Michael Sinanian

Quick Snapshot

Role: UX Researcher for the Wemo smart home portfolio
Team: Worked across hardware engineering, mobile app, design, and product leadership
Customers: Smart home enthusiasts automating lighting, energy usage, and voice assistant routines

Wemo Mini Smart Plug hardware photographed on a counter. — Hardware studies focused on simplifying setup and usage of flagship products like the Wemo Mini Smart Plug.

Mandate / Opportunity / Problem Scope

Wemo plugs, switches, and dimmers integrate with Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Nest, and IFTTT. The team needed actionable insight to make scheduling, energy feedback, and partner integrations effortless while supporting a wide spectrum of connected-home scenarios.

iPhone displaying the Wemo mobile app device controls. — Mobile research ensured the app exposed the right controls and routines for power users and new adopters alike.

Graphic of smart home platforms compatible with Wemo. — Ecosystem mapping grounded integration priorities across Alexa, Google, Apple HomeKit, and other partners.

What I Led / Delivered / Highlights

Designed and executed qualitative and quantitative studies — interviews, surveys, card sorts, paper prototype tests, competitive audits, and analytics reviews — to capture user needs.
Ran recurring in-person usability sessions that kept agile design sprints grounded in observed behaviors and voice-of-customer data.
Built research artifacts that informed both near-term feature decisions and long-range UX research roadmaps.
Partnered with cross-functional stakeholders to socialize findings and ensure the customer perspective shaped hardware and software planning.

Impact / Lasting Value / Takeaway

The research cadence helped Wemo sustain its reputation as the smart plug and switch category leader, enabling teams to ship experiences that worked seamlessly with major ecosystems and delighted customers looking for reliable, insight-rich home automations.