EmberEye for Teledyne FLIR: helping home cooks prevent kitchen fires through thermal imaging and real time danger alerts
Case study | 5 min read
Teledyne FLIR approached our capstone team to design a kitchen fire prevention system for home cooks—aimed at stopping over 150,000 fires and $1B in annual losses. It was an urgent challenge, especially given that nearly a third of Americans disable their smoke alarms due to false alerts. As the sole designer on a 10-person engineering team, I proposed and led the design of a companion iOS app to make the system smarter, more intuitive, and user-friendly. The final solution combined thermal imaging with real-time alerts, helping users catch early signs of danger before a fire starts.
As the only designer on the team, I...
Secured buy-in for app design and development from team members and FLIR stakeholders
Designed the iOS mobile app from 0-1 in a 9 month dynamic timeline
Identified and key user pain points through remote and field testing
Collaborated with 10 engineers in a cross functional team to strategize roadmap
9 months | 2023-2024
Capstone project
Product designer, UX researcher, Branding
5 electrical engineers, 4 mechanical engineers, 1 app developer, 2 FLIR advisors
Achievements
Fostered UX culture
Historically, engineering capstone projects focus more on applied technology. Overtime, my involvement in the app helped promote an outcome-driven design approach within the team, prioritizing user needs and potential business objectives over feature dumping to create real value from our work.
Won best project award
The digital solution accompanying the device helped show real value in a realistic market as something that would be use in a home kitchen. This helped us win the Best Multidisciplinary Engineering Award in the capstone cohort.
Potential Impact
Potential to prevent 150,000+ fires
At the estimation of 25% product adoption rate among the at-risk folks (around 100 million), taking into account fire death rates, there is a potential of preventing 150,000+ fires across the US with proper installation of the device and proper use of the app.
Helped users save time and reduce anxiety
Real-time monitoring features and alerts give potential value to users to help save time and reduce daily anxiety around fire-related kitchen safety. Less time worrying and going home to check on the stove.
My team and I after our presentation at the FLIR campus in Santa Barbara :)
Onboarding
Ensuring an intuitive onboarding process using progressive disclosure to prevent churn
Device Set Up & Connection
Users want to ensure the device is working and ready to send alerts before installation. The use of QR codes helps make the process simple and straightforward.
Device Mounting & Finalize Setup
The onboarding process guides users to mount their device based on their kitchen configuration. With the help of real time footage from the camera and tutorials, users feel confident in having the device set up properly.
In-app design
Making complex thermal data intuitive for users to monitor their stoves
Essential data at a glance
In the dashboard, users get a glance of essential data of their stove. The live feed and timer feature helps users keep track of their cooking.
Visual cue for alerts
When the system detects potential danger, users want to see an immediate visual cue—so they can quickly recognize that their kitchen is in an alert state and take action if necessary.
Real time alerts for users on the go
Users want to receive push notifications both at home and on the go—so they can stay informed about their kitchen’s safety, even when they’re not nearby.
Background
Misuse of smoke detectors, an existing solution for home fire prevention has led to increasing fire risks that can be easily prevented
One-third of Americans disable their smoke detectors due to false alarms and battery issues, significantly increasing home fire risks, even though kitchen fires were the leading cause of household fires according to a 2023 NFPA study. Properly functioning detectors can prevent common incidents before they become dangerous:
Unattended cooking situations before they escalate
Overheating oil scenarios where smoke precedes ignition
Slow-developing grease fires that emit smoke before flames appear
Team Alignment
Getting buy-in from the team and faculty was not an easy feat…no one had app-dev experience, so what now?
This capstone project started out as a purely engineering project, but I knew that having an accompanying app can effectively enhance user safety and extend utility from a UX stand point, and also lead to new market opportunities and increased sales.
Motivated by having an enhanced product and to also put my product thinking into practice, I advocated for app integration despite initial skepticism from my team, where all members lacked iOS development expertise.
I broke through the team and stakeholders by:
Conducting rapid UX research proving remote alerts addressed critical user needs
Developing high-impact mockups demonstrating the device-to-app workflow
Recruiting an iOS developer to implement the vision (shout out to Jackson Cooley <3)
By creating a detailed proof of concept prototype and recruiting an iOS developer, I ensured the team and FLIR stakeholders understood the benefits of having an app. The result wasn't just another sensor—it became the only project out of all capstone projects delivering live hazard notifications to users' phones. This pivot from hardware prototype to connected safety solution won faculty recognition and proved user experience could redefine engineering priorities.
Research
Understanding how our project scope and budget affect the target consumer audience
To stay within our $10,000 hardware budget, we scoped EmberEye for households with modern kitchens and a willingness to invest in premium safety—positioning it at a $250+ price point. This focus shaped both our technical decisions and app design. With limited resources, we prioritized a clean, trustworthy interface centered on core functionality like real-time alerts. The constraint pushed us to design a lean, purposeful experience that aligned hardware and software around a clear value proposition.
Meet our users: different types of home cooks
Due to limited time and access to direct users, I developed preliminary user archetypes through a combination of personal observation, secondary research, and assumptive profiling—a common approach in early-stage product work to guide design focus before formal validation.
These archetypes helped me identify key functional and emotional needs—from trustworthy alerts to low-friction interaction design—and prioritize features like real-time notifications, simple onboarding, and reassuring visual feedback.
The Family-Oriented User
They often manage multiple tasks (cooking + caregiving), making it easier to get distracted. Fire safety is especially high-stakes with children or elders at home.
Receiving prompt notifications when children are left unattended by the stove is important.
The Average User
May live alone and leave the kitchen unattended more often. An alert system provides peace of mind—especially when multitasking or cooking while distracted.
They are looking for convenience to monitor their stoves in and out of home and help them keep danger out of their kitchen.
The Neurodivergent User
Individuals with ADHD or executive functioning challenges may benefit from external reminders and automated notifications to manage focus and reduce risk, and quickly check their stoves even when they're out and about so they don't have to return home when they go "wait did I turn off the stove?"
Real-time footage of their stoves can really help ease their anxiety.
Market research: a deep dive into existing physical-digital products
As this was my first time designing a digital solution for a physical product, I wanted to get a better understanding on how the other products designed the app connection mechanics and the user flows. This allowed me to understand the physical-digital product space and focused on the user input and configuration flows.
Audit of other competitors
One of the main things I noticed was that the instructions always had a visual element to indicate users how to configure or set up their physical product. This was either done with videos or animated guides. I also noticed that they kept the textual instructions relatively short and split into smaller tasks to prevent churn and overwhelming users.
Connection & Pairing
Most products use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection with methods such as button presses or QR code scanning for pairing.
Tactile and visual indicators and feedback are crucial for users to feel ensured that their device is linked to the app.
Configuration
Simple guiding questions during onboarding helps the system understand user’s unique home environment
Progressive disclosure and visual guides can help prevent churn during the set up process
Instructions
Instructions are mostly short and concise where visual instructions and guided animated tutorials along with predicted possible FAQs
Tutorials and anticipated FAQs/hints are valuable to help users troubleshoot independently and help them set up their device with ease
Prioritizing
Figuring out what types of events require actual blaring alerts
To understand what sensors and calculations were needed, the electrical engineers and I collaborated to identify all hypothetical events that users would encounter in the kitchen and around the home.
During an exploratory testing session, I had interviewees complete a worksheet to determine which events warranted a physical alarm (such as beeps or flashing lights) and which required only a push notification. They also ranked the urgency of these events. Although not all use cases were implemented in the end due to technical constraints, the results still helped us configure the alarm system and prioritize the detection of critical events.
Worksheets the users filled out
Starting from something simple
Prototyping quickly to present to faculty and to test with users fast: a starting point
Based on my understanding of user needs and what the engineering team proposed to develop at the time, I quickly prototyped the onboarding and device set up flow to quicky test the concept with users. I did the V1 iteration in high fidelity because I knew my time was very limited and I also had to prepare for our first quarterly faculty presentation where the professors were largely lacking expertise in app design. The hi-fi prototype allowed me to communicate my designs in a more visual and polished way.
Notes on V1 prototype
User testing results of the onboarding flow showed that instructions needed to be more concise and clear
While the initial iteration achieved high level user goals, remote testing sessions with 4 users showed opportunity to enhance accessibility and reduce mental load.
I discovered that although the detailed instructions in the onboarding flow provided reassurance for the users, it also posed an immense amount of mental effort and cognitive load to go through each step. The user testing after the first few iterations revealed pain points regarding visual hierarchy and information overload for users.
Information Overload
3/4 participants (1 neurodivergent) found that the instructions and recommendations were too wordy, users did not know which parts are the most crucial to focus on.
Lack of Visual Hierarchy
2/4 participants found it difficult to tell which part of the screen users should focus on.
Lack of Visual Guidance
1/4 participants were unsure where exactly to mount their stove with only textual instructions. Some steps were confusing.
HMW
Simplify the device set up process and reduce users' cognitive load to reduce churn?
Refining the Design
Splitting user environment (magnetic vs. non-magnetic range hoods) to deliver targeted instructions
Displaying instructions for the entirety of the user base in one go can overwhelm both types of users.
After confirming my hypothesis with user testing, I devised instructions that cater to each type of users. The main differences being how the instructions are presented and which specific step or hints are emphasized to more efficiently guide the uses.
By providing targeted instructions based on the user’s home environment, I reduced the cognitive load and streamlined the experience.
Before
After
Hiding secondary information as hints to eliminate visual clutter and enhance visual heirarchy
The information can be accessed by tapping on the hints during the set up process. We found from testing that these instructions and information did not hinder the onboarding process if they were not presented as primary instructions.
Hint cards accessible in the device setup process
Enhancing visual cues and using animated tutorials to guide users in mounting their device
I incorporated interactive and animated elements to engage users' attention and help reduce overwhelm and easier to follow the onboarding process.
Visual Feedback
Shutter animation indicates when a screenshot is taken. This visual feedback reduces cognitive load by clearly signaling that a step was completed, ensuring users understood the process without confusion.
Listing the burners
Listing all available burners upfront gives users clear visual feedback on how many they need to drag into the frame.
Animated tutorials
Animated tutorials with visual cues allows them to succeed without needing to read instructions too carefully.
“If we think something is personalized, we believe it'll be better suited to our needs” - Peter, BFM
The onboarding process is quite a lengthy process, all of the steps required for the backend system to craft a personalized experience for each kitchen.
Utilizing a dedicated screen to build up to a moment can help users believe that the experience in-app will be better suited for their needs, subsequently building more trust between the product and the users.
Last screen of the onboarding flow before moving on to the in-app experience
In-app Experience
Tackling the in-app experience design in an ever-evolving timeline while engineers develop key technical functionalities
From the very start, I set out to answer the below HMW question with the addition of a mobile app to the project.
HMW
Effectively alert users and help reduce user stress regarding potential dangers in the kitchen?
In the proof of concept sketch, I imagined a lot of features that users might need based on our engineering project brief. But user testing would later prove me wrong. The concept was a good starting point, but I would eventually learn that simplification was actually the key to making sure the interface remained intuitive and easy to use.
Throughout the iterations, I also gradually implemented iOS design patterns to make the app look more like a native iOS app, which also helped the developer code the app.
The design evolution of the dashboard design from V1 to final
Alerting Users
Using different states to communicate stove status and alert dangers
With the use of visual indicators like changing the state of the alert card and using a red hue as a background, users can be effectively communicated of impending danger at the kitchen. This state is only triggered when the pot is boiling over, there is an active fire, or an event of a similar danger.
Dashboard alert state
The alert state card is emphasized using a white background to grab user attention
The top status card is usually on a dark transparent background, but the alert state is on a solid white background. This change in visual indicator can grab users' attention to take action and reduce the danger in their kitchen.
Different states of the alert card.
Individual burner status monitor allows users to keep track of burner usage in multi-burner scenarios
During user testing, we observed that home cooks—especially when preparing multi-course meals—frequently lost track of which burners were active. This created unnecessary stress and safety risks, even if not directly hazardous.
By surfacing burner status clearly on the dashboard, we addressed a real pain point in users’ cooking workflows. While leveraging existing backend capabilities made implementation efficient, the decision was driven by observed behavior: users actively sought this visibility during testing to maintain control over their cooking environment. Placing it at the bottom prioritized critical alerts while still supporting situational awareness during complex tasks.
Different states of the alert card.
Push notifications allow users to stay up-to-date with any potential dangers even when they are not home
When something is occurring at the stove, users would receive a push notification that prompts them to take action and also bring them to the alert dashboard state.
Push notifications example
Black Hat Testing With Team Members
Due to time and resource constraints, quick testing with team members regularly proved to be effective in refining designs overtime
As mentioned before, the technical development and requirements changed a lot and quickly during the project. As the only designer with limited resources, testing regularly with users became an unfeasible option, so I tested with the next best option: team members who are available to me much more often.
At every major tech update that would effect the designs, I would design the screens based on new specifications and present the screens to the engineers and ask them questions such as:
When you look at this screen, do you understand the purposes of each element?
What questions do you have about the information and functionality that you’re seeing? Is everything in the screen clear to you?
What do you expect to see when you click on [insert element] ?
Can you immediately tell the difference between the two and what is different?
These types of questions during our meeting was a time and resource efficient way to gather quick feedback that I can implement in my iterations and refine the design.
Responses of one team member during testing. To maximize efficiency, I used google forms to gather feedback from each member where they were given opportunities to any comments that come to mind.
Features for a Peace of Mind
To prevent alarm fatigue, I designed a timer system that adapts to real cooking workflows.
The feature lets users set custom durations for dishes requiring unattended simmering or baking, suppressing unnecessary alerts until the timer completes. This balances safety with practicality—protecting users without treating them like negligent cooks.
By aligning notifications with actual cooking behaviors, I transformed nagging alerts into helpful kitchen partners.
Timers can be accessed from the dashboard but it also exists as a separate page
What’s a mobile app good for if you can’t even see your stove when you’re outside?
The live view is a key feature of the app, and it's the main reason my team encouraged me to explore designing it. The idea is simple: if you can see what's happening with your stove, you'll feel more assured. If an alert goes off, you can quickly check from your phone to see if it's a false alarm, reducing anxiety. And if you leave the house unsure whether the stove is on, you can verify it through the live view without needing to rush back home.
Watch your stove from anywhere at anytime!
Impact and results
The final product prototype was successful among participants and final demo
As the physical device prototype became available, I was able to tested the (near) final app design with 3 participants in their home kitchen. The goal of this testing was to determine the effectiveness of the guidance available in the onboarding process that helps users set up their device.
The participants were asked to complete a set of user tasks and I analyzed their reaction, questions, and how they complete the tasks. Included physical set up and onboarding process.
3 out of 3 participants
successfully set up the device in their home kitchens with the device and app prototype
2 out of 3 participants
along with 5 faculty members said that the product would reduce their anxieties regarding kitchen safety, especially those with children at home
Our project won the Excellence in Multidisciplinary Award (1st place) !
As the physical device prototype became available, I was able to tested the (near) final app design with 3 participants in their home kitchen. The goal of this testing was to determine the effectiveness of the guidance available in the onboarding process that helps users set up their device.
The participants were asked to complete a set of user tasks and I analyzed their reaction, questions, and how they complete the tasks. Included physical set up and onboarding process.
Group pic after our award ceremony!
Next Steps
Further testing and refinements if I had more time and resources
Although I’m proud to have contributed to a final working prototype with the engineering team, I did not have enough time at the end of the project to properly test and measure the success of the final onboarding design. If I had more resources and time (and maybe monetary budget), here’s what I would do to ensure impact and success:
⏲️ Measure time on task
Measuring time on spent on each step of the set up process can help identify potential confusion in each step. I would do this either in person or with Useberry to gather larger quantity of data.
🧍 More live testing
Observe users’ real life usage of the product as they set up the device in their kitchen to identify key pain points for further iterations.
Although likely not optimal, it would be really insightful to see users react to a real dangerous event when seeing an alert on their phone. This would allow me to understand what actions they take first.
Do they check the live footage first?
Do they call someone at home?
What behaviors do they have and how can we support them in an event of possible danger.
Would the red background of the alert state further stress out the users?
👁️ Testing & research for live view
Given the chance, I would test out the live view feature more with a user outside of the home so I can identify key functions in the storage and labeling aspects.
How long should a footage be recorded and how long should it be stored?
Could we use AI to help label the contents of the recordings?
How far back should users be able to rewind the live footage?
Read about how I improved trust among college ride-sharers for PoolUp, a city-to-city rideshare startup!