Mobilogie came in. Mobilogie and Angelcare worked together as a single company in developing this new baby monitor. We asked them about the design process, their experience with creating new products and launching them. We basically took over as their internal R&D team. Now, you can watch your baby no matter where you are in the world! All you need is a smartphone (iphone or Android) or a tablet and you can share a special moment with your baby whether you are across town or in the room next door. Angelcare s website This project would never have been possible without such a great partnership!