Connected Device, IoT & Wearable UX Design Case Studies
Connected device UX design is the discipline of building interfaces for products that bridge software and hardware — wearables, smart home, connected health, and industrial IoT.
ANML has spent more than a decade designing the interfaces that bridge software and hardware. From the touchscreen on a connected boat helm to the companion app for a smart lock, our work spans every surface where a customer interacts with a connected product.
Connected device UX has its own constraints — limited screen real estate, intermittent connectivity, multi-device flows, firmware update cycles, and the trust required to put software in the loop with the physical world. The case studies below show how we have approached those constraints across categories: marine, kitchen, security, AR/VR, and home appliances.
Selected accolades
- Featured Apple retail store demoBILT for Apple Vision Pro
- Featured Apple retail store demosYummly
- 2× Conversion ratesFlock Safety
- Editors' Choice CES AwardWhirlpool Smart Oven
- Webby AwardWhirlpool App
- 5M DownloadsYummly
- 4.8★ Average App Store ratingYummly
- 4 Webby AwardsYummly
- 2 Davey AwardsYummly
- 2 W3 AwardsYummly
- Acquired by WhirlpoolYummly
Brunswick
Boating app and platform unifying marine controls
Ford
Advanced Driver Assist Systems
Yummly Thermometer
App and smart thermometer for guided precision cooking
Yummly
Recipe and cooking app delivering personalized inspiration
Nokē
Web platform for managing smart self-storage facilities
Flock Safety
Designing digital tools to enhance community safety and investigations
BILT for Apple Vision Pro
Spatial Vision Pro app reimagining how users build and assemble
Whirlpool Smart Oven
Innovating smart oven interfaces for Whirlpool’s connected future
Whirlpool App
Mobile app delivering simple, intuitive smart appliance control
JennAir
Mobile app redefining luxury appliance experiences and engagement
KitchenAid
Digital design system and app fueling creativity in the kitchen
From our partners
“The greatest value ANML provided was speed to clarity and alignment. Having a tangible prototype made it much easier to evaluate tradeoffs and review concepts with stakeholders. The senior team in Doug and Patrick exhibited an openness, calm and collaborative demeanor — they were easy to work with and demonstrated strong craft and presence.”
Sudipto Aich, Senior Director · Ford Motor Company“ANML thrives at turning the vision of your website into reality. They were strong partners from creative ideation to execution. Once the site launched their team continued to be a valued partner of Flock Safety, doubling our conversion rate within five months post-launch.”
Laura Hopkins, Director, Demand Generation · Flock Safety“ANML is a strategic UX/UI partner to Whirlpool and have contributed immensely to taking our apps to 4+ ratings. For any company needing UX/UI thought leadership and are going through a transformation journey, I would highly recommend ANML.”
Vikram Bharadwaj, Digital Product (Mobile) Manager, IoT · Whirlpool“I have worked with ANML for many years. The team is incredibly talented, easy to work with, and fun to collaborate with. We owe much of our acclaimed app success and visual language to the hard working team at ANML. They are truly, the best of the best.”
Brian Witlin, CEO · Yummly“ANML has been a valued partner for over two years. I think of their team as an extension of our UX team. Their creativity, organization, and flexibility helped us deliver an innovative, easy-to-use, and beautiful product in a short amount of time. ANML team members are curious, talented and take the initiative to push the boundaries of what is possible.”
Andrea Needlman, UX Director · Brunswick“What ANML delivered completely changed the way our customers operate. They took something powerful but overwhelming and made it seamless, scalable, and user-friendly. This wasn't just a redesign — it was a transformation.”
Nokē Product Team · Nokē
Reviewed by Doug Hughmanick, Co-Founder, ANML. Featured on the UI Breakfast podcast — Experience-Led Branding ↗
FAQ
What is connected device UX design?
Connected device UX design is the discipline of designing interfaces for products that bridge software and hardware — wearables, smart home appliances, connected health devices, industrial IoT systems, and AR/VR hardware. It spans the device itself, companion mobile apps, web dashboards, and the data flows that move between them.
How is connected device UX different from designing a mobile app?
Connected device UX has constraints a pure mobile app does not: limited screen real estate (or none), intermittent or offline connectivity, multi-device handoffs, firmware update cycles, and the trust required when software controls a physical object. Design decisions also need to account for setup, pairing, ownership transfer, and the reality that the user's first interaction is often in their hands, not on a phone.
What industries does ANML work with on connected devices?
ANML has shipped connected device UX work across marine (Brunswick), kitchen appliances (Whirlpool Smart Oven, JennAir, KitchenAid), connected security (Flock Safety, Nokē), wearables and AR/VR (BILT for Apple Vision Pro), and connected health and food devices (Yummly Thermometer). Most engagements involve a hardware-software brand that needs both the device interface and a companion app or web dashboard.
What is the difference between IoT and connected device design?
IoT (Internet of Things) is the broader category — any object that exchanges data over a network, including industrial sensors and machine-to-machine systems with no human interface. Connected device UX design is the subset where a human actually interacts with the device, app, or dashboard. Wearables, smart home, and connected health are all connected device UX; a fleet of warehouse temperature sensors is pure IoT.
How long does a connected device UX project typically take?
A focused engagement on a single product surface (device screen, companion app, or web dashboard) typically runs 10–16 weeks. A full system across device, app, and brand can extend to 6–12 months depending on firmware dependencies and certification timelines. ANML scopes each engagement to the hardware roadmap and the decisions the team needs to make next, not a fixed template.
Can ANML work with our hardware and firmware teams directly?
Yes. Most of our connected device work involves direct collaboration with hardware engineers, firmware teams, and mechanical designers. We deliver design specs that account for screen constraints, input methods, sensor latency, and firmware capabilities, and we iterate alongside the engineering team through prototyping, certification, and launch.