Design Challenge: Simple Remote Thermostat

(Assume) Research shows that 90% of consumers just need these functions for remotely accessing their home thermostat:

States

  • Indication of Off / Cool / Heat
  • Current temperature (units set elsewhere)
  • Current thermostat setting

Actions

  • Change Off / Cool / Heat state
  • Temporarily set thermostat, starting in a set number of hours/minutes and reverting to normal program after a number of hours/minutes
  • Reset temporary setting

Research indicates that most of the time, users just want the temporary setting to start immediately and last an indefinite amount of time.