PART 1:
I interviewed my coworker (name redacted.... let's call him Dusty), who is fresh out of college. I felt that Dusty would be a good specimen because he both closely aligns with my experiences concerning smartwatches and new technology, but he is currently facing real-life pressures that only come with being in the real world. Dusty met with me to discuss his views on the functionality of a smartwatch.
Dusty below:
Dusty is actually pretty up-to-date with the recent developments of the age, like the new Android wear that recently came out. I would say that because of this, Dusty has a more informed view of the capabilities of a smartwatch, and his answers certain follow with that.
Dusty recalled that something he often finds himself doing is constantly checking his phone for texts and emails, which heavily drains his battery and is cumbersome. Although this is quite a simple task, it seems to be something that is very prominent. Moreso, Dusty mentioned that reading things is often hard in direct sunlight. Both of these problems might be solved with the proper application of our watches; reading might be able to be more streamlined, and the light-sensitive interface of the Toq might be useful in this application as well.
Dusty keeps his phone in his front left pocket, which is pretty standard as well. Something I observed, however, is that since he is also right handed, he would be always reaching into his pocket with the hand that the watch would be on. That might be not-ideal if we’re looking for seamless interaction between the watch and phone.
Interview 2:
The second person that I interviewed was my Band director for the University Marching Band. Let’s call him Mike.
Mike is on the older side (late 60’s I believe), so his take on smartwatches is a bit more…. naïve. Mike actually only has a basic phone (LG, I believe), so his device wouldn’t even work with the Toq watch. I thought it would be valuable, however, to get his views on things, because he has a very fresh take on things.
The only downside to interviewing someone who isn’t as technologically savvy is that he doesn’t have many ideas about applications. I know Mike is an avid Golfer, so I probed him a little bit about how that might be useful.
Two things Mike mentioned in terms of Golf were the current weather forecasts in certain areas, and the status of professional events (which could be applied to any sport, actually). Mike and I discussed that sports would be a good thing to keep track of (like the scores for the Cal Football games), but he did also mention that something he wouldn’t want would be to have to look at scores that he’s not interested in. We both agreed that the best solution would be a sort of way to filter out/choose sports/teams that you would want to follow.
Something I learned from Mike, however, is that the product needs to be extremely ready to use, straight out the box. I can already tell that Mike wouldn’t be very excited about having to go through a lot of steps to get things done.
Something that I also saw with Mike (being on the older side) is that he was going to have difficulty reading small text on a watch. Being able to read the interface is extremely important, and it seems that we’re going to run into some trouble in that area.
To conclude, my specimen had very different takes on the usefulness and functionality of smartwatches. Dusty imagined it as more of an extension of one’s phone and computer, while I got the feeling that Mike was looking more to see it used in a way that diverges from the common functionality of a computer and phone.
PART 2:
Below are some of the ideas that I came up with for possible watch ideas, in no particular order:
1. News aggregator -- takes news from different sources and presents them in the most logical way. Would probs have a reddit-type interface that also pairs with computer and phone.
2. Friend finder -- Just like find my friends, but the watch face would have little dots on the edges that display the direction that your friends are in. There can be things like different color/signals for different distances away.
3. Coffee shop locator -- Inspired by the pizza finder app, this app can simply find the nearest coffee shop (with/without wifi, seating, open now, etc)
4. Significant other pairing app -- just like the find my friends, but just with your significant other. Can show important things like location, and even mood based on the heat sensor.
5. Speech to text -- If say you maybe want to record something important but you don't want to whip out your phone to record it, a simple recording from the watch would be great. Also it can take in the voice and transcribe it. For texts and whatnot.
6. Note-taking -- Maybe this watch can record a whole lecture and transcribe it. Or if you want to take notes, maybe it has an interface with your pen/paper, or something to do with recording.
7. Email reader -- just like it sounds, an app that most efficiently and effectively reads your emails. Options to respond with multimedia options, as well as quick buttons to perform tasks like remind you later.
8. News aggregator with quick reading -- A news aggregator devoted to delivering important news but QUICKLY
9. Song recognizer -- just like shazam for the watch, I can imagine a scenario where you want to know the name of a song and save it.
10. Very advanced watch -- A watch that performs as a watch (time-keeping) but it also has stuff like calendar built in
11. Stock prices and such -- The ability to easily track and analyze changes in stock/market prices
12. Alert system for disasters -- The watch will give you warning of real-time disasters.
13. Wireless payment system -- The watch can replace your credit card. Use it for payments.
14. Virtual mouse pad/touchscreen accompaniment -- maybe the sensor on the watch can provide more precise movements of a mouse/touchscreen, for more interactive and precise tracking
15. Turn-by-turn navigation directions -- if you're walking or using a car, maybe the watch can act as your interface for the directions
16. Name reminder system -- if you meet someone and need to remember their name, or maybe you meet someone that you know but don't remember, this app can provide discreet important information
17. Twitter/Facebook/Instagram news feed reader -- Quick and easy updates delivered from your favorite social media sites.
_______________________________
The idea I’ve decided to run with is my idea #8, which involves using a certain technology to deliver news information via smart watch form.
At this point, I originally had a paragraph describing the technology I want to use to deliver the information. However, I actually believe that this is a great idea, and I don't want the idea to get stolen this early in the game, so I'm going to refrain from actually mentioning the technology and simply state that it allows people to read at a very fast rate. This certain application limits the amount of words shown on a screen and displays them at a very fast pace, enabling a person to read really fast (with a bit of practice).
If I'm going to get docked points because I'm being vague about the technology, then I would be happy to share the idea with the GSIs and professor. The technology should be recognizable to those who already know what it is.
I've decided to go with a news system that delivers information to young-age individuals, aka Millennials. It seems to be both an untapped market and a growing necessity. College-age people need to be informed about current events and such, but often have little time to actually read the news and stay up-to-date. This application would be handy because
The basic prototype I came up with is simply made out of white paper, scotch tape, and a paper clip. Pictures below:
The interface shown is only really dealing with the actual reading of the articles/news information. That is the important part, but the base device will also have options to view the different types of available articles and whatnot.
Below is my prototype with the interface for both the watch and the base device (the phone):
What is meant to be shown is that the phone will employ a simple queue format for the articles, so that the reader will have easy access to the knowledge of what article is going to be displayed next, as well as flexibility of the order.
Furthermore, I was thinking that this interface could be used to not display full articles all the time, but more give very frequent updates on current events, which can be summarized in around 1-4 sentences. This would be a good way to keep students up to date as well as engage interest with some interesting titles and taglines.
TESTING:
Upon testing this product, I used my roommate because I wanted to make sure that he was familiar with the technology that I want to use, which allows for the reading of information quick and efficiently. After introducing him to the way the prototype is supposed to work, I stood back and observed.
Actually, I cornered my roommate after he got out of the shower and made him stand naked for 10 minutes while he tested my prototype. All in the name of science.
Wyatt seemed to get the idea that the watch was supposed to be used as a supplementary device that was supposed to be checked often, but I could already see some confusion concerning how long one was supposed to actually look at it, how often, etc.
Him being in the bathroom actually served as a great prototype testing environment, because this would a perfect time that someone might want to catch up on some news (while getting ready in the morning). For example, he tried to simulate a situation where he brushed his teeth and tried to read some updates, but it was pretty tricky. It became apparent that the movement of his body/mouth because of the teeth brushing was going to make it difficult to read.
Maybe an anti-shake mechanism might be helpful here?
Wyatt is actually right handed, and the watch is displayed here on his right, so that might come into play. Naturally, his watch hand would be his left hand, but then would that be the most optimal scenario for this application? One might be able to argue that the dominant hand would provide more stability for reading?
We then tested another scenario that he might encounter, which is reading on the go -- while walking. Not surprisingly, it's not that difficult to keep a watch steady
OBSERVATIONS:
It's kind of tricky that the viewing angle is kind of dictated by the angle of one's arm.
An immediate problem that I came across was the problem that this application requires an extensive amount of concentration per second of information delivered; just as the watch is supposed to reduce time spent looking at a phone,
Text size might be a problem when displaying certain words.
Another problem that seemed to arise was the question of going backwards in the text.
It also seems questionable about how much information that can possibly be displayed with one glance at a watch.
It seemed that the optimal average viewing time per glance at the watch was approximately 4-5 seconds. Faster reading speeds would help accommodate that, and with more practice, speeds will increase. However, more research needs to be done on the optimal viewing times, positioning, and speed.
Finally, it seems that the prospect of my watch is very high-level and theoretical at this point, because the details of the execution are going to heavily influence the final product. I'm still faithful in the idea, though. It seems to me that the biggest advantage of using a smartwatch would be to deliver information that is more efficiently done on a watch that it is on a phone. Using this technology would provide speed and compactness, and through training, hopefully make reading really fast and efficient.
Comments