Tile partners with BLE chip makers to bring its location-tracking technology to more products!
CONTEXT
• Tile partnered with several major companies, such as Qualcomm, Dialog, Silicon Labs, and Toshiba, to integrate its location-tracking technology directly onto their BLE chips. This collaboration will enable manufacturers to create devices that are "Find with Tile" enabled, allowing users to easily locate their items straight out of the box.
• Once Tile's global network is activated, the chances of lost devices being found are greatly increased. The Tile Network, which spans 195 countries, finds 90% of all items marked as lost in the Tile App.
GOAL
• Provide unmatched value to our customers to offer an experience unlike any other on the market.
• Tile has embedded its location-tracking technology in a variety of partner devices. By pairing your device to the Tile app, you can easily track the location of your item or activate a sound to help you locate it and engage with the Tile app.
CHALLENGES
1. Develop a platform design strategy for UX/UI and implement a scalable system both internally and with external partners.
2. Optimize. Improve the hardware pairing activation experience.
3. Innovate for True Wireless. Other solutions cannot locate true wireless buds in their charging chase or treat both buds as a single object, meaning they can only be found one at a time if they are not together.
STRATEGY
The Tile engineering teams pushed to deliver an experience that supersedes that of other "Find My" solutions available today. Most notably…
• Tile-enabled Skullcandy buds are findable when placed in the charging case, which isn't available in other solutions currently on the market.
• True wireless buds are engineered so that each earbud acts as an individual Tile and, therefore, can be found individually.
MY ROLE
Cross-functional collaboration. Stakeholder alignment and negotiation. Guided design vision, strategy, UX/UI, prototyping, A/B testing, validation, and implementation.
THE TEAM
Design Lead, Yingri Guan
Design Lead, Cihang Yang
Designer, Albert Paras
QA Engineer, Martynas Pupienis and Jennifer Slomowitz
Sr Director, Mobile Engineering, Mike Chrabaszcz
Senior Director, Embedded Systems and Firmware, Josselin de la Broise
Chief Business Officer, Jeff Houlé
Business Development and Product Partnerships, Mark Kwak
Sr Director of Business Development and Product Partnerships, Antonio Lopez Reus
RESULTS
• Tile has integrated its valuable finding technology into nearly 12 billion consumer electronic devices at the chip level!
• 80% of activated partner products become new Tile customers.
• Transformed the hardware platform experience for a 90% activation success rate, working with over 30 partners across wearables, audio, voice, smart home, and PC, and strengthened the relationship between Business Development, Design, and Engineering.
PRESS
• EngEngadgett, Skullcandy
• TechCrunch, Comcast
• TechCrunch, Bose
• The Verge, Fitbit
• Smile Direct Club
• Engadget Japan Japan, Visa Card
• Ars Technica, HP Laptops