Part I.
I interviewed a total of five people, three of which I interviewed in San Francisco, and the other two in Downtown Berkeley. The questions roughly went along the following lines:
When was the last time you tried to access your cell phone but it wasn't in your hand or in front of you?
What was it you were trying to access?
What do you normally use your phone for? Why did you decide on getting a smart phone?
Now, imagine doing any of those tasks on a wrist-worn device. What would you imagine the screen to look like? How would you interact with it?
Interview 1
27/Male, Project Manager in San Francisco.
Interviewee 1 said he usually always has his phone in his back pocket or jacket, but if he had misplaced it, it was usually in the pocket of another pair of pants or jacket. He usually uses his phone for texting, checking emails, and navigation, including BART and Muni arrival times.
Interviewee 1 said he could imagine reading texts on a wrist-worn interface, but he found it difficult to imagine a good way of inputting text on such a small screen. He was also interested in an app that notified the user of BART departures. He also suggested that an offline Maps application would be very useful to him.
Interview 2
29/Female, Events Manager in San Francisco.
Interviewee 2 laughed at the first question, and said she kept his phone on her at all times, either in her purse, or on a desk in front of her. She usually uses her phone to check her calendar, agenda, and social media.
Interviewee 2 wanted an app that would prompt her when to go to meetings, or would readily display a day calendar on her screen.
Interview 332/Male, Software Engineer in San Francisco.
Interviewee 3 said that if he couldn't find his phone on his person, it was on his desk at work or with his bag when doing activities such as swimming or playing basketball. He usually uses his phone for checking email and work-related communications.
Interviewee 3 was interested in seeing a heart rate monitor. Otherwise, he said he could not imagine reading his email or chatting easily on a smart watch interface, because the screen size was too small.
Interview 442/Male, Cashier at pharmacy in Berkeley.
Interviewee 4 seemed confused at the first question, and said his phone was on him at all times. Although he had a smart phone, it had no data plan, so his main usage of the phone was for checking the time and texting. He also recalled taking it out often to search for Wifi. He also noted that he would use his phone to check for transit information if he had a data plan, but as his daily schedule did not change much day-to-day, it does not matter to him that much.
Interviewee 4 was reluctant to do the wrist interface exercise, and only said that he hoped that it would always display the time for him. As for texting, he said he could imagine swiping new texts across the screen when they came in.
Interview 5
26/Male, Data Analyst in San Jose.
Interviewee 5 said he kept his phone on him at all times, including in the bathroom. His primary use of his phone, if not for texting and business-related communications, such as email or phone calls, was reading the news and, during certain seasons, checking for sports news.
Out of all the interviewees, he was the least enthusiastic about the idea of a smart watch, to the point of almost refusing to play along with the exercise. However, he was insistent that a sports scoreboard app would have push notifications- navigating on such a small device, especially with large fingers, was to him a very unpleasant idea.
Lessons Learned
I realized as I went on interviewing, it was very difficult to get people in a younger demographic to respect the idea of smart watches, especially those already dependent on their smartphone as a major source of information. It was also difficult for them to imagine using such a small interface for interacting, many of them initially responding "I'd like to be able to do a task" without specifying any more details unless prompted. Many of them wanted the same functionality that their smartphone offered, and if the smart watch was less powerful and manipulable than what their smart phone already had, they were less likely to be enthusiastic about generating ideas for its usage.
Part II.
Brainstorming
1. Sports scoreboard. One of my interviewees was an avid sports fan, who suggested that game scores and other details be pushed to the smart watch, perhaps with notifications, whenever a major game was going on.
2. Text-message reader. Many of my interviewees were interested in seeing their text messages on the smart watch with the expectation of the information being pushed directly from phone to watch. However, nearly all expressed doubts as to how easy it would be to input text messages. Hence, pre-selected responses such as "on my way", "okay", or "good night" might be a useful feature.
3. Contact Exchange (via NFC). Assuming the smartwatch has an NFC feature, this would be an app that enables the smart watch to exchange the user's contact information with either another smart watch or smart phone with NFC enabled.
4. Uber/Lyft app. This app would notify the user when an Uber/Lyft was nearby, and allow the user to contact the cab.
5. Chipotle/Pizza/Takeout App. The user can use his or her smartphone to input a favorite menu item, such as specific toppings on a pizza, then order the food via smart watch.
6. BART Departures. Some of my interviewees are commuters and were enthusiastic about the idea of an app that could notify the user what BART trains were coming and leaving.
7. Flight tracker. Similar to #6, this app would track a flight and information, such as whether or not it was delayed.
8. Calendar. One of my interviewees was interested in a calendar/agenda app that would have notifications and prompt the user when a meeting or event was coming up.
9. Heart Rate tracker. This app would track the user's heart rate, which would likely be useful for fitness enthusiasts and those with health issues.
10. GitHub App. An app that notifies the user the latest changes in the branch(es) the user is watching.
11. Bookmark App - track where you are in your favorite tv show(s) and books. This app would presumably interface with sites such as IMDB and GoodReads.
12. Ukelele chords. Because of the smart watch's limited screen size, it may be too small for displaying guitar chords but could be ideal for displaying ukelele chords- a quick Google Image search reveals that a single chord layout can easily be viewed in an 80x80 pixel space.
My favorite of the ideas was the BART Departures app. Many people in the Bay Area are commuters, for whom catching the next train is a integral part of daily life. If not a commuter, visitors to the Bay would also appreciate transit information. The app would also make the information more conveniently accessible, such that users can read departures off their wrist-worn device, rather than reaching and occupying their hands with their smart phones.
Prototype
I made my prototype, both watch and screens, out of an inside-out box. I then cut slits in the watch strap such that it could be attached like a watch. I specifically picked a white box and did the prototype with black marker, for the sake of readability.
Because of the limited screen size, I decided to denote the different BART lines with their color on the official BART map- e.g. Fremont as orange, Richmond/Millbrae as red. I also wanted the user to always be able to see the current time in comparison with the arriving trains. I added some swiping icons to help the user know how to interact with the product.
Feedback
My test user was Matt, a 25-year old software engineer and commuter. With his consent, I affixed the watch to Matt's wrist, and gave him the following scenario:
"You are staying at a friend's place in North Berkeley, but you want to meet up with friends in San Francisco, specifically around Montgomery BART, for dinner today. Please try to do that via this interface."
Matt said he appreciated the icons indicating where and how to swipe. He also liked that the user could set an alarm for when the BART train was arriving, and could check the next train if he missed the one he was originally planning to get on.
However, he worried that some of the text was small, and that on an actual smart watch it would be difficult to select the exact options. Instead, he suggested to make the lists, such as which line the user wanted to travel on, into scrolling boxes with the options in bigger fonts. Also for the alarm option, he noted that he would have preferred it to be an icon, which if the user touched would expand into another screen through which the user can customize his or her notifications. Matt also pointed out that the app did not say how much each trip cost, although he also noted that since he generally takes the BART to the same places and was aware of the BART fares, he didn't mind that the information wasn't displayed.
What I Learned
This design project was an enlightening exercise in how best to design for a small screen. In the first part of the project, during the initial interviews, many users expressed doubt and unwillingness to interact with such a small screen, although they made allowances for what they would be willing to do- namely, receiving information from the screen. One user also suggested the idea of data being pushed from phone to smart watch in the right contexts, which would expedite the process of launching the app.
During brainstorming and rapid prototyping, I learned the importance of condensing information. I learned that symbols are a useful way of condensing information, as well as making clear how the user should interact with the product. Through the interview with Matt, I came to realize that it was also important that the information be readable and accessible- which sometimes came into conflict with my desire to condense and put as much content as possible on the screen.
Matt and a previous interviewee were very enthusiastic about the idea of a BART departures application. However, I could imagine that visitors to the Bay would struggle with the names of the lines and stations. Crucially, I also forgot to denote the price of each trip, although this may be more important to travelers, who ride BART more infrequently. The app could be improved with a clearer UI for selecting stations, more subtle icons indicating how to swipe the screen, and a way to see the entire BART map.
* Cover photo of this project was found on the official BART website, from this article: http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2014/news20140402
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