A Story Behind the Nooie Cam Doorbell

Apr 7, 2021

Behind the design of the Nooie Cam Doorbell

With the rising popularity of smart video doorbells, and positive feedback from the Nooie Community, the Nooie Design team naturally decided that a doorbell video camera would be the next product in Nooie’s suite of smart home products.

The 5G capable Nooie Cam Doorbell is not your ordinary video cam doorbell, it’s so much more. With advanced motion detection, 2k resolution, wide angle view, 2-way audio and customized messaging, you can keep an eye on who’s coming and going 24/7 through the Nooie App, or hands-free with Alexa or Google Assistant.

As with any Nooie product, designing the doorbell was true teamwork. Our team of product experts, industrial designers, and engineers designed, tested, and manufactured the Nooie Cam Doorbell + Base Station in just under nine months! Nooie raised funding through Indiegogo to enable faster development, and connect with customers to get honest feedback early and often to help inform the final design and capabilities.

Battery Or Not?

One of the most critical decisions in the design process was whether the doorbell camera should be hardwired or battery-powered.

Each has pros and cons. Hardwiring provides a consistent power supply, but complicates the installation, often requiring expert help. A battery-powered doorbell camera can be easy to install if designed correctly, but would require ongoing battery charging.

“We listened to our Nooie Community and chose the battery-powered direction to focus on making installation as easy as possible. Installation is a frequent frustration and barrier to outdoor camera owners.” says Sasha Tseng, Nooie’s Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer, “And easy installation also fits within Nooie’s brand value of being intuitive. Our devices should be hassle-free and easy for anyone to install.”

The battery-powered option allows the doorbell to be installed within minutes. Sasha hopes users don’t even remember the process.

“I don't want them to feel like they installed something, because if you remember installing something, that usually means you had to spend a lot of time to do it,” she says.

Designing for Brand Values

After settling on a battery-powered direction, the Nooie Team focused on the design language.

The Doorbell Cam must look like it belongs within the Nooie family of stylish devices. Nature and interior design provide the inspiration for all colors, materials, and finishes. That means warm and earthy hues, soft and textured materials, and matte finishes.

And it must also reflect Nooie’s unconventional approach to designing smart home products. That means focusing on the aesthetics and showcasing the beautiful design while making the high-tech functionality invisible. For example, the Nooie Cam Doorbell’s Base Station is covered in a soft textured fabric that conceals the LED notification beautifully while the plaque hides the Internet cable seamlessly.

Bringing the Nooie Vision to Life

When the design was final, the team then had the challenge of making it a reality. This is often the most difficult stage of product development.

“Creating a new smart home device requires a lot of communication, testing, and quality control,” says Yu, Nooie’s Head of Product Development. “We have a team of 28 people on the New Product Introduction team who work closely together with our manufacturing partners to ensure every detail is perfect.

For example, during an initial test, the team discovered that the microphone had poor sound quality, and Nooie worked tirelessly with the manufacturer to change the component.

The Team also insisted the Doorbell Cam casing should look and feel like clay or stone, and also be waterproof and fireproof. One manufacturer after another said that was impossible.

“We pushed many manufacturers very hard to find the right material until they didn’t want to take our calls anymore,” Sasha says, “but the LG team in Korea didn’t give up, and together we made the perfect material. It's more expensive, but we are very happy with it, and LG is also happy with achieving such a beautiful final product. It was great cooperation.”

Beautiful Home Decor

Sasha hopes that when people first encounter the Nooie Cam Doorbell, it’s so unobtrusive and understated that they won’t notice it or recognize that it’s a powerful video cam doorbell. But once they do, she hopes they appreciate the design and admire it as they would a piece of art.
“That would make my day!”

Learn more about the Nooie Cam Doorbell >>