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Mike H
Retired Sonos Staff
May 14, 2024
Interview

Sonos App Redesign AMA

  • May 14, 2024
  • 770 replies
  • 65996 views
Sonos App Redesign AMA

Today is the day of the AMA!

The new app design has been out for a week, and most of you have had a chance to get used to the new UI.

Some of you might have questions when you have had a week to get to know the new Sonos App interface. Because of that, we want to give you all a chance to ask some of the people who were integral in its creation and design, the questions that have come to mind while you have used the app.

As we mentioned in the event.

Our panelists will be:

  • Diane Roberts, Senior Director of Software Development
  • Kate Wojogbe, Senior Director of User Experience
  • Tucker Severson, Director of Product Management

It will be hosted on the 14th of May from 11:00 until 14:00 GMT -07.

But instead of me telling you what they do and what their role with the app update has been, here are their own introductions:

 

Diane

Diane Roberts is the Senior Director of Software Engineering and Product Management at Sonos responsible for the Sonos Apps. Her group of cross-disciplinary teams build Configuration, Control, and Content experiences on a foundation of Core mobile application technologies. She received dual Bachelors’ of Science in Computer Science and Music from WPI. Diane holds 6 granted patents as a co-inventor.

 

Kate

As Senior Director of User Experience, Kate leads the UX team responsible for Sonos’ home audio hardware, software, and app user experiences. This includes user interfaces on speakers and soundbars, setup for hardware and services, first and third party content experiences, and a variety of methods of control of the Sonos system. Kate graduated from the University of California Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Design.

 

Tucker

Tucker Severson is the Director of Product Management and leads the PM team responsible for the Sonos Apps. Tucker received his BA from Bates College and his MBA from the University of Vermont.

 

We will do our best to answer as many of your questions as possible within the 3-hour window, but we can’t promise to answer every question, especially those you know we can’t discuss.

But if we see a question repeated or a reply getting a lot of likes, don’t worry. We will prioritize those to ensure that many people get the answers they seek.

 

Remember, we can’t talk about things on the roadmap - but if you have questions or feedback about the app redesign, want to know more about our panelists, like their background or favorite band, then the sky is the (cough cough.. NDA) limit!

Thank you, everyone, for participating. We covered as many of the most asked questions as possible. We know tracking the responses wasn't as easy as we had hoped. But we wanted to let the community air frustrations and have their questions answered.

I got a lot of DMs during the AMA, and I will be sure to answer them when I can. Thanks for reaching out!

Keith and I will work on recapping all the questions and feedback we have responded to, and we will update the post here when that is complete. If we didn't get to your question, don't worry. Keith and I are grabbing all the feedback from this thread, even the things we didn't respond to, and ensuring the right people will see the message. This was the first time we created a live AMA in the community, and we learned a lot for future AMAs.

We appreciate all the feedback and questions you gave through this AMA. It helps us understand your most significant feedback and your reasoning. We hear you, and we will ensure the right teams get your feedback. They are listening.

We look forward to rolling out the updates with features (new and old) as soon as they are ready. Keith shared an overview of the timeline for expecting these features to return to the app. Today was the first update, reintroducing alarms and improving the iOS voiceover.

We look forward to seeing your reactions to our future app developments. We hope you all appreciate the work our developers are putting into making the app as fast and easy to use as possible for the general user.
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770 replies

VicentesMustache
Lyricist III
May 14, 2024

Would somebody please ask The Verge what is going on?

Lyricist I
May 14, 2024

As an investor, it is incredibly disheartening to see so many loyal customers questioning their loyalty. I think a direct approach to owning up to your mistakes is going to be the best way forward, but I have not seen any hints that this will be happening. Instead, your leadership looks cowardly hiding behind platitudes and corporate jargon. 

 

Will you own up to making this mistake and how will you ensure your customers and investors can continue to trust you moving forward? Will the team commit to owning up to their work...the good and the bad?

Lyricist II
May 14, 2024

For everyone who is waiting, it can take a while unfortunately.The whole Management is looking for the trainee and Stevie wonder who developed this app. 

He wouldn't have screwed up accessibility at least 😅

Flutter is awesome - write once, run anywhere looks absolutely amazing on some Powerpoint slide...

Prominent Collaborator I
May 14, 2024

How about we DM the members of the board of directors? Would that help with this..situation?

Really, I don’t know anymore. 

Lyricist III
May 14, 2024

Maybe they start answering questions when posts got 1000+++ likes?

 

Could you please like my post???? 😅

Contributor I
May 14, 2024

Hello?

Is there anybody in there?

Just nod if you can hear me

Is there anyone home?

webmink
Prominent Collaborator I
May 14, 2024

What is your favorite band, and how do their members who use Sonos feel about having so many capabilities stripped from them without warning?

Support musicians by buying music instead of streaming.
Lyricist I
May 14, 2024

I don't understand how this works, I see there's a lot of questions but no replies

Lyricist II
May 14, 2024

Maybe time to start looking at that Belkin SoundForm Connect I had in my wishlist.

Lyricist III
May 14, 2024

Also, looking at this description a bit further, I notice that only questions with the most votes will be answered, which will likely leave out blind and other disabled customers. This is a shame and no way to determine whether or not questions will be answered, issues will be fixed, etc. Instead, the right way to do things is to first and always consider impact.