Device Recovery
How might we help the user recover their device if it were to fall off during a rough downhill ride?
Design Methods: Prototypes, Wireframes, Flows, Hi-Fi Screens
Role: Senior UX Designer
Persona: Fitness User, Downhill MTB
Overview
The ride can get rough when mountain biking. If a user ever lost their Edge 530/830 device during a ride, we needed a way for them to return to the area where it was lost and get help finding it through the Connect mobile app.
Prototype
The idea for this feature came directly from user experiences of this happening to them. First, we confirmed with the engineering team that they were looking at ways to improve the bike mount to better secure the devices in this scenario. But, after discussions with the product owner and others, we determined that the ability to play a sound on the device to help locate it would have larger benefits.
Through brainstorming sessions with the product owner and BA, we uncovered several paths the user might take. The first was to allow the user to always access the feature through the settings.
After testing a few prototypes with internal users, it became apparent we needed more prompting for this event. Following the model of mobile alerts, we thought we might be able to simply have the device send a location that the user could then open in the default map app on their phone.
But, after meeting with the dev team, we learned that this kind of interaction between the device and the phone would have permission problems and would be too difficult to develop in time for the launch.
Solution
To compromise, we focused on having the Garmin Connect app send a notification if the user had allowed them. However, in order to not inundate them with notifications, we proposed limiting this to once per day. Tapping the “connection lost” notification would take the user to the Connect app showing a map with the last known location of the device. Once the user has gotten close enough to the device for bluetooth to be re-connected, they could receive another notification which would take them to the settings where they could initiate a sound on the device.
Conclusion
This feature launched with the Edge 530/830 devices and has helped many avid cyclists recover their devices and given others peace of mind.