Access System
From Door to Platform: Defining a New Smart Door Experience from 0 to 1
OVERVIEW
Next-Gen Entry: Designing a Multi-Platform Smart Door Experience and Digital Interaction
At A Glance
I was the sole UX designer for the Smart Door prototype, leading the design from 0 to 1 to shape the 5-year roadmap. My key contribution was bridging the physical and digital experience. I translated research into a product vision and designed the multi-platform touchpoints, including digital interactions during home entry and door frame lighting animations. Post design, I collaborated with engineers to bring the physical prototype to life.
My Role
UX Design,
UI Design
Timeline
05/2023-05/2024
Team
UX Designer, Design Lead, Mechanical Engineer, Electrical Engineer
Tools
Figma, Miro, Prototype
The Impact
0 to 1
The first ever hands-free smart door prototype
36%
Improvement in information readability on the display
Shape the company’s next 5 year roadmap on smart door initiative
Roadmap
Masonite (acquired by Owens Corning), as a leader in the door industry, currently operates primarily on a ToB transactional model driven by dealers. To secure future growth, we face the challenge of moving beyond the sale of physical products to establish ourselves as a foundational element within the evolving connected home ecosystem.
Business Goal
How Masonite Must Evolve Beyond Door Leader to a Connected Home Ecosystem Leader
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Masonite doors
Home Technology
Connected Home Ecosystem
Traditional home access often encounters friction and anxiety. I believe those three occasions happened to many people in daily life:
Problem
Main Frustrations in Home Entry for Multi-Users, like Homeowners, Trusted Guest, and Temporary Guest
Lack of Monitored Solution
My door walker come to my place everyday to walk my dog. Even though with time-bound code, I still feel lack of visibility and control.
“What’s killing me is going back home with a full hand of grocery and cannot find key that slip to the bottom of the purse.”
Daily Entry Juggling
The Contractor Conundrum
“I have to be at work while the contractor came to fix my washing machine. I feel stressed and unsafe letting him at my home alone.”
SOLUTION
01 Element Layout
The final prototype integrates displays on both exterior and interior sides, light animation with slab light and ambient frame light, and smart glass.
Tripwire #1
Tripwire #2
Tripwire #3
Approach Detection
Entry/
Turn on exterior light
Ramp up frame light
Do/
Listen to Tripwire #2
Show animation on exterior display (Figma)
Exit/
User Entry
Entry/
Play door motion sound (Figma)
Fully open door inwards
Turn on interior light
Show animation on exterior and interior display
Do/
Play “welcoming home” sound (Figma)
Set frame light to static color / animation
Wait for user input to close door or hold open
Exit/
Close Door
Entry/
Play pre-motion sound (Figma)
Set interior and exterior display to “Closing”
Pulsing animation on frame light
Do/
Play door motion sound (Figma)
Fully close door outwards
Exit/
User Authentication
Entry/
Show “authorized” on exterior display
Set frame lighting motion
Play “access granted” sound (Figma)
Do/
Set smart glass to clear
Play door unlocking sound
Unlock door lock and handle
Pulsing animation on frame light
Listen to Tripwire #3
Exit/
02 Prototype Development
A tool to visualize how all capabilities respond when resident approach to the door based on a distance trigger logics. This formed the basis for the controller program to command the prototype.
03 Prototype Mockup
Collaborated with industry designers, we envisioned how the capabilities look like on the prototype, like smart glass, exterior display, ambient light, frame light, and powered motion.
04 Facial Recognition to Enter
When user presence is detected, the exterior display shows a growing circle. Successful facial authentication leads to the door unlocking and the display showing the unlocking animation.
05 Hands-free Daily Entry
The door automatically opens forward after authentication, reinforced by the corresponding animation on exterior display, and automatically close after user's entry.
06 Guest Entry Authentication
Guest has two ways of entry: via time-bound pin given by homeowners or calling the resident directly. This feature help homeowner to manage guest entry securely.
07 Entry Lighting Animation
The smart door create a lighting animation for homeowners when their identity is confirmed, creating a delightful experience.
08 Interior Display UI
Created UI designs for interior display that enables smart home integration and address other scenarios like package delivery and obstacles.
RESULT
Launch & Feedback
The North Star: Defining Masonite's 5-Year Strategic Roadmap
The Access System Project is the North Star and ultimate end state of Masonite's connected home roadmap, achievable only when the company gains full control of the necessary hardware systems.
To execute this vision, I collaborated with the PM on impact-driven, backward planning. We reverse-engineered success from the Access System end state.This defined a roadmap of sequential milestones across Technology, Integration, and Experience.
0 to 1
The first ever hands-free smart door prototype
36%
Improvement in information readability on the display
Shape the company’s next 5 year roadmap on smart door initiative
Roadmap
🔒
Learnings
Systems thinking to harmonize complex physical-digital interactions into a seamless, unified user experience
Mastered systems-level choreography
I mapped intricate "entry sequence" blueprints based on timing and distance to ensure hardware, lighting, and interface components functioned as a single, cohesive unit.
Bridged the hardware-software divide
As the sole design voice, I translated technical mechanical and electrical constraints into intuitive user outcomes, aligning cross-functional stakeholders around a shared 5-year product roadmap.
Scaled technical skills for high-stakes visualization
I pushed beyond my comfort zone to build high-fidelity interactive prototypes that brought lighting and motion to life, effectively securing buy-in for the company’s long-term smart home strategy.