Grant Temporary Smart Home Access
Design guest access that gives a visitor only the smart-home controls they need, for a clear period, with easy review and revocation.
The brief
Understand the problem
Background
Guests may need a door lock, lights, and climate controls but should not automatically see cameras, household routines, or account settings. Broad household sharing makes temporary access hard to understand and remove.
User context
Mei's cousin will feed her cat over a long weekend. He needs front-door access, hallway lights, and the thermostat between Friday evening and Monday morning, but no camera history or alarm administration.
Product problem
A resident needs to compose a least-privilege guest role and confirm that it actually expires across devices with different connectivity.
Objective
Create guest invitation, permission review, first-use guidance, and expiry handling for one home visit.
What to design
Define the experience
Required experience
- Select a guest, purpose, access period, and specific devices
- Preview exactly what the guest can see and control
- Let the guest accept and verify access on their phone
- Review activity, extend deliberately, or revoke immediately
Screens and states
- Guest access setup
- Permission preview
- Guest home view
- Access activity and expiry
Core user flow
Follow the critical path
- 01
Mei chooses pet care and sets a Friday-to-Monday access period
- 02
She grants the front door, hallway lights, and thermostat within safe limits
- 03
Her cousin verifies his phone and previews how to unlock the door
- 04
During the visit, Mei sees only relevant access events
- 05
The grant expires Monday and connected devices confirm removal
Product rules
Requirements and constraints
Requirements
- Scope access by person, device, capability, location, and time
- Exclude cameras, recordings, routines, and administrator settings by default
- Explain unavailable or partially connected devices before invitation
- Give the guest clear active-period and expiry information
- Confirm revocation separately for each device and surface unresolved removal
Constraints
- Some household devices do not support granular permissions
- Guest invitations require a verified contact method
- An offline device may retain its last synchronized access state temporarily
Reality check
States worth considering
Finish line
What to deliver
- Four mobile screens showing least-privilege setup, guest use, and partial expiry confirmation
Optional direction
Visual resources
Use these as a starting constraint if you want one. They are not part of the required solution.
Theory to review
UX principles for this brief
Use these as decision lenses, then validate the design with the people and context in the brief.
