Connected Living — Smart Speaker UX Case Study
Deutsche Telekom · Smart Speaker

Connected Living:
Seamless Alerts
and News on WhatsApp

Enhancing smart speaker functionality for a safer and more informed lifestyle — extending the reach of the home assistant beyond its physical space.

Company
Deutsche Telekom
Timeline
Q2–Q3 2020
Duration
7 Months
My Role
UX Designer
01 The Problems We Aimed to Solve

Two Gaps
in the Home
Experience

Users needed their smart speaker to work beyond its physical presence in the room — reaching them through familiar platforms they already rely on every day.

PROBLEM · 01
Delayed Response to Home Alarms
Users often miss critical alarm sounds — smoke alarms, intruder alerts, breaking glass — when away from home. Current smart speakers lack reliable remote notifications, posing significant safety risks.
PROBLEM · 02
Inconvenient Access to News Updates
Users must actively engage with their smart speaker or a dedicated app to receive news updates. There is no option for direct delivery via popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp, causing fragmented information access.
02 Highlights of the Solutions

Two Features,
One Platform

Both solutions leverage WhatsApp — a platform users already open dozens of times daily — to extend the smart speaker’s value into daily mobile life.

Alarm System Integrated with WhatsApp
Integrate functionality where the smart speaker detects alarm sounds in the home and immediately sends a notification with audio recording to the user’s chosen WhatsApp contacts and groups.
  • Alerts users to critical alarms even when away from home
  • Enables prompt responses to potential emergencies
  • Peace of mind through passive, always-on monitoring
Receive News & Knowledge Content via WhatsApp
Allow users to request and receive personalized news updates via WhatsApp through their smart speaker, with the ability to follow topics and share with family.
  • Stay updated without actively engaging the speaker
  • Receive updates in a familiar, frequently used platform
  • Share curated facts with family circles instantly
03 Process

From Research
to Refined Feature

01
Research — Defining the Scope
To set a scope for concept exploration, I reviewed existing research to define a list of key concept areas that could benefit the speaker program OKRs. Based on user feedback, the goal was to create a concept design capable of extending the reach of the smart speaker.
Strategic CX Conclusions Market Trend Report Expert Interviews Opportunity Map KANO Analysis
02
Ideation — Key Concept Areas
I identified 4 key concept areas for which I created a shortlist of 5 use case ideas to be evaluated in the Kundencafe user test session. The alarm system use case ranked very high on the Smart Speaker KANO Report, validating its prioritisation.
Send & Listen to WhatsApp Messages Supplementary Info via WhatsApp Extending Reach Beyond Home Speaker-Free VA Interactions
03
Prioritisation — Card Sorting Sessions
I presented participants with 5 use cases and conducted card sorting in each session to produce a shortlist for deeper discussion. At the end of each session, participants rated the use cases based on their preference. The top two — Alarm Integration and News via WhatsApp — emerged as the priority solutions.
Alarm System + WhatsApp News & Knowledge via WhatsApp Assistant Answers via WhatsApp Calls & Messages via WhatsApp Try Assistant via WhatsApp
04 Solution 01 · Deep Dive
Solution 01

Alarm System
Integrated with
WhatsApp

The smart speaker identifies events — window breaking, smoke alarm, dog barking — and sends notifications with audio recordings to the user’s selected WhatsApp contacts and groups.

The user flow covers all key steps in the companion app, including interaction steps in WhatsApp itself. The experience is designed for first-time setup, family circle management, and real-time emergency response.

Companion App · Setup

First-Time Onboarding

The onboarding flow lets the user select which speakers will run detection, which sounds to monitor, and manage their family circle to control who receives alarm notifications. A new contact opt-in via WhatsApp explains the feature and allows recipients to accept or decline alerts.

Feature 01 · Low Priority Alarm

Listen and Respond to Alarm

Each alarm provides a custom flow based on its emergency priority. A dog barking alarm is low priority — after listening to the recording, the user can send a voice message back to the speaker to calm their dog, or notify their family circle.

Feature 02 · High Priority Alarm

Notify Family Circle

The smoke alarm use case carries high emergency priority, emphasised with an exclamation mark emoji. The family circle is automatically notified. After listening to the recording, the user receives a call-to-action button to contact the local fire department.

05 Solution 02 · Deep Dive
Solution 02

Receive News &
Knowledge Content
via WhatsApp

The user asks the speaker for news on a preferred topic, receives a snippet, and requests more details. The speaker then sends a link to the full article via WhatsApp, with the option to follow the topic for 12 hours.

All knowledge messages summarise specific facts on a topic and can include media like photos, videos, or location links. The source and image license are displayed in the message footer. Users can share to their family circle with a single tap.

Feature 01 · News Delivery

Receive Additional Details via WhatsApp

When a user asks a knowledge question to the speaker, they can receive additional details and facts via WhatsApp. The first message includes an article link, the news source, and a follow button for the next 12 hours. Users can stop following any topic at any time.

Spiegel Online · Technology
European AI Regulation Enters Final Phase — What Changes for Consumers
The EU AI Act implementation deadline approaches, bringing new requirements for transparency and explainability in consumer-facing AI systems…
📖 Read Full Article
🔔 Follow 12h
Follow-Up Update · 2 min ago
Germany Announces National AI Strategy Expansion
Related development on your followed topic…
📖 Read Article
⏹ Stop Following
Feature 02 · Knowledge Cards

Know and Share to Family Circle

Knowledge cards summarise specific facts on a topic in an engaging card format with media and a short summary. The “Show me more on this topic” command sends additional facts. Each card can be instantly shared to family contacts configured in the companion app.

🌍 Climate · Quick Fact
Germany reached 59% renewable energy share in 2024 — a new national record.
Wind and solar generation combined covered the majority of demand on 200+ days throughout the year. Source: Bundesnetzagentur · CC BY 4.0
💬 Show More
👨‍👩‍👧 Share to Family
06 Further Scope

Expanding
the Vision

WhatsApp, adopted by many large organisations for customer service, provides an established channel for extending smart speaker capabilities far beyond these initial two features.

DIRECTION · 01
Customer-Initiated Messaging
Leverage WhatsApp’s adoption across major IT organisations to enable customer service access and support through the same channel as personal notifications — reducing friction and switching context.
DIRECTION · 02
Expanding Notification Network
Leverage WhatsApp for expanding smart speaker notifications and proactively notifying family members across a wider range of home events — from package deliveries to energy usage milestones.
DIRECTION · 03
Feature Discovery & Opt-In
Explore use cases that notify users of new speaker features and opted-in services, reducing the discovery gap between what the product can do and what users actually know about and use daily.
07 Learnings & Takeaways

What We
Took Away

01 · Integration
Enhancing Experience with Seamless Integration
WhatsApp integration for notifications and news updates significantly boosted user convenience and retention. Meeting users in a platform they already trust removes the need to learn new behaviour.
02 · Iteration
Iterative Testing for Success
Multiple user tests and iterations refined features to meet user expectations. No concept arrived fully-formed — each Kundencafe session surfaced assumptions that needed to be challenged and reworked.
03 · Collaboration
Collaboration Is Key
Close work with engineers, product managers, and stakeholders was essential for implementing complex cross-platform features. Alignment on constraints early prevented costly rework and produced better outcomes for all disciplines.
04 · Compliance
Compliance Matters
Adhering to standards like WhatsApp’s messaging policies ensured smooth implementation and maintained user trust throughout. Working within platform rules, rather than around them, produced a more sustainable product.