Design 01: Watches in the Wild

Part 1: Observation and Interview

Interview #1:

My first interviewee's name is "David". David is in his upper mid 20's and I was able to talk to him before the start of his workout. While talking to him I realized that he was very much into fitness. He enjoyed running, swimming, hiking, and lifting weights. I thought that this was the perfect candidate for a smart watch application because people rarely use their phone while they're exercising unless it's for listening to music.

It turns out that the last time he wanted to use his phone but it wasn't readily available was while he was working out at the gym. He said that he usually just uses his phone like an mp3 players while working out but sometimes he needs to make calls or text other people. I brought up the idea of a smart watch and asked him if that would be useful or convenient in the workout process. He thought for a little bit and first came up with the typical responses. The watch could also act as a music source with either an aux port or bluetooth capability. There are already devices that you can attach to your arm to listen to music while working out, but he said that a smart watch would simply look cooler and more tech savvy. I guess style is also an important factor in smart watches. He then brought up an idea about the watch having the ability to count reps while lifting weights. It's pretty common for him to forget which rep/set he's on so he said if the watch could detect motion or detect whether it's in motion, it would be cool if it could keep track of it.

He started to extrapolate and talk about how the watch could track distance while running or laps while swimming too. He even wondered if the watch could measure the amount of force exerted while lifting weights which was a very interesting concept although I don't know if that's quite possible. I thanked him for his time and continued on my way.

Interview #2:

My second interviewee's name is "Andrew". Andrew actually goes to the same church as I do and I wanted to interview him because I knew that he loved taking pictures. I just personally wanted to know if a smart watch would be helpful at all while taking photos.

I first opened up with where he usually keeps his phone while taking pictures. He said that it's usually in his pocket or backpack. When asked if he ever needed to use it while taking photos he said only if he needed to call or text people. At a slump, I introduced the idea of having a smart watch and if that would open up any possibilities. He thought for a minute and said that it would be cool if the watch could take pictures. Rather than carrying his huge camera around everywhere or taking out his phone every time he wanted to take a picture, he said it would be convenient to have a camera on the smart watch that he could just point and click really quickly. He also said it would be better if it was a fish eye lens to give more variation than a normal phone and a wider picture. The idea of a camera also opened up the idea of checking the exposure of a picture he wants to take. I'm not sure exactly how exposure and all the camera lingo works but he said a normal camera while focus on a point and depending on the brightness of that point, the camera has different exposures. He said if the smart watch could take a "picture" and check the exposure really quickly, that it would also be convenient while taking photos.

Part 2: Brainstorm

1. Work out app. Check distance, laps, reps, heart rate, calories burned, and other similar information. It can maybe also tell if the gym is full or not.

2. Make phone calls and text all through voice because it would be way too difficult to type with such a small screen.

3. Writing app. Since it's worn on the hand, it could do a word count or see how many words per minute you're writing. It can also check for good posture. This could also extrapolate to typing. It could check for good typed posture.

4. Voice memos and reminders while on the go

5. Music player while exercising or really any situation.

6. Car mode app. Read out texts and receive phone calls. It can register how fast you're going which can also tie into gas efficiency. If you're accelerating too fast or braking too suddenly it can give warning signs and it can also tell you what to do to better your mileage.

7. Maps app that is easy to use while driving or just whenever you need directions.

8. A hiking app. It tracks distance traveled and if you see a way point saying 2 miles left, it can keep track of that and how much more you need to go. It can also maybe even show where you are on the trail and push that to some sort of server in case you get lost.

9. Shopping app. It can compare prices with other stores nearby. You can scan the item and get a customized display of information you want. (prices, healthiness, etc)

10. Pay for things with your watch. It can be tethered to a credit card and all you have to do is tap some sensor at the cashier to pay for the item.

11. Cooking app. It can give directions through audio.

12. Be able to project things with the watch. Kind of like a hologram but not quite as advanced. Similar to a projector in that it can project an image onto a wall or a similar surface.

13. Alarm Clock app. You can just keep it on your wrist while you sleep and set the time you want to wake up. It can maybe also be used for people who fall asleep easily. It can register your heart rate and once it reaches a point where it knows you're sleeping, it can send an electric pulse to wake you up. Or maybe realistically just vibrate.

14. A calendar/reminder app. It syncs with any calendar you might be using and it gives reminders and flashes colors.

Part 3: Protoype

My favorite idea, albeit simple idea is #13 the Alarm Clock app.

This isn't just any old alarm clock app. It has all the same functions as normal alarm clock but it can also do sleep patterns/cycles. Since it would be worn on your wrist while you sleep, it can keep track of whether or not you're tossing or sleeping peacefully. There are similar applications on the phone, but I believe that having the application on the smart watch would be much better than on the phone. It's one of those apps that actually work better on the watch than the phone because it's on your wrist at all times. It can track movement much better than a phone lying on the bed.

It also has another function that I think is the gem of the application. It has a function that wakes you up as you fall asleep. I'm not sure about the best way for it to detect that you're sleeping but one possible way is to measure your heart rate. It can see if you're becoming sleepy and once you actually fall asleep, it will send an electric pulse through the watch and shock you awake. That would be the ideal solution but because that seems a little unrealistic and possibly dangerous, it can instead send vibrations that wake you up. This has many applications for students in class, drivers on the road late at night, and many other situations.

Part 4: User Response and Analysis

My app is designed primarily for students. Although it can also be used for safety purposes for people who drive late at night, I think the primary user base would be students. Many students have bad sleeping habits or go on study grinds which require them to stay awake.

I showed my prototype to a friend that I knew had trouble staying awake during class. He was ecstatic about the shocking idea to keep him awake and thought that the alarm clock with sleep cycle was a nice touch for a more complete and comprehensive app. There were a couple interesting points that he brought up though. One was the naming of the buttons. I literally named the shocking portion of the app "shocker" which isn't very descriptive of the app. Another was how to know if an alarm was on or off. I put a check mark to signify that it was on but I think using colors would be more intuitive. On that same screen there is a plus sign to add more alarms (which might need to be bigger) but there is no way to delete alarms that I no longer need.

Another screen was where you set the time for the alarm. My friend is a pretty big guy so he thought the buttons were a little too small for him. I copied the same design as the alarm setting portion on an iPhone but with a smaller screen, I might need to consider alternatives.

The final screen was the "shocking" screen. This screen was very simple but my friend asked how to test the strength of the vibration. I realized that even though you could set the strength of the vibration, there was no way to actually see how strong the vibrations were. Another aspect he mentioned was how he knew if the shocker was active or not. You can turn it on and off easily enough, but there was no way to know whether it was currently on or not.

He also asked if it could be hooked up to a speaker through bluetooth and instead of having the native alarm go off, it can wirelessly connect to the speaker for a much louder alarm. This was definitely an interesting idea that I haven't thought of.

I definitely got a lot more insight on details that needed improvement on the app. The base idea of the app is extremely simple and may even seem redundant, but I believe that the "shocking" portion makes this app one that is indispensable.