I joined Belkin through their acquisition of Linksys in 2013. I led the design of Linksys' product, managing all Linksys Smart Wi-Fi home network management platform design initiatives. Additionally, I continued to manage all Linksys device setup software releases and third-party IoT device integrations into the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi ecosystem, including the integration of Belkin devices.

Timeframe: Mar. '13 – Jul. '14

Team: Lead UX/UI Designer (Me), 2x Designers, 3x PMs, 8x Engineers

My work: Research, Enterprise UX, Mobile first design, IoT Design, Documentation, illustration

My role:

User research | Internal Audit of all Linksys software | Design | Illustration | Documentation | Design socialization and cross-collaboration with Product Management, Engineering, ID, and Marketing teams.

SITUATION:

User research revealed that the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Device List (see below image), a dashboard view of connected network devices, was static, felt outdated, and provided little value. This device view was initially intended to display users' network at a glance, and be the consolidated point of interaction on users’ home networks.

GOAL:

Design a device-centric control interface in Linksys Smart WiFi, enabling users to view and manage network devices, monitor features and usage, and receive actionable status and notifications.

PROCESS:

This was a fairly quick iteration because I had previously designed a Network Map for Network Magic Pro back in the day. I drove all design iterations, partnering cross-functionally with Engineering and Product Management through implementation.

• UX research

• Design iteration

• Design socialization

• Cross-functional collaboration

RESULTS:

SITUATION:

Linksys was looking to gain attention to its substantial wireless AC innovation, which provided faster wireless routing speeds and greater network bandwidth to support the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. Looking to the nostalgic WRT54G-series router released in 2002, the WRT1900AC was a nod to its open-source community, incorporating the latest in 802.11AC wireless technology as a significant performance upgrade.

I didn’t work on the router ID, but I worked on the setup software, setup guides and illustrated all related WRT1900AC artwork within Linksys Smart wifi and across marketing touchpoints.

GOAL:

Reinvision the legendary Linksys WRT brand, and introduce a high-performance AC router with enhancements to Linksys Smart Wi-Fi and the option for OpenWRT (open-source Linux technology).

PROCESS:

• Leveraging the device setup system I designed and used across all previous devices, I designed and delivered WRT1900AC device setup software.

• Designed the in-box Quick Instal Guide (QIG) device setup documentation.

• Partnered cross-functionally with Product management and User Research to test and validate setup software and usability of the Quick Install Guide.

• Cross-functional collaborated with Product Management and Device ID teams to integrate the WRT within the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi ecosystem.

RESULTS:

• Re-release of the Linksys WRT brand and the WRT1900AC.

• Redefine the end-to-end UX. The entire experience was finely groomed - from the New and improved industrial design with massive throughput

• Reimagined marketing and in-store presentation, and unboxing experience, through device setup

• Linksys Smart Wi-Fi updates and advanced capabilities only available on the WRT routers.

“Not surprisingly, the WRT1900AC has an easy and friendly user interface, one that Trusted Reviews calls "the most intuitive router UI.”

- engadget

* the quote above is speaking about Linksys Smart Wi-Fi software that I designed end-to-end UX for 🙂

SITUATION:

Belkin acquired Linksys from Cisco and wanted to refresh the logo to a more modern identity and align with the WRT1900AC product line release. This workstream involved a number of different product lines, upwards of 20+ routers, extenders, and cameras, and their setup software, and printed Quick Install Guides (QIGs), and software properties

GOAL:

Rebrand all Linksys properties. 🤓

PROCESS:

I audited the product landscape, worked with Belkin Marketing and Branding teams, and drove the rebrand by managing an Excel spreadsheet and a find/replace exercise.

RESULTS:

Revised branding on all Linksys products, interfaces and related printed collateral.

This was a cross-functional collaboration with various teams to replace the old Linksys product branding with the new revised Linksys logo. The list of products that needed the update was long, and included all Linksys Smart WiFi interfaces and in-app references, all setup software, printed setup guides, and related device illustrations for hardware products.