By 2011 the design team at iControl Networks had already devised a way to visually summarize a house’s security system, cameras, thermostats, locks, and lights into a single, simple, and quite lovely representation: the orb. We knew we could go even further with simplifying how to visualize and, more importantly, control your home using a touchscreen. Home View was born. Users could quickly draw a rudimentary floor plan, label rooms, and then drag and drop devices onto it. We provided a variety of possible layouts that could quickly be augmented and rearranged. I was reminiscing about this project and its complexities recently when I read about a new app named