Xfinity xFi: Revolutionizing WiFi Experience

Comcast UX NYC's Award-Winning Design Transforms Home WiFi Management

Comcast UX NYC's inspiration for xFi stemmed from the desire to demystify WiFi for the average user. The team aimed to create a friendly, inviting interface that would humanize a technology often perceived as complex and laden with jargon. To achieve this, they incorporated playful avatars to present a human-centric perspective, transforming the previously invisible and confusing WiFi experience into something tangible and approachable.

What sets xFi apart is its focus on personalization. It offers users ultimate control over their home WiFi, allowing them to see which devices are online, optimize coverage, and even pause WiFi access during dinner time. The application also enables parents to set online time for their children, making it a valuable tool for managing screen time. The design team describes xFi as the "ultimate control tool to deliver freedom to discover everything in your WiFi connected world."

The realization of xFi was a collaborative effort involving UX, Product, Development, Customer Experience, Accessibility, and Quality Assurance teams. The application was primarily designed in Sketch before being handed off to the development team. It was built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with notable libraries including Polymer, Vue.js, and Redux. The application is available on mobile, web, and set-top box, with the mobile experience being the core focus.

Developing a user-friendly navigation structure for xFi required extensive research and numerous prototypes. The team conducted ethnographic studies to gain strategic insights about how people think about high-speed data, which informed prototype development. They also performed exhaustive competitive analysis and prototype testing to ensure the design and hierarchy of content and interactions were accurate and user-friendly.

One of the key challenges the team faced was creating an experience that would appeal to a broad range of users, including those with 'tech phobia.' The goal was to make WiFi management accessible and enjoyable for everyone, a feat they achieved by simplifying complex processes and steering away from intimidating tech jargon.

Since its launch in April 2017, Xfinity xFi has been widely recognized for its innovative approach to WiFi management. The application's unique properties and user-centric design have not only won it the Platinum A' Mobile Technologies, Applications and Software Design Award in 2018 but also made it a game-changer in the world of home WiFi management.