Student redesign helps "smart doorbell assistant"

The opportunity to learn the art of App Design encouraged full-time web developer Xinyue (Luna) Zhang to add part-time study to her busy schedule.

Luna works at agribusiness consulting company AbacusBio where she's used to working on the "backend" of websites and apps.

"I've always had a passion for design, but I'm a developer. I write code," she says.

A chance meeting at a local technical meetup group called Code Craft gave her the confidence to grow her skillset.

She chatted about app design with Martin Kean, a senior lecturer at Otago Polytechnic's School of Design, who encouraged her to take a paper in the Bachelor of Design (Communication) degree programme, Advanced Design Techniques 2: App Design.

As part of her learning, Luna took part in a course project to assist local startup company Intermentis with the usability and development of their AI-driven accessible doorstep assistant, called Soter.

The technology is aimed at making home life "safer and simpler" for vulnerable people by automatically handling visitors at the door. It can screen callers to prevent unwanted encounters, give alerts, and keep records of visitors for trusted contacts. 

"However, we found their prototype looked a little basic and wasn't very user friendly especially for older people. And it was missing a lot of scenarios," she says.

Luna and her classmates used accessibility and user interaction techniques they learnt on the course to improve the app's look & feel, usability, and functionality.

They conducted case studies to identify the needs of potential users fo the technology, which has been developed to help the elderly and people with disabilities or mobility issues.

"We imagined all the possible users and scenarios, and prototyped them for our client project."

"We changed the colour scheme and improved the accessibility, because we found their users have very specific needs and issues."

Luna says the course was very worthwhile, and being able to work on a real-world application with real users was much more valuable than a theoretical scenario.

Intermentis co-founder Benoit Auvray says his team were delighted with the feedback and found working with the School of Design a real pleasure.

"The students brought creativity, structure, and enthusiasm to the project."

"We were impressed by the quality and depth of the work, especially the design thinking, user testing, and research that went into the app and outdoor unit.

"We would absolutely recommend this kind of collaboration to other companies."

The company is hoping to launch the Soter doorstep assistant commercially in early 2026.