CHOOBE
& TWOOBE

[Pronounced "choo-bee" and "two-bee"]*

Google Home app

(2019) Lead UX Designer
(2020-2021) Mentor

* In Google's hardware organization, the shorthand for device setup UX is "OOBE" (pronounced "ooh-bee"), an acronym for Out-Of-Box-Experience

How do you balance conflicting & ever-growing device setup needs?

It's about identifying ways to scale with CHOOBE (Choose-your-own-OOBE) and TWOOBE (streamlined 2nd+ device setup)!

CHOOBE, Nest Hub (2nd gen) display

TWOOBE, Nest Hub Max display

The project

Device setup was long, linear, repetitive...and growing

In 2019, I was leading device setup for the Nest Hub Max, the first Assistant display with Assistant's Camera Sensing features and Nest Cam's security features.

Users who used to set up Chromecasts with eleven steps were now looking at device setups with twenty-four or more steps for Assistant displays.

On top of this, setup was an unwanted déjà-vu experience: whether you already had one device or twenty, users went through exactly the same steps.

...I thought: there has to be a better way!

My answer was giving users a say in device setup with CHOOBE and streamlining setup for users' subsequent devices with TWOOBE.

My contributions

(2019) Lead UX: Design strategy for the concepts
(2020-2021) Mentor & co-writer: For design & delivery

The team

2020–2021: 1 Lead UXD + 1 UX mentor (myself)
2019: 1 Lead UXD (myself)
1 UX researcher
1 product manager
3 engineers

Partners

3 device verticals
3 cross-PA teams (Assistant, Photos, Comms)

Launch dates

Spring 2021

Impact

Satisfaction rates improved for device setup: 80% rated setup UX as 4 or 5 out of 5
Device setup was ~35% faster with TWOOBE
~90% of users choose to use the provided setting states in TWOOBE
Impact on future devices: CHOOBE is coming to thermostat setups

This was device setup:

Our users were feeling things like these when it came to the non-critical setup tasks:

“I don't know what to expect in setup.”

“I didn't know my device did this, and I'm not sure what it is...”

“I'm not interested in these services, but they keep asking me.

I want to choose what to do now vs. later.”

“Didn't I do this setup already with my last device?”

Device setup with CHOOBE combines the most optional tasks into an informative screen that lets users choose and finish the tasks they want:

With CHOOBE, users instead feel:
“I can choose what I want to set up...”

Pre-selections are personalized to the user's context, but users choose what to keep and what to add.

This helps them know what's recommended to set up and what to expect, while giving them a say in the matter.

For a Nest Hub display in a bedroom, we pre-select useful tasks to help people know what to set up.

But the user can de-select items. Maybe they don't want to use sleep-tracking, watch videos, or take calls.

“...and I have help if I'm not sure.”

We crafted “Learn more” content so users can understand features before choosing tasks.

We focused on easy-to-understand use cases, like voice commands, to succinctly explain each feature's benefits.

“After I pick what I want to set up, I go through each task.”

The CHOOBE flow then takes users through all the tasks that they selected. We chose this UX behavior to steer users toward finishing the setup that they felt was important.

“I know when each task starts, and a reminder of what I'm setting up and why I'm setting it up.”

Each tasks starts with an intro that focuses on the benefits / how the feature works.

Each intro makes sense whether the user has read or not read the “Learn more” content.

With first-time device setup feeling “just right”, TWOOBE streamlined setup for loyal users who had returned to Google Nest to buy their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. device:

CHOOBE
& TWOOBE

[Pronounced "choo-bee" and "two-bee"]*

Google Home app

(2019) Lead UX Designer
(2020-2021) Mentor

How do you balance conflicting & ever-growing device setup needs?

It's about identifying ways to scale with CHOOBE (Choose-your-own-OOBE) and TWOOBE (streamlined 2nd+ device setup)!

The project

Device setup was long, linear, repetitive...and growing

...I thought: there has to be a better way!

My answer was giving users a say in device setup with CHOOBE and streamlining setup for users' subsequent devices with TWOOBE.

My contributions

The team

Partners

Launch dates

Impact

This was device setup:

Our users were feeling things like these when it came to the non-critical setup tasks:

“I don't know what to expect in setup.”

“I didn't know my device did this, and I'm not sure what it is...”

“I'm not interested in these services, but they keep asking me.

I want to choose what to do now vs. later.”

“Didn't I do this setup already with my last device?”

Device setup with CHOOBE combines the most optional tasks into an informative screen that lets users choose and finish the tasks they want:

With CHOOBE, users instead feel:
“I can choose what I want to set up...”

Pre-selections are personalized to the user's context, but users choose what to keep and what to add.

This helps them know what's recommended to set up and what to expect, while giving them a say in the matter.

“...and I have help if I'm not sure.”

We crafted “Learn more” content so users can understand features before choosing tasks.

We focused on easy-to-understand use cases, like voice commands, to succinctly explain each feature's benefits.

“After I pick what I want to set up, I go through each task.”

The CHOOBE flow then takes users through all the tasks that they selected. We chose this UX behavior to steer users toward finishing the setup that they felt was important.

“I know when each task starts, and a reminder of what I'm setting up and why I'm setting it up.”

Each tasks starts with an intro that focuses on the benefits / how the feature works.

Each intro makes sense whether the user has read or not read the “Learn more” content.

With first-time device setup feeling “just right”, TWOOBE streamlined setup for loyal users who had returned to Google Nest to buy their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. device:

“Yup, this looks good to me...next!”

We honor users' settings for future devices, and infer other choices based on their existing settings.

They can either keep these choices, or choose to set up the device like new.

CHOOBE& TWOOBE

[Pronounced "choo-bee" and "two-bee"]*

Google Home app

(2019) Lead UX Designer(2020-2021) Mentor

How do you balance conflicting & ever-growing device setup needs?

It's about identifying ways to scale with CHOOBE (Choose-your-own-OOBE) and TWOOBE (streamlined 2nd+ device setup)!

The project

Device setup was long, linear, repetitive...and growing

...I thought: there has to be a better way!

My answer was giving users a say in device setup with CHOOBE and streamlining setup for users' subsequent devices with TWOOBE.

My contributions

The team

Partners

Launch dates

Impact

This was device setup:

Our users were feeling things like these when it came to the non-critical setup tasks:

“I don't know what to expect in setup.”

“I didn't know my device did this, and I'm not sure what it is...”

“I'm not interested in these services, but they keep asking me.

I want to choose what to do now vs. later.”

“Didn't I do this setup already with my last device?”

Device setup with CHOOBE combines the most optional tasks into an informative screen that lets users choose and finish the tasks they want:

With CHOOBE, users instead feel:“I can choose what I want to set up...”

Pre-selections are personalized to the user's context, but users choose what to keep and what to add.

This helps them know what's recommended to set up and what to expect, while giving them a say in the matter.

“...and I have help if I'm not sure.”

We crafted “Learn more” content so users can understand features before choosing tasks.

We focused on easy-to-understand use cases, like voice commands, to succinctly explain each feature's benefits.

“After I pick what I want to set up, I go through each task.”

The CHOOBE flow then takes users through all the tasks that they selected. We chose this UX behavior to steer users toward finishing the setup that they felt was important.

“I know when each task starts, and a reminder of what I'm setting up and why I'm setting it up.”

Each tasks starts with an intro that focuses on the benefits / how the feature works.

Each intro makes sense whether the user has read or not read the “Learn more” content.

With first-time device setup feeling “just right”, TWOOBE streamlined setup for loyal users who had returned to Google Nest to buy their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. device:

“Yup, this looks good to me...next!”

We honor users' settings for future devices, and infer other choices based on their existing settings.

They can either keep these choices, or choose to set up the device like new.

CHOOBE
& TWOOBE

(2019) Lead UX Designer
(2020-2021) Mentor

With CHOOBE, users instead feel:
“I can choose what I want to set up...”