There are two buttons on my Nest Doorbell?

[Ron_Larson]

I installed a wired nest doorbell this weekend. It doesn't actually have two buttons. But my mom thought it did. I think that this is a good example of end-user design considerations. I thought I should tell of my experience so that when Google designs the next generation of this product, they can factor this into consideration.

My mom is 80+ and a total techni-phobe. She is horrible with a computers. She finds ways to screw things up that I find unimaginable. I work as a software engineer, and it totally astounds me how she interprets messages, functions, and general UX experiences. To be frank, I think it is eye opening. I tell her she needs to get hired by UX design teams as a tester. She is the kind of person who can break an idiot-proof UX without even trying.

So I installed the wired doorbell this weekend. I had hooked up the indoor chime. I asked my mom to go the front door and press the doorbell so I could test it out. I waited inside by by chimes.

I didn't hear the chimes. I yelled out to my mom "Did you press the door bell yet?". She said she had, more than once. Yet I didn't hear anything. Not even the doorbell itself, which was very weird. So I went to the front door to see if the doorbell was lite up. I assumed it wasn't getting power.

It was lite up. I pressed the button. It rang.

My mom says to me "Oh! I was pressing other other button.". 

"What other button?", I asked. We only have one doorbell.

She pointed to the camera at the top of the doorbell. "That button. The top one."

*sigh*. I had to explain to her that the "top button" was a camera. And that the round button with the light at the bottom was the doorbell.

Her reaction was to get frustrated, like she usually does. "Why do they have to make everything so complicated! Why do I have to know exactly where to push? Why can't I push the door bell there?"

That was a good question. So here is my idea Google. Make the entire doorbell face the button. Put it on a hinge that so no matter where pressed, it triggers the door bell. Even if they press the camera face.

[firmwaredev]

I have had this same thing happen multiple times.  Mail person, FedEX, you name it.   I have various devices around the house sending notifications when people walk up, so I typically start walking toward the door when that happens.   Quite a few times the people are just sitting there waiting for someone, thinking they pushed the doorbell, when they only pushed the camera lens.   I don't know..it seems pretty obvious to me, especially with the button lit up as it does.   But clearly it's not obvious to everyone.

I will probably put a clear label saying "PUSH" on the button soon, just to help folks out.

[MplsCustomer]

We only have the Nest Hello doorbells, but I think the color scheme on the Google Nest Doorbell (Battery) might be the cause of the confusion. On the battery camera, the camera lens is in a black circle at the top and the actual button at the bottom is white like the body of the doorbell, surrounded by a white light ring. In contrast, the face of the Nest Hello is all black and only the button at the bottom stands out, since it is surrounded by a green, white, or blue light ring, depending on the time of day and whether it's been pressed. I don't think we've had anyone try to press the camera lens.

[SteveT1]

Hey folks,

Thanks for chiming in, @firmwaredev and @MplsCustomer. Appreciate the inputs. We appreciate people who are keen on sharing with us their thoughts. We're always looking for ways to improve and we'll take this as feedback.

Let us know if you have other questions — we'd be happy to help.

Best,
Steve

[Brad]

Hi there,

Just checking in to see if you still need assistance with this issue. Please let me know if you need further assistance. 

Best Regards,

Brad.

[Ron_Larson]

No. Just wanted to make the designers aware of how some people think there are two buttons and don't know which one to press.

[Brad]

@Ron_Larson

Thank you so much for bringing this up to my attention! I like that idea, and I could see how it could be helpful. I will go ahead and submit this feedback forward for you. Thank you for all of your patience.

Please let me know if you need further assistance on this issue.

Best Regards,

Brad.

[Brad · Accepted solution]

Hey Folks.

At this time, I'll go ahead and lock this thread. If you're still experiencing problems, feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

Best Regards,

Brad.