Co-Creation Part 4: An Effortless User Experience

Co-Creation Series:


Works As Expected

When thinking about our products, we put in extra effort to create the easiest, most delightful experience possible. It’s why our helmets only have one button on them. We keep the same conventions throughout our product line so that if you’re an existing customer and get your hands on one of our new products, you know exactly how to operate it.

Of course it’s very difficult to unlock all of the product’s smart features with a single button, which is why the app is a very important part of the product. With the introduction of the bike lights, we’ve had to rethink quite a few things to still deliver on the Lumos experience.

The App Experience

Over the years, we’ve been getting a few requests here and there about supporting multiple helmets with our app, and whilst it’s certainly been on our backlog of things we’d like to implement, the truth is that we just haven’t had the resources and it’s been lower on the list of priorities.

Until now.

With the introduction of the bike lights, we’re going from a single product, to a family of products, that will likely be used in tandem with each other. This means that supporting multiple products that are all synced to the app at the same time becomes a critical part of the whole setup. We’ve gone and rethought the architecture of the app to make this possible and it’s taken a bit of time as we wanted to get it right, but we’ve made a lot of progress and can confirm that the Lumos app will be supporting multiple products within the next few months.

For the bike lights, we wanted the app setup to be really familiar, with the options to check battery life, customise flash patterns and easily update the firmware when needed.

There is a much bigger component to the bike lights though as now the user will likely have multiple products set up and all syncing with each other. For this we needed a whole section dedicated just to syncing.

A really fun challenge when designing the app experience was how the user would be able to effortlessly assign and control all of their lights at the same time.

We tried a few different options and it’s really interesting how some formats work really well for certain types of people, whilst being a poor user experience for others as it requires them to remember a certain action or detail.

Ultimately, we ended up settling on a grid format, which is a lot more visual and allows the user to know exactly where they’ll either need to place their light once it’s set up, or if it’s already attached to their bike, will become obvious if it’s in the wrong position. 

We’ve received some pretty strong positive feedback for this format, but would also love to hear what you think about it as we polish it up for a future release.

Charging without cables

I just need to put a warning in here, as this post is about to take a bit of a dive in terms of content.

As part of our effort to make the bike lights as durable as possible, we decided early on that we would do away with a charging port and push for wireless charging. The feedback we received regarding this feature was initially mixed and I’m sure many of you will be on the fence about it too, but let me explain the reasoning and then feel free to let me know how you feel about it. 

As I mentioned, the initial reason we even considered this feature was to make the lights completely sealed so that there’s no way water would get in. We will be aiming to achieve an IPX rating of 6 to 7, which means you can dunk them in water and they’ll still work perfectly fine. 

An additional benefit of wireless charging is that it allowed us to slim down the design by a few millimetres, which coupled with the more rounded, pebble-like form factor I mentioned in the previous post, feels really nice to hold in your hand. Granted, they’ll be mounted on your bike for the majority of the time, but you will also be removing them and carrying them around at some point as they’ll need to be recharged. It’s the small details that make a difference.

I can already hear some of you thinking ‘Oh no! Proprietary cables!’ and whilst our wireless charger will be proprietary, these bike lights use the universal Qi charging standard and so will be compatible with the majority of other wireless chargers out there. You can even charge them on your phone!

We also tested a twist mount vs a magnetic attachment and there’s just something really satisfying about dropping the bike light into its mount.

We were initially concerned about the attachment strength of a magnetic solution, but our rigorous stress testing has shown that the staying power of our intended design is solid and we’ve not experienced a single incident where the light has unintendedly detached from its mount. 

The real benefit here is that it’s now really easy to just pop your lights in and get going. Similarly, you can detach all your lights within seconds when you park your bike up. No more fumbling around with twist locks.

The downside is that they can get stolen even quicker if you forget them on your bike. You can bet your thief is also going to appreciate the pebble-like feeling though.

I mentioned that the initial reception was quite mixed, but after our beta testers played around with them, we found that a fair amount changed their minds quite considerably.

So the main takeaway here is that the benefit of features like these are tough to convey without actually trying it out for yourself. We know that the feedback will be fairly lukewarm to these features, but without testing them in real life, it’s really tough to determine whether it’s an improvement or not. So we’re taking a small risk here and basing the inclusion of these features on the beta testing we’ve already conducted. Hopefully you love these features when you finally get your hands on your own set. I’d still like to hear all your opinions on these to really see if we’ve missed something big, so let us know if you have strong feelings about this.  

A proprietary charger, you say

So, I know this sounds like trouble to a lot of you, and I completely understand the feeling, which is why it was a hard requirement to be able to charge these bike lights wherever you had wireless chargers. I know not all of you will have wireless chargers yet, but they’re becoming ubiquitous enough for us to feel like this isn’t really a proprietary charging solution anymore.

To be clear, we’ve moved away from proprietary charging cables and as you’ve seen with Ultra, have moved onto more universal connectors. We do not intend to go backwards, and so the wireless chargers that we ship will also use USB-C cables to power them.

The proprietary bit of the charger is this…

It’s not really a universal wireless charger. But we made this decision deliberately as universal wireless chargers are widely available everywhere so you’re free to pick whichever option you like.

For the bike light charger though, I wanted to make something a little more fun, since we were going to have to tool something for it anyway. I decided to go with a little alien sheep.

Confused? Cute? Ridiculous?

Why an alien sheep? I say, why not? Imagine having a few of these sitting on your desk whilst they charge. Conversation starters, for sure.

But the actual reason for creating a cradle was to address a pretty specific request from our beta testers if we were going to go ahead with wireless charging - that was charging on-the-go. We realised that it would be close to impossible to charge these using flat chargers, so we created a magnetic cradle that will allow you to plug it into a power bank, pop your light in, and throw it in your backpack and have the confidence to know that it’s charging away whilst you go about your business.

The extra alien legs I added as an option because I just couldn’t resist. If you don’t like them, they’ll also come with a more minimal rubber pad.

Let us know if you have more fun ideas around what to do with the cradle’s rubber base, we might be able to make it happen.

More changes based on your feedback

There have been a bunch of other small iterations and adjustments we’ve been making based on your responses which I’ll briefly highlight as this post has blown way past the suggested word limit (sorry, not sorry).

We’ve angled the handlebar end mounts for even better side visibility - we think the new versions look great! Let us know your thoughts too.

We also incorporated a rubber foot into the handlebar end mount so that you can lean your bike onto a wall without the light popping out.

We improved the button design by making it wider and protruding so that it’s now easier to press and has a nice tactile feel.

Some people have been talking about charging more than one at a time. We’re working on an accessory that allows this, but also doubles as a carry case. Here’s an initial render, but we’ll share more as progress on this accessory develops.

That’s all for now, but keep your feedback coming as we try to address as much as we can as we get closer to the final product. Hopefully you can see that we’re listening to all of your concerns and suggestions and are trying our best to address them either with the lights themselves, or future accessories / products.

Up next

We’re getting awfully close to being ready to launch these bike lights. In the next update I’ll talk about;

  • Our plan for our pre-order launch
  • The full range of accessories
  • A sneak peak at some new helmets (if you’re following us closely, you may have noticed one of them already)

Until then, we’d love to start getting an idea of the demand for these lights and their accessories so would really appreciate if you could fill out this survey to answer a few questions we have before we plan out our go-to-market strategy. Thank you all for your input and following along with us this far! 

Lumos Firefly is live on Kickstarter now! Enjoy up to 35% off with our Early Bird discount before the campaign ends.

19 comments

Have you looked into garmin compatibility?

Robert Rowe August 09, 2022

If you are thinking of going to a more universal charging standard. Is it not possible to make a USB-C to Lumos magnetic connector? Would make it easier for Ultra users to charge upgraded remote and helmet!

Caleb July 08, 2022

Alright so I’ve bought in and have a bunch of these new lights that have to come on and off for charging and theft. How do I know which light goes where when I remount? Since these are not hardwired any light can go to any position I configured in the app sure, but how do I know I have got the mounts right?

William June 27, 2022

Not really clear on why there is a ‘button’ on the lights. My lumos helmet already has a turn left and right thumb control on the handlebar. I would expect that control to drive these signals as well. ??

William June 27, 2022

I love the idea of these and would be inclined to add them to my riding but I’m on a scooter, not a bike, and already the helmet doesn’t sync rides at all. I love my helmet, don’t get me wrong. Having turn signals is great but it never tracks my rides at all. I think it tracked the very first one I rode and never after that. I’d love to see you get the components that you currently have working consistently before adding more things.

Chelly June 27, 2022

The designs I’ve seen have been focusing on attachments to the front of the bike. For myself I would like to attach 2 of these lights to my rear bike rack. One on either side that would look like tail lights and use the accelerometer to light up when I’m braking.

For charging, I prefer cable with a replaceable battery.

To team Lumos, keep up the great work!

Don June 27, 2022

Hi, your lights look designed to fit into bar ends which is fine if you’re a racer or ride with dropped bars but what about those of us who use straight or riser bars? Is there a plan to produce lights for these? Thanks.

Lawrence Gilmour June 27, 2022

I’m curious if your sealing the battery in, how many times can you recharge before the battery will need to be replaced? How long is the projected battery duration before you need to recharge?
I like the idea of wireless charging especially the two bay recharger.
I had a clip on light for my rear e-trunk pannier but, if I can only use it on the road, bumpy dirt roads and the clip on will pop off. I’m wondering how strong the magnetic ones will hold before popping off. That would be a huge bummer.

Tamara L. Chandler June 27, 2022

Have had the Ultra for several months now, a great helmet & love the lights. One of the main issues though would be helmet battery life which I’ve found to be short. To ensure lights work I charge after some 2 hours use (commute 35-40mins twice a day). Another issue is the indicator switch – button batter lasts not at all, only get a couple of rides so basically don’t use it.
Have you considered installing inbuilt front &/or facing camera, the size & variety of options wouldn’t make it that difficult, battery not withstanding?

Gerry van Niel June 27, 2022

Dear LUMOS thank you for making the best helmet on the market (that’s my opinion and I believe I’m 100% right) I love your kickstart helmet I’ve had one for about 3 years and it’s awesome I feel safe and visible when riding home from work, the turn signals is a genius idea. unfortunately some of the lights stop working and I had to retire it but I’m saving up to purchase a new one. I also love the fact that LUMOS is making bicycle lights (Firefly) that are in sync with the helmet when activated through the LUMOS APP this is definitely an accessory I would purchase. So far I’m very impressed with the product LUMOS puts out keep up the good work guys and can’t wait to see what you put out on the market next🤙

Augustine Tarango June 27, 2022

Echoing the concern about the lights being e-waste and degrading faster due to wireless charging inefficiency. If the batteries are accessible and something that can be bought on your website or through a 3rd party like ifixit that would be best

Greg June 23, 2022

Do you anticipate people buying these lights as singles or pairs? I’m thinking it is much more likely they will be purchased in pairs. Therefore I’d suggest ditching your alien sheep charger (which only does on at a time) and focus on the more practical dual charger and carry case set up. It’s a little concerning that you appear to have focused a bunch of resources on something quirky rather than the more practical option that is likely to be tied to greater use cases.

Ken June 23, 2022

Replaceable battery would be good.

I got in accouple accidents and the lights would go flying or rough off road adventures.

Maybe a second way to secure them.

Gannon June 23, 2022

Love design world!
FYI – not all your users are on bikes … we ride around DC on our OneWheels and am looking to adapt lights to strap onto body. Good magnetic attachments should make it easy to implement in back pockets, will wait to see if headlamps can be affixed to ???
Keep up the beautiful work.

Steve Gibbs June 23, 2022

my problem with wireless charging is its very inefficient and wastes energy. On these little lights I’m not worried about the added electrical cost of wireless over wired but as a general principal I’m not in favor of wireless charging unless the efficiency can be dramatically improved.

Does them being “sealed up” mean the batteries will be non-replaceable? That is, throw the device away (e-waste) when the battery dies, even though the remaining parts are still good?

Wireless is definitely convenient but just like Apple’s AirPods they are filling landfills with a lot of toxic waste simply because the battery can’t be replaced and while I’m not a big “the earth is dying” guy I do think being good stewards and being choosy about the resources I we use and consume are important.

Chris June 23, 2022

the features sound awesome and very well thought out in my humble opinion.

One curiosity for me is the magnetic mount. Whilst Im not against this I do have one concern. I bike often over wooden bridges that subject the bike to pretty rigorous vibration and my concern is that this could dislodge the lights and due to their small stature result in their loss. I have personal experience having lost a rather expensive “clip in” light recently in exactly this way.

Otherwise this is sounding very solid.

Kevin June 23, 2022

This is soooo coool! I can’t wait for these to come out. Both my wife and I use the Lumos helmet all of the time. It’s been great on my AM/PM commute as the days get shorter. If I can get a light set that I can synchronize (or not synchronize) the patterns, that would be awesome!

Dan Shyne June 23, 2022

Bilal — you are a great communicator, and the feature set and design considerations seem too notch to me. I enjoyed reading this!

Dave June 23, 2022

Make helmets size small too!

Marilyn Lerner June 23, 2022

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