So I just got ST and started setting up stuff. My wife thinks it was a waste of money. I have been trying to explain all that could be done. Alarm system, turn on lights when we get home or for the dogs when we get home late.
So I am looking for ideas that might help my wife like the idea of having ST. Thanks
My fiance was already on board for the most part. One of the things that really sold her was i put motion sensors where we do things like laundry/dishes/cook etc… Places where you want light when you need it but won’t always have free hands to make it happen.
She loved it!
My wife loves certain features and hates others (especially when it doesn’t work). She hates the feeling that she is being tracked. (Mobile Presense, Mailbox Sensors when she gets the mail). She likes automatic locking of door locks(extra security), lighting on and off, etc.
I Recommend to go to the Blog → Videos section of this site and show your wife the videos from real users who use SmartThings for their life and safety. Scenarios: Kids, Dogs, Cooking, Home Security, Home Automation, Entertainment.
Exactly! Solve her problems first, so she starts realizing the utility. We just reorganized our laundry area, and it made the switch more difficult to reach; so she suggested we update the switch to be motion based.
Then you can really start to mess around!
I did things like motion and time based light control, garages, door locks, all stuff she didn’t know could be better but now brags to all her friends. She understand the motion detectors make a lot of her favorite things work, and the presence detection, so she is a fan. She just wishes there were buttons for some things which is why i started away from too many light bulbs by TCP and went zwave switch route.
I completely agree. Where this is VERY important is when guests are over! Now I need to setup the three button switch to set all our modes…Party Mode, Movie Mode, etc…
My wife LOVES the Laundry Monitor app. (Except when it doesn’t work right).
I’m going to use flics to do this. We’ll see how they work. lol
Those are on my list as well.
yeah, I can’t get my laundry sensor to reliably fire…the cycles must be way different per load type she does. Of course, she was offended at first when I set it up as if I was commenting on her laundry timeliness (when I wasn’t…just trying to be a helpful hubby)
I got a MInimote for bedside that she can turn off the bedrooms lights, master bath lights, and bedroom tv at once…that has helped a lot. I think the bulb-based approach that requires an app just has inherent limitations for some users…of course, this is right when my wife decides NOT to be attached at the hip anymore with her phone. Doh.
What I’ve found with my wife is ST needs to make something easier while not taking away the feeling of control (or the way things used to be). For instance, I first bought a few GE Link bulbs for our outdoor lights. I set those up on a time-based schedule. Since she was never the one to turn those lights on or off (somehow fell on my shoulders), she thought it was fine but effectively irrelevant to her. For the interior of our home, I’m careful to use Z-Wave switches, so she can turn them on/off manually when desired. For her, it’s important to not be required to use the phone when turning a light on or off. In the breezeway, I used a GE Link bulb initially. Until I added a motion sensor to automate the light in that space, she disliked ST. After adding the motion sensor for the breezeway, she’s fine with it. It all comes down to perceived friction. If it grabs her attention in the wrong way, the perception of the system as a whole will likely suffer, so I’d start with some simple use cases she either doesn’t interact with or would make her life easier without noticing it exists.
Please do pardon me, but am I being overly politically correct in expressing a desire that folks start calling this spouse acceptance factor, or cohabitor/partner/...?
For one thing, WAF is a tad discriminatory in at least two contexts:
Assumes women are less accepting of and/or adaptive to, SmartThings and similar gadgets. Perhaps there is a statistical majority, but the industry participants (including us), would benefit from avoiding perpetuating anything that discourages women from embracing technology at all levels (engineer, hacker, tinkerer, consumer, and … luddite, perhaps).
I fully admit that I constantly have to take the “acceptance factor” of my partner into account as I install gadgets and configure SmartThings in our home; but I’m definitely in the dog house if I refer to him as “wife”.
Thanks for your consideration (and sense of humor and … acceptance)! – Oh… and I still love the ideas here to help with family acceptance of these “convenience’s” we’re installing and building!!!
…CP / Terry.
@tgauchat
I agree. Household Acceptance Factor would probably be a better way to express this idea. Sometimes when I see people using wife acceptance factor on these boards they might as well be referring to their wives as the little lady in the kitchen.
How about Family Acceptance Factor (FAF) or Significant Other Acceptance Factor (SOAF). The two listed in wikipedia are Spouse Acceptance Factor (SAF) or the negative perspective Marriage Interference Factor (MIF).
I am afraid I have to agree with this change. My boyfriend is not crazy about me calling him “my wife” as I set up all of my smartthings that are now in control of our home… on a side note, he did love it when he came home after being gone for a few weeks and the Sonos system greeted him with “welcome home handsome” 
Hmmm… I think you’ve found a significant co-factor that influences HAF … flattery!
Not sure a Sonos is the only vehicle: In my home, I need a Thing with capability.dispenseFlowers. 
…CP/Terry.
Just a quick question for you guys! What does your better half consider the most important and will be using on a regular basis…and contributes the most towards WAF?
My wife is completely indifferent to the whole thing, but we’ve had serious and more involved home automation setups before, which have evolved over time – we used to use MisterHouse (written in PERL) with X10, and it would announce who was calling on the phone and when favorite shows were about to start on TV, so the move into SmartThings hasn’t really been as impressive.
With that said, I’ve been gradually extending SmartThings with Tasker, IFTTT and the like so that “helpful” things happen while the system doesn’t get in the way and doesn’t require a change in anybody’s routine. Lights come on when we arrive and during sunset, turn off automatically in different areas, we get announcements about inclement weather (plus weather forecasts), etc.
The one absolute destroyer of wife / spouse / family / whatever acceptance factor though is lack of reliability. The front porch lights once turned on NINE minutes after we arrived, and the Android presence reporting got so bad that I just removed it altogether and worked around it with Tasker and SharpTools.
I think there’s potential in the whole system, without it being disruptive, but the acceptance factor is only going to be high as long as things actually work without issue, 100% of the time.
Reliability (whether it is a schedule event, motion sensor trigger, button press, or use of the smartphone app). Lights and sirens must not turn on in the middle of the night (for no good reason), locks must unlock consistently if we decide to use presence, etc.
Quickly adding ease of use as required, primarily: Can he attach a button, such as an Aeon Minimote to turn the damn light on/off.
A simpler, configurable, faster, less confusing smartphone app: Can he navigate the app and understand the Things we use on a routine basis, particularly for on/off/dim, but soon enough, to view and adjust scheduled events and other simple SmartApps.
Manual override and/or multiple apps: If a Thing is difficult to control, does it have a physical switch and/or an alternative app (like Philips Hue apps)? Can he carry a key to open the front-door smart lock in case presence or bluetooth or keypad do not work?
Thanks,
…CP/Terry.