Incident: Jawbone UP Wristbands Failure Due to Circuit Board Capacitors

Published Date: 2011-12-08

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident with Jawbone's UP activity-monitoring wristbands happened when the article was published on 2011-12-08 [54439].
System 1. Circuit board capacitors in the power system 2. Syncing related to the band hardware [54439]
Responsible Organization 1. Jawbone's circuit board capacitors were responsible for causing the software failure incident [54439].
Impacted Organization 1. Customers who purchased the Jawbone UP activity-monitoring wristbands were impacted by the software failure incident [54439].
Software Causes 1. The software causes of the failure incident were related to problems with circuit board capacitors affecting the ability to hold a charge, exhibit erratic data-recording behavior, or stop working [54439].
Non-software Causes 1. Circuit board capacitors issues affecting the ability to hold a charge in some bands [54439] 2. Syncing issues related to the band hardware [54439]
Impacts 1. Numerous complaints of "bricked" units were reported on Jawbone's user forums, affecting the user experience and satisfaction [54439]. 2. The Jawbone UP activity-monitoring wristbands received a low rating of two out of five stars on Amazon.com reviews due to the failures, potentially impacting sales and brand reputation [54439]. 3. The software failure incident led to Jawbone temporarily pausing production of the bands, affecting the availability of the product in the market [54439]. 4. Jawbone CEO offered a comprehensive refund program for unhappy customers, which could have financial implications for the company [54439].
Preventions 1. Conducting thorough quality assurance testing before releasing the product to identify any potential hardware issues like the capacitor problem in the Jawbone UP wristbands [54439]. 2. Implementing a more robust hardware design review process to catch any circuit board capacitor issues early in the development phase [54439]. 3. Regularly monitoring user feedback and complaints on forums and review sites to quickly identify and address any emerging hardware or software issues [54439].
Fixes 1. Fixing the issue with the specific capacitors in the power system that affects the ability to hold a charge in some of the bands [54439]. 2. Resolving the issue with syncing related to the band hardware [54439]. 3. Addressing the glitches that are purely performance-related and do not pose any safety risk [54439].
References 1. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman's statement on Jawbone's website [54439] 2. Jawbone's VP of Product Management and Strategy Travis Bogard's interview with Wired.com [54439]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization (a) The software failure incident related to Jawbone's UP activity-monitoring wristbands has happened again within the same organization. The article mentions that numerous complaints of "bricked" units riddle Jawbone's user forums, with 41 different user reviews complaining of 23 bricked devices. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman issued a statement explaining that problems with circuit board capacitors are to blame for the failures, affecting the ability to hold a charge, exhibit erratic data-recording behavior, or stop working. Rahman also mentioned that Jawbone has temporarily paused production of the bands to resolve the technical issues before resuming orders [54439].
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident with Jawbone's UP activity-monitoring wristbands was attributed to problems with circuit board capacitors affecting the ability to hold a charge, exhibit erratic data-recording behavior, or stop working. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman mentioned, "We’ve found an issue with two specific capacitors in the power system that affects the ability to hold a charge in some of our bands" [54439]. (b) The article did not provide specific information about the software failure incident related to operation or misuse of the system.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) The software failure incident with Jawbone's UP activity-monitoring wristbands was primarily within the system. The CEO of Jawbone, Hosain Rahman, explained that the failures were caused by issues with circuit board capacitors affecting the ability to hold a charge, erratic data-recording behavior, and syncing problems [54439]. Additionally, the VP of Product Management and Strategy at Jawbone mentioned that they had temporarily paused production to resolve the hardware's technical issues before resuming orders [54439].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions, human_actions (a) The software failure incident in the article was primarily due to non-human actions, specifically problems with circuit board capacitors affecting the ability to hold a charge, erratic data-recording behavior, and syncing issues. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman mentioned that the glitches were purely performance-related and did not pose any safety risk [54439]. (b) Human actions were also involved in addressing the software failure incident. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman issued a statement explaining the cause of the failures and offered a comprehensive refund program for unhappy customers. Additionally, Jawbone VP Travis Bogard mentioned that they had temporarily paused production of the bands to resolve the technical issues before resuming orders [54439].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) hardware, software (a) The software failure incident with Jawbone's UP activity-monitoring wristbands was primarily attributed to hardware issues. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman mentioned that the failures were caused by problems with circuit board capacitors affecting the ability to hold a charge, exhibit erratic data-recording behavior, or stop working. Rahman specifically stated, "We’ve found an issue with two specific capacitors in the power system that affects the ability to hold a charge in some of our bands" [54439]. (b) The software failure incident also had software-related issues, as mentioned by Rahman. He stated that they were fixing an issue with syncing related to the band hardware. Additionally, the article highlighted problems such as bands exhibiting syncing failures before bricking for good, indicating software-related issues alongside the hardware problems [54439].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident related to the Jawbone UP activity-monitoring wristbands was non-malicious. The failure was attributed to problems with circuit board capacitors affecting the ability to hold a charge, erratic data-recording behavior, and syncing issues. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman explained that the glitches were purely performance-related and did not pose any safety risk [54439].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown The software failure incident related to the Jawbone UP activity-monitoring wristbands was not primarily caused by poor decisions or accidental decisions. Instead, the failure was attributed to technical issues with specific capacitors in the power system affecting the ability to hold a charge, as well as problems with syncing related to the band hardware [54439]. The CEO of Jawbone, Hosain Rahman, acknowledged these issues and offered a comprehensive refund program for affected customers.
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is not explicitly mentioned in the provided article. Therefore, it is unknown whether the failure was due to contributing factors introduced due to lack of professional competence by humans or the development organization. (b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is evident in the article. The failure of Jawbone's UP activity-monitoring wristbands was attributed to problems with circuit board capacitors, which affected the ability to hold a charge, exhibit erratic data-recording behavior, or stop working. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman mentioned that the glitches were purely performance-related and did not pose any safety risk, indicating that the failure was accidental rather than intentional [54439].
Duration permanent (a) The software failure incident related to Jawbone's UP activity-monitoring wristbands was more of a permanent nature. The failure was attributed to problems with circuit board capacitors affecting the ability to hold a charge, exhibit erratic data-recording behavior, or stop working. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman mentioned that these issues typically surface within the first seven to ten days of use and are purely performance-related, not posing any safety risk. As a result of these hardware technical issues, Jawbone temporarily paused production of the bands and offered a comprehensive refund program for unsatisfied customers [54439].
Behaviour value, other (a) crash: The software failure incident in the article is not described as a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions [54439]. (b) omission: The software failure incident does not involve the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s) [54439]. (c) timing: The software failure incident is not related to the system performing its intended functions correctly but too late or too early [54439]. (d) value: The software failure incident is related to the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. Specifically, the Jawbone UP activity-monitoring wristbands were failing due to problems with circuit board capacitors affecting the ability to hold a charge, exhibit erratic data-recording behavior, or stop working [54439]. (e) byzantine: The software failure incident is not described as the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions [54439]. (f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident in the article is related to performance issues such as syncing failures, random vibrations, dropping data, and bands bricking for good due to hardware issues with capacitors in the power system [54439].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property The consequence of the software failure incident related to the Jawbone UP activity-monitoring wristbands was primarily in the category of property. Users experienced issues such as the bands having trouble keeping a charge, exhibiting erratic data-recording behavior, or simply stopping working due to problems with circuit board capacitors [54439]. As a result, customers faced inconvenience, frustration, and dissatisfaction with the product, leading to Jawbone offering a comprehensive refund program for unhappy purchasers [54439]. Additionally, the company temporarily paused production of the bands to address the technical issues before resuming orders [54439].
Domain health The software failure incident reported in the article [54439] is related to the health industry. The failed system in question is Jawbone's UP activity-monitoring wristbands, which are designed for health and fitness tracking purposes. Customers were experiencing issues with the wristbands, such as trouble keeping a charge, erratic data-recording behavior, and syncing failures, ultimately leading to the devices becoming non-functional. Jawbone's CEO mentioned specific problems with circuit board capacitors affecting the performance of the bands, leading to the need for a comprehensive refund program for dissatisfied customers.

Sources

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