The good bits:
- The packaging for the Ringly is simple, and doesn’t include a user manual. There is a single-sided card, part of the box wrap, that instructs the new user to download the Ringly app to enable notifications. The ring is able to be used as a plain jewelry piece until the user connects it to get notigications.
- The app’s setup process is straightforward and does not prompt the new user to create an account. The only action that can be taken upon first opening the app is to connect with her Ring. The app detects any Ringly devices in range, connects and displays any OS pairing prompt as necessary.
- The only personal information the app tries to acquire is in the “Profile” section of the side menu. Here the new user can register her ring and opt in to product updates by providing her name and email address. By making this optional instead of required, she can start using her new accessory as quickly as possible. And the value proposition for providing her email address is clearly written.
- Ringly comes with a default set of notifications turned on: phone call, text message, email and calendar. This lets the new user enjoy baseline functionality right out of the box.
- The ring provides visual and haptic feedback if the new user customizes a notification’s LED color or vibration count. For example, if she changes a notification’s color to blue, the Ringly’s LED will blink blue to confirm the change. If she changes the vibration count to 3, her ring will vibrate thrice to confirm the change.
- The Contacts and Profile sections have inline cues, even though they are disabled and empty by default.
- The app links to a help website from the side menu, and it offers both text and video instruction.
To be improved:
- The app does not communicate next steps after the user connects her ring. Perhaps she purchased Ringly because of the app notifications it supports, and may have seen on the website and packaging that they are customizable. However, the app does not tell her she needs to enable these notifications, or where to find them. They are only revealed if she discovers the side menu, visits the “Notifications” section and taps “Edit.” Ringly could consider showing a post-connection note about enabling app notifications; could expose inline education with the default notification list (similar to the default state of the Contacts section); or could make it clearer that tapping “Edit” displays more options. While this next-step information is provided if the user finds her way to the Help web page, that content is disconnected from her primary app experience.
- There is no inline education about how to customize the vibration and color for each notification type. Changing the LED color requires the user to tap a list item several times before she can learn how many colors are available. And it may not be clear that the dots to the right of each notification represent a vibration count, or that tapping the dots reveals more options. Along with the “Edit” menu, the new user might get confused by the variety of ways she can change settings (a toggle for colors, a selection menu for vibration count, and an Edit section for notification enablement).