Trane TechnologiesRethinking a Familiar Flow
How a non-tech user exposed the blind spots in a legacy thermostat experience
Role: XD Designer
Duration: 4 weeks
Completed: Oct 2023
Tools: Figma, ProtoPie, Photoshop, Illustrator
Skills: UX Research, Journey Mapping, Interaction Design, Usability Testing, Prototyping
Challenge
Trane Technologies was developing a new smart thermostat to replace its aging product line. Homeowners needed a straightforward way to connect the device to their home network — a task that unlocks all smart features. My role was to design that onboarding experience. What seemed like a simple flow turned out to be anything but.
The Problem
Use Case: Nick and Kelly have just moved into a new home. Kelly wants to set up the smart thermostat — but first, the device needs to connect to the network.
The existing workflow seemed clear to me. I'd been close to it long enough that I stopped seeing its friction. So I ran an informal test: I asked my spouse — not a tech-savvy user — to connect to the network using the current device, and recorded the session without guiding her.
The results were immediate and humbling. She navigated to the wrong screens, repeated actions because button placement didn't signal what to do next, and found several labels confusing. A task I considered straightforward took her significantly longer than expected.
This single test reframed the entire project. The problem wasn't the visual design — it was the workflow itself.
Legacy Device: Connect to a Network
Building A Foundation
Journey Map
The journey map plotted both current and new users moving through the network connection flow, making visible where frustration spiked and confidence dropped. The key insight: users hit the most confusion at the transition between Wi-Fi discovery and connection confirmation — two steps the legacy design treated as one. The map also helped the team align on MVP feature scope, separating what had to ship from what could come later.
Workflow
With pain points mapped, I used sticky notes to plot a revised workflow before touching any design tools — catching logic gaps early is far cheaper than fixing them in Figma. The proposed changes had three focuses: reorganizing the menu structure to reduce navigation depth, consolidating redundant steps, and rewriting microcopy to give users clearer guidance at each decision point. This workflow became the north star for every design decision that followed.
New Workflow Proposal
Design Process
Keep It Simple, Stupid
Lo-fi Wireframes
With a graphic design background, my default instinct is to reach for polish. For this project I resisted that — deliberately building first-draft wireframes with the most basic elements possible, focused entirely on whether the new workflow made sense, not whether it looked good. The constraint worked: I had testable wireframes within a few hours, and the simplicity made it easier for stakeholders to critique the experience rather than the visuals.
Quick Test
I brought my spouse back for a second test using the new lo-fi prototype. The improvement was measurable — she completed the task in less than half the time. Her unprompted feedback:
"The Wi-Fi page was easier to find."
"Oh, turning on the Wi-Fi shows me the next step."
"It felt easier to do, but I'm not sure why."
That last comment is telling. When a design works well, users often can't articulate why — they just feel less resistance. The reduced cognitive load came from fewer branching paths, clearer button hierarchy, and guided progressive disclosure. The test gave me enough confidence to build out the full prototype.
Prototyping
For Developers
I kept prototype elements intentionally simplified, building components that would evolve as the design library matured. Rather than hand off finished screens, the simplified prototype gave developers a clear structural roadmap while leaving room for technical decisions on their end. This reduced back-and-forth significantly and kept implementation moving in parallel with design refinement.
For Presentation
Before presenting the prototype, I set three ground rules with the team — a practice I've carried forward from a mentor:
Visual designs are not final — keeps feedback focused on the experience, not the aesthetics
Think like the homeowner — puts everyone in the right frame of mind before the walkthrough begins
Hold questions until the end — lets the prototype tell its own story without interruption
This framing consistently leads to more productive critique sessions and cleaner signal from stakeholders.
Pictured Above: Trane thermostat prototype.
What I learned
Outcome & Reflection
The redesigned network connection flow reduced task completion time by more than 50% in informal testing — measured against the same user, the same task, before and after. Three specific changes drove that improvement: a restructured menu that surfaced Wi-Fi setup at the top level, progressive disclosure that revealed next steps contextually, and clearer microcopy that replaced technical labels with plain-language guidance.
The biggest lesson from this project wasn't a design principle — it was a reminder about proximity bias. When you've been close to something long enough, you stop being able to see it. The most valuable thing I did in four weeks wasn't a wireframe or a prototype. It was handing the device to someone who had never seen it and watching what happened.
That instinct — to test assumptions with real people as early as possible, with whatever fidelity is available — is something I bring to every project now.