We-Connect 4.0
Services
Concept, Design, Development
Technology
Android, iOS
Client
WOW Tech Europe GmbH
Year
2019 – today
WHAT WAS KARLMAX’S ROLE IN THE PROJECT?
During the first year, we gave the existing We-Connect app a new look and optimized the usability. Since then, we have continuously integrated new toys from the We-Vibe brand.
Why does the user need the app?
The app allows sex toys to be used in many different ways: with your partner in a session over long distances or alone with fancy vibe creations.
What can the app do?
The sex toys from the premium brand We-Vibe can be controlled via Bluetooth connection and furthermore establish a secure partner session with a significant other and the device – across borders. Chat, audio and video connection with the partner complete the app experience.
But the app is also interesting without a long-distance relationship: it has various interactive modes. You can create your own vibration patterns or combine various existing vibes to make a playlist. The toy can also vibrate to the rhythm of the music (beat mode) or by finger movements on the touchscreen.
The challenge
Taking over an app that is about 6 years old and continuing to work on it is always a special challenge, as technical standards in app development change rapidly. Many people around the world use the app and expect their sex toy to be stable with the app. That’s why we had to be particularly careful when further developing the product.
The security and data protection of the users also had to be observed at all times. Even before the start of our development work, we had to conceptually consider the compliance with security guidelines, but also prevent user data from being stored without their consent.
User security and data protection also had to be respected at all times. Before we even started with our development work, we had to conceptually consider compliance with security guidelines, but also prevent user data from being stored without their consent.
Finally, the redesign had to satisfy various stakeholders: the brand image, the usability, the respective style of the operating systems and the users’ preferences.
How did we proceed?
We started work on the We-Connect app with a 3-week scoping phase. This was not only where first concept and design ideas were developed; first and foremost, the existing code base was analysed, the feasibility of proposed changes was evaluated and problems were identified.
After that, we began with the conversion of UX and UI, and a little later on, the connection of newly available toys. In close cooperation with Wow-Tech, we released the first new version of the app in an iterative process in autumn 2019.
Behind the scenes – or: Why I had to apologise for hijacked sex toys
To connect a sex toy to the We-Connect app, it must first be set to “Bluetooth Pairing Mode”. Afterwards, when you searched for vibrating small devices with the app, the number of available devices in the office was often in the two-digit range. So, it was possible that two of the same kind were available and you had selected the wrong one. One or two excuses had to be made when it started humming on the desk in the side office or the toy hopped off the table.
In the meantime, everybody got used to the daily humming.
