Zip Water.

Designing a companion iOS app for a connected appliance.

Zip Water designs and manufactures premium boiling, chilled, and sparkling water systems used in homes and workplaces across Australia and globally. While the physical product experience was well established, Zip identified an opportunity to extend the ecosystem through a connected mobile experience.

At 4Mation, I was tasked with exploring how existing research and technical documentation could be translated into a consumer-facing companion app. The challenge was simple to describe but difficult to solve: How do you design a meaningful mobile experience for a tap?

The Challenge

Unlike traditional digital products, the primary interaction with Zip Water happens through hardware. The control interface lives on a base station under the benchtop, while the tap itself is the visible touchpoint.

The challenge was to determine what value a mobile app could add without duplicating the physical experience or overcomplicating a product designed to feel effortless.

At the same time, the app needed to support Zip’s operational goals, including servicing, maintenance, monitoring, and sustainability reporting, while remaining intuitive for end users.

My Role

I worked as the lead product designer, translating research and technical constraints into a set of coherent product concepts.

My role included:

  • Defining the companion app’s purpose and scope

  • Designing iOS app concepts aligned to existing hardware

  • Exploring operational, commercial, and sustainability use cases

  • Working closely with engineers and stakeholders to ensure feasibility

This was a concept-to-production engagement, with ideas taken through to implementation.

Approach

The breakthrough came from reframing the problem. The app was not there to replace the tap, but to support it. We proposed mirroring the existing base-station operating system on mobile in a simplified, more approachable form. This allowed users to understand and control their system remotely, while giving Zip a direct digital connection to installed devices.

From there, the experience expanded naturally. The app enabled real-time notifications for faults and maintenance, remote diagnostics, and direct ordering of replacement filters and CO₂ canisters. Users could book servicing, chat with service engineers, and manage their system without friction.

Beyond maintenance, we explored ways the app could add everyday value. Users could set and save precise temperature presets for specific beverages, cooking needs, or routines, including baby formula. Research was conducted into global beverage and food preparation temperatures, from Greek coffee and Middle Eastern teas to green teas and baking, enabling the tap to dispense water at optimised temperatures on demand.

Sustainability was treated as a first-class feature rather than an afterthought. Usage reporting showed reductions in plastic bottle consumption and energy savings, including insights into how small temperature adjustments could reduce power use without affecting the experience.

Forward looking concept

The companion app is now in production and nearing launch, alongside updated base station software and hardware from Zip Water.

The work established a clear digital extension of the Zip Water ecosystem, connecting physical product, service operations, and sustainability into a single experience that can scale globally.

Reflection

This project reinforced the importance of designing beyond screens. The most meaningful work often sits at the intersection of hardware, software, and services, where clarity, restraint, and systems thinking matter more than visual novelty.

Please note: Images are forthcoming; the project is still in production, so no working screens can be shown at this time.