Timing is everything

You could argue if setting up a Christmas tree should be a topic early December, but last weekend, while I was installing the lights, the importance of “timing”, became very clear. I have the Twinkly light string product and each year it’s challenge to get it up and running. ??

Since I don’t use the strings of light that often, the product takes some getting used to. You can easily configure the Christmas lights using an app, but since this is only a "one a year thing", it does take me a while to set things up. It's an interesting challenge for a product, because you own it for quite for a couple of years, but you actually use it only for a short period of time and then the product is stored, only to be used again one year later. An additional complexity is that the application changes a bit every year, so last time I used the interface, it was slightly different. Each year, the development team of Twinkly updates the app with a number of new features and that results in extra effort to “re-understand” the user interface.

Placing the strings in the tree looks like the hardest part, but when open up the app, the real onboarding starts…

• In stead of reusing my setup of last year, I needed to start over and then midway during the onboarding, the application asks me to upgrade the firmware. This forces me to start over with the onboarding after the upgrade…
• Halfway during the “connect to local network” - step I get a blocking popup asking me if I’m interested in a Black Friday deal… I decided to ignore the message and to close the dialog…
• Installing the lights requires a bit of mapping to ensure the layout is correct. While doing this, Twinkly asks me what rating I would give it in the App store. For me the appreciation of the app very much depends on if it will actually work; disturbing me in the setup process is not helping here…
• After finishing the setup I’m again confronted with the Black Friday deal-popup; even though I already dismissed the message.

Onboard flows should be as seamless and uninterrupted as possible. Asking my opinion about a product or trying to sell me another while this initial product in’t even working yet, is simply bad timing; and that’s a shame, because the lights themselves are pretty magical.

I must be honest; I’m a fan of this product and the lightstring from Twinkly, including the companion app is great! The initial price was quite steep, but the product has a unique value; configuring the lights is really cool and the rough setup is soon forgotten once the lights start flickering. When I bought it three years ago, they were the only real option for these kinds of things. I’ve some Philips Hue products in my house and never understood why Philips didn’t extend their product line sooner into this direction. Now they offer the “Festavia” and it’s interesting to read that people are switching to these new Philips lights after a couple of years owning the Twinkly product. I wonder if the “bad timing” played a role in their decision….