User Research

Diary Study for Launching a New Hardware Product

3 The challenge

Traditional usability testing wasn’t enough. The hardware required daily, real‑life use to reveal issues related to setup, connectivity, notifications, and ongoing engagement. We needed insights that only emerge over time — not in a controlled lab session.

The diary format allowed us to capture:

• Setup and onboarding challenges

• Connectivity reliability between hardware and app

• Confusion around alerts, data interpretation, and feature discovery

• How often users returned to the app — and why

• • Emotional responses to the product over time

• • Pain points in installation and pairing

• • Opportunities to increase trust and perceived value

2 My role

• Designed the diary‑study methodology and research plan

• Recruited participants representing different car types and usage patterns

• Created daily tasks and prompts to guide consistent reporting

• Monitored participant entries and provided support throughout the study

• Analyzed qualitative and quantitative data

• • Synthesized findings into actionable recommendations for product, design, and engineering

1 Overview

As we prepared to launch a new hardware device that integrates with our car‑maintenance app, the team needed to understand how users interacted with the product in real‑world conditions. I led a diary‑study usability test to capture long‑term behavior, uncover friction points, and validate whether the hardware–app experience felt intuitive, reliable, and valuable.

4 Impact

• Improved onboarding success rate before launch

• Reduced support tickets related to setup and connectivity

• Increased user confidence in the hardware–app ecosystem

• Informed final design decisions for both the device and the app

• • Helped the team launch with a more polished, user‑centered experience

5 Outcome

The diary study provided the depth and realism we needed to refine the product before release. By observing users in their natural environment, we uncovered issues that would have remained invisible in traditional testing — ultimately shaping a smoother, more trustworthy hardware–app experience.

Results showed us • • Contextual tips to help users understand alerts and insights???