Qualcomm Device Finder Enhancements

Transforming a device library into a device finder

UX Design, UI Design, Interaction Design, Mobile Design, Design Systems Alignment January - April 2023

Qualcomm’s device finder was reintroduced to the world in April of 2023. Here is where devices, from Meta headsets to Samsung phones, were stored for users to browse their favorite Qualcomm product integrations. The main reason for the redesign was to enhance the discoverability of devices and to amplify search autonomy.

These select pieces of information are my own and do not reflect Qualcomm or its subsidiaries.*

Collage of devices including a router, laptop, smart glasses, smartwatch, and smartphone organized in a modular pattern.

The Summary

Perfecting the finder experience

Qualcomm called the world wide web, home, in May of 1997. Many people did not know who they were or what they had to offer to the tech world. As a semiconductor for smartphones at the time, they needed a way to showcase their products. From mobile processors to chipsets, Qualcomm was making products to power devices. The only question was, what kinds?

Fast forward a few years… the device finder was born. A place for users to search for devices that met their needs and specification desires. Since Qualcomm’s launch to www, many additional products have been created to support an array of devices.

The issues we found included:

Tool discoverability
Lack of tool flexibility
Design inconsistencies

The device finder component exists on the site “by type”. For example, if a user wants to purchase the newest device that uses Qualcomm’s latest Mobile Processor, they would navigate to the smartphone finder etc. However, we learned that users were unable to search for certain types of devices as smoothly as we had imagined.

In addition to the tool discoverability level, the finder’s visual experience was flawed. On the front end, the device finder’s visual design was not aligning with Qualcomm’s design system. Lastly, the taxonomy was organized poorly, via content management system tagging, and resulted in a poor filtering experience to the user.

Getting Started

Puzzling together the research.

Value proposition questions:

Who is searching for devices on the Qualcomm website?

What does the product do for the user? Why should the user care?

Which companies, within the semiconductor or technology market, are using finders as a tool for their users to leverage?

Persona exploration

Who is searching for devices on QC.com? Why should the user care?

We decided to build stories that revolved around the ideal user who would be using the device finder as a tool. The personas then helped us gather key user characteristics and needs. Through prioritizing these attributes we were able to define design goals based on their needs.

Graphic of personas who could benefit from an enhanced version of the Qualcomm device finder tool. Abby, Jim, and Luke are potential users of the device finder.

Abby is a Snapdragon Insiders member.
She is a member and e-mail recipient of Qualcomm’s “Snapdragon Insiders Program” newsletters and updates. receives the latest Insider topics surrounding product launches, events, applications, and technologies. But she is interested in purchasing the devices or products that these topics speak about. She has a hard time navigating through her newsletter to find the products being spoken about.
As an Insiders member, Abby is interested in ‘first look’ access for newly launched products. Specifically, she is interested in finding smart glasses with the latest Snapdragon Processor integration.
Jim is a Public Relations employee at Qualcomm.
His responsibility is to publish blogs across the site. Depending on the blog topic, He will need access to all Qualcomm.com finders In order to generate curated URLs for inline links. At times He has difficulty filtering through the device finder to query the most reliable and accurate link.
Jim wants to provide a great experience for their user when they arrive to a blog. He’ll present the queried device list as an inline link directing the user to a queried device finder.
Luke is a customer.
He’s interested in purchasing a headset with the latest Qualcomm product integration. However, while he was scoping out the OEM’s specifications, he noticed that the processor was created by semi-conductor, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon.
Luke wants to compare similar headsets that use the latest Snapdragon processor. He needs a tool that leads him to the respective products that share specifications or data sheets.

Visual analysis

How does the device finder stack up against the other finders on QC.com?

There are currently 402 Device, 490 Product, and 458 Services & Software pages that are hosted on the Qualcomm website. All three of these categories are organized into 3 library types (with exception to sub-types).

The visual design of the device finder lacked, in alignment and functionality, in comparison to the product and partner finders on the website. This design system alignment was considered, when gathering research results.

GIF that illustrates the flaws of our past device finder in comparison to the other existing finders on the Qualcomm website. — *(1) Former device finder*
*(2) Current, and former, SW & Services finder*
*(3) Current, and former, Product finder*

*(1) Former device finder*
*(2) Current, and former, SW & Services finder*
*(3) Current, and former, Product finder*

Competitor Analysis

Scoping finders, across the market

Prior to the transformation of the Qualcomm Device finder, we needed to see where we stood within the market of tech tools similar to this one. Through market comparison we could identify where we were might be leaving our users at a roadblock.

  
    Product Features
    Device Finder (Qualcomm)
    Software Finder
 (Semiconductor Company)
    Technology Finder (B2B Tech Company)
    Product Finder
(Tech Segmentation Company)
  
    Flexible search options   
   
    ✓ 
    ✓
  
    Facet options   
    ✓
    
    ✓
    
  Filter options   
    ✓
    ✓
    ✓
    ✓
  
    Comparison options   
    ✓
    
    ✓
    
    Variety
    
    ✓
    ✓
    ✓
  
    Visual Consistencies
    
    ✓
    ✓
    ✓
  
    Overall Strengths 
    Device detail page information, filter/facet comparison options
    Meta description details, filter options, offers product lifespan details
    Inline search option, comparison options, inline finder with support options, "By type" facet heirarchy
    Inline search option, resource availability, organized "By type"
  
    Overall Weakness' 
    Lack of search flexibility, visual design inconsistencies, device meta information availability
    Lack of search flexibility, comparison options
    Plethora of options
    Comparison options

Flagging similarities and differences through competitive analysis.

Moving forward with data comparison.

These comparisons helped our team understand what users are seeing across market competitor websites and how we can keep up with present, or forecast future, trends.

Including:

General inline search option. Query handling would allow users to search based on keywords, character, and numeric values.
Product inline search option. The device finder is a tool used to search for OEM devices. A product finder would allow users to search for their favorite Qualcomm products, then match them with a device that fits their needs.
Advanced filtering options. Device finder, queried url distribution could result in user accessibility for certain programs (eg. Snapdragon Insiders newsletters)
Finder discoverability. Building finders by type and distributing visibility across Qualcomm.com

GOAL statement

Solution proposal

Qualcomm’s Device Finder will allow users to search for their favorite product integrations. Hopefully this change will positively affect our users by allowing search flexibility. We will measure effectiveness by tracking the number of visitors 1 month post launch, and ongoing measurement afterwards.

Design system alignment

Visual design changes.

The visual design updates were a simple step considering we had existing finders, to reference, on the website. Since the device finder was a component with preset styling, all we needed to do was collaborate with the development team to integrate styling changes.

Device atoms

Applied drop shadow, removed border and background color, and animation. The visual design aligns with existing finder atoms across QC.com finders.

Former version of device finder card. Dark grey border with light grey background and smartphone png located inside. — *Before*

Pink arrow pointing to updated version of card.

Current, newest, version of device finder card. White background, rounded corners, and slight card shadow. Smartphone png located inside. — *Current*

Filter trees

The filter tree copy, expand/collapse, product search, and semantics changed based on common device attributes. The visual design aligns with existing filter tree options across QC.com finders.

Former version of device finder filter tree. Light grey background and minimal facet options to choose from. — *Before*

Current, newest, version of device finder filter tree. White background. Multiple filter specifications to choose from within tree. — *Current*

Search

The inline search option was a net-new addition to the device finder. The visual design aligns with existing search options across QC.com finders.

Former version of device count and blue filter CTA. Light grey background. — *Before*

Current, newest, version of device finder device count and inline search option. Search tips added for improved search experience. White background. — *Current*

GIF of the new and improved device finder. User searches for a gaming device by using the inline search option. They then scroll through the page to find desired device with their favorite Qualcomm product integration. — *Current, redesigned, device finder*

Summary

Launch results

The enhanced device finder component was published on April 14, 2023. The enhancements that launched, included or resulted in:

Improved filter/facet tree: Features an inline product search through taxonomy organization and design consistencies.

Inline search: Features include unique search options based on keywords and characters and search tips.

Visual and interactive design: Features design system alignment, device population style, hover design, “Show more” CTA loading

Navigation: Breadcrumb clean-up, URL redirects, Device Finder call-outs

Numbers

Additional page visits

~60 visitors

Device finder visits

13% conversion

~1 mo. post-launch.

Kind words

“Qualcomm’s improved Device Finder site makes it easier to find out which Snapdragon processor is powering your phone.”
-Peter Holden, Author at Talk Android. See here.

Takeaways

What did I learn?

Over communication is key

I felt that I gained valuable insights into our technical possibilities or limitations. This helped in implementing practical designs.

Design systems are crucial

Through consistent framework of reusable components and guidelines we streamlined the design and development process. We were able to accelerate development cycles, reduce errors, and ensure that the end product meets technical standards effectively.

Check out the finished product here!

*To comply with my company confidential information agreement, I have replaced select pieces of research and content in this case study.