Cabin

“A private place to plan, share, and stay connected with family”. Cabin is a family-oriented organisation app with Android, iOS, and web clients.

Cabin features

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Cabin was acquired by Samsung Media Solutions Center America in 2014/5, and has since shut down.

Reflections

Given sufficient warnings and effective user onboarding, location tracking for family members proved something a certain subset of consumers were interested in, and produced many positive stories from families putting it to good use. Location tracking is far more prevalent in 2017 as a general feature—both surfaced and hidden—from technology companies (e.g. Google) than it was in 2013-2014 when this was a somewhat more divisive feature. The feature demonstrated that consumer privacy is important, and to generate a positive experience in which a user can make the most of an application requires careful thinking and measured implementation.

The web experience for Cabin was designed as a light client to compliment the mobile applications which were the main access point for users, focusing on group members and their location (or lack there-of) as a quick way to receive updates without a phone. It would have been beneficial to have supported a full-fledged web client to increase the options users had, but the focus on mobile was sensible and served the majority of users.