Developing User Needs

Introduction

For a project like this, which is intended for a small set of users, it may seem trivial to consider the user needs oriented design process. However, even the process of user discovery executed at this small scale can reveal a number of different considerations that you might not have thought of if you only did this project for yourself.

Some of the key findings I heard when doing my own user needs discovery:

From my wife:

• Having it work with Home Assistant is a bonus, but it should do the basics first.
• It should do everything that a basic garage door opener does.
• Not having a remote in the car is a minus.
• It would be great if this new functionality also considered sending an alert or an alarm if the garage door is open past bedtime

As a Parent

• It's important to consider safety. Making sure that the garage door opener only works when nobody is in the way is important.
• Integrating the door sensor would be important.
• It would be nice to be able to see if anybody is in the way remotely if you're closing it from somewhere where you can't see the door.

considering kids

It would be nice to be able to create different combinations, That can be shared with friends for a limited amount of time. There should be simple feedback if the password is correct or incorrect, and there should be a way to get in without a phone.

Safety and security.

I don't want this to be an externally hosted app. I don't want to pay a monthly subscription. I want to be able to iterate over time and slowly add features. I want it to integrate into my existing home automation. It should be just as secure as the existing solution, meaning that not anybody would be able to just hack it to open the door.

Extensibility

It would be nice to be able to reprogram the device without plugging into it. This shouldn't conflict with the security.