Xfinity offered two home security tiers. One was a full-service premium tier of home security systems where customers could choose a package of pre-bundled sets of products and services inclusive of expert installations, 24-hour professional monitoring services, and smart home automation integrations. Alternatively, there was a more do-it-yourself (DIY) self-service solution called Self Protection that offered self-monitoring with the Xfinity app, enabling people to check live camera feed and get alert notifications.
Consumer research showed that 60% of interested users prioritized lights, locks, and thermostats, with front door security being the most critical use case.
Yet none of these were supported under Xfinity's Self Protection plan. There was a gap that left smart home users juggling multiple apps for control and piecing together their own security solutions. With increasing third-party vendor partnerships and product integrations, the Self Protection option planned to release new capabilities to market, going beyond it's current limitations. The business required enhancing the Self Protection web content experience to highlight those new capability features and benefits for customer discovery and adoption.
"How might we introduce new smart home product integrations under the Self Protection plan while enhancing its discoverability?"
I analyzed the Xfinity's Self Protection web experience to help me understand it's current state, relationships, and structures within the larger home security narrative. What did self protection mean? How did people find their away around to learn about home security plans? What gaps, if any, were there to consider enhancing the experience?
There were immediate successes and failures I identified, and all discoveries led to a path of opportunities and design considerations.
First, the Self Protection product was true to it's product name. It was a do-it-yourself (DIY), self-monitoring solution using Xfinity branded cameras integrated with the Xfinity app. The Self Protection product page and storyline effectively 1) introduced the problem, 2) detailed the solution, 3) highlighted benefits, and 4) guided decision-making. The content structure was laid out in such an intentional, organized, and cohesive fashion, revealing opportunities to easily introduce and scale new product content.
Other areas had room for analysis and improvement. For example:
The existing navigation structure was fragmented, making it difficult to understand the relationships between security plan options and services. Content pages like "Our Partners" and "Xfinity Equipment" were not clearly tied or related to a specific plan. There was too much room for interpretation and guessing what the connections between them were, risking confusion and misunderstanding of services and therefore customer disinterest and fallout.
The absence of an Overview or summary page for Home Security disrupted consistency with other business lines, potentially causing unnecessary difficulties with wayfinding and a clear understanding of services.
I reviewed popular home security brands like ADT, Vivint, and SimpliSafe to gather insight on their creative story telling approach. Approaches overlapped a lot. Common and conventional catch phrases and terms - like "peace of mind", "DIY", "customize, "control", "from anywhere" - were consistently identified across. However, there was nuance and differentiation in how each leading brand drove those overlapping home security conventions and values. For example:
After analysis, my area of focus became clear. There were two key areas where my visual storytelling and user experience recommendations were needed:
The Self Protection content structure was well-established, providing a strong foundation to integrate new smart home content. I used Xfinity’s camera product placement as an anchor to introduce and group related smart home products, ensuring a seamless customer experience.
I also collaborated with my content partner, helping to shape a unified home security narrative by aligning creative visuals with key value propositions. I curated photography and design assets from existing libraries to craft visuals and diagrams that reinforced core messaging.
.png)
The information architecture and navigation flow for Home Security presented an opportunity for better discoverability of security plans. I collaborated with my content partner to wireframe an Overview experience that clearly presented both the Professional Security and Self Protection options, enabling easier comparison and decision making.
Also, the relationships between existing navigation entry points were unclear, making product discovery unnecessarily fragmented and time consuming. For example, it wasn’t immediately apparent that Our Partners and Xfinity Equipment were tied to the Professional Security premium tier. So, I explored ways to refine the navigation to improve wayfinding, ensuring a more streamlined and effortless experience for customers.
An updated Self Protection product page introduced new third-party lights, locks, and thermostats, emphasizing front-door security and a customizable "build-your-own" solution tailored to personal needs and control. My content partner and I collaborated to craft a cohesive home security narrative, ensuring the creative visuals aligned with key value propositions. Using brand photography assets, I designed a compelling visual story centered on themes of "peace of mind", "home and family safety", and "connectivity" to help customers understand the smart home benefits, options, and services.
I designed a new Home Security Overview page to draw consistency with other Xfinity business lines and products across the sitemap to ensure meeting customer expectations. Not only that, it was key in improving discoverability and wayfinding for customers. The Overview page intended to provide helpful visibility and a summary of home security options, placing just enough information for customers so they had clear choices to get started. Updating and streamlining the Home Security navigation menu so it was less fragmented and confusing was also key in clarifying the relationship of services.