Linksys app revitalization

At one point the Linksys app, meant to offer people setup, control, and monitoring of their Linksys networks at home, was rated below three stars on the iTunes Store and had a lifetime rating of 3.3 on the Google Play Store. A new information architecture, a fresh coat of paint, and many performance and interactivity improvements brought it to 4.5 stars on iTunes and a 4.1 lifetime on Google, helped by a judicious amount of review solicitation.

Linksys app dashboard showing network online status — Main dashboard view showing network status, connected devices, and overall network health at a glance.

Linksys app device detail screen showing individual device information — Detailed view of a single connected device, showing connection status, bandwidth usage, and device-specific controls.

Linksys app device list showing all connected devices — Complete list of all devices connected to the network, with status indicators and quick access to device details.

Linksys app swipe actions pattern for device management — Swipe actions are a useful mobile pattern.

Linksys app device prioritization main screen — Device prioritization feature allowing users to give specific devices higher bandwidth priority for gaming, streaming, or work.

Linksys app save rule screen for network rules — Creating and saving a network rule, such as scheduling device access or setting up parental controls.

Linksys app device selection screen — Selecting a device from the network to apply rules, prioritization, or other network management features.

Linksys app confirmation screen for removing device prioritization — Confirmation screen for removing device prioritization, allowing users to cancel or confirm the action.

My role: Product owner, leader of the design team and cajoler of the software and firmware engineering teams. Substitute product manager for a somewhat neglected area. Part-time scrum master for design and blended design/development teams.

Lessons learned: The performance characteristics of the framework you choose to develop with need to align closely with the performance needs of your product. The framework is meant to make life easier for developers but needs to do so in a way that explicitly conveniences users. Said another way, the negative performance characteristics of the framework you choose better not matter to your users or you’ve magnified pain of development rather than reduced it. Asking otherwise happy people to review your app, infrequently, increases the recommendability of your product. A fresh coat of paint is not enough, but failing to give a fresh coat of paint once in a while enhances feelings of neglect, deserved or not.