Part 1 - Interviews:
For my interviews, I decided to ask actual software engineers what their take on a smart watch interface would look like. I believed that someone with a good amount of tech knowledge would have good insights into creating a good prototype. Engineers recently out of college would have crucial experience in the software industry while still being slightly out of touch with what's "new" or "hip." Finally, I asked someone not in the industry, who didn't have a smartphone.
#1: Software Engineer, recent Cal Grad of 2013
I asked one of my friends who's recently graduated when he last used his smart phone to do something. He was participating in a scavenger hunt and was taking pictures via Instagram, and it was one of his first times using the app. When I asked him to describe in detail what he did, he demonstrated the following:
- He had kept his phone in his pocket, so he took the phone out of his pocket.
- He unlocked the phone with his passcode. He used an Android phone so he swiped a certain pattern to unlock his phone.
- He then scrolled through about four windows before clicking on the Instagram app.
- Afterwards, he described how he just clicked the giant middle button on the bottom of the screen to take a picture.
- He would then face his phone towards the place he wanted to take a picture. He'd press the big giant blue circle on the bottom of the screen to take it.
Afterwards, I asked him if he could imagine using Instagram on a smart watch. He immediately told me that he couldn’t imagine accessing a full-blown Instagram app on his watch. The actual app would have had to be linked from the watch to his phone. It'd be the phone's job to access all of Instagram's contents. He imagined that the watch would have a camera facing from the wrist, with the contents shown on the watch display. Any functionality besides the camera would be relegated to the synced smart phone. He mentioned that it’d be hard accessing Instagram on a watch display interface and that he simply wouldn’t even want to.
#2: Software Engineer, Cal Grad of 2010
Last time he used his phone he wanted to receive a call. To do so, he would...
- Take the phone out of his pocket
- Sweep the screen of his iPhone with his finger
- Press the Call button to receive the call.
- Put the phone to his ear and answer the phone.
I then asked him if he could imagine himself receiving a call through a smart watch. When I asked him if he could describe in detail what it would look like, he assumed that he’d just press a button on the watch and speak directly into the watch. He had automatically assumed that there was a speaker coming out of the watch, as well as a built-in microphone to let him talk into it. He wasn't confused about the prompt, so it seemed natural to him that a smart watch would function in this way.
#3: Full Time worker for a local church (Picture not provided)
Finally, I asked a full time worker for a local church the last time he had used his phone. The last time he used his phone was for texting someone. He would...
- Take the phone out of his pocket.
- Unlock the phone by pressing the OK button twice. (His phone is a dumb phone.)
- Go to his text messages.
- Reply to his text messages by typing into his numberpad.
He said he couldn’t imagine doing the same thing with a watch because he only used watches as a kid. He’d never use a watch to talk to someone or even text someone. When prompted further, he’d imagine that he'd just type in words onto the face of his watch. The face of the watch would naturally have letters on them for him to type into. Even after this, however, he still refused to believe that he could text on a smart watch. It just didn't seem natural to him.
Similarities and Insights:
Some similarities that I noticed between all the users were that they assumed certain features would naturally just be on the watch. Things like a forward facing camera, audio speakers, and a touch display seemed like second nature to them. Another similarity I noticed was that there were distinct things that they were sure they would never want to do on a phone. Texting on a phone and accessing a full-blown phone app were two things that users knew they would never want to do on their phones.
A key insight is that people with smart phones could readily believe that a smart watch would have similar capabilities. My interviewee with the dumb phone had the exact opposite belief. A watch couldn't have the same capabilities as a phone, because it's "just a watch."
Part 2 - Prototyping:
Brainstorm:
1. Take a picture with your watch - The camera would be on the side of the watch and not on the display, and there would be another button you’d press to take the actual picture.
2. Make a phone call with your watch - You could have a speaker phone coming out of the side potentially, or you could use an audio jack for both input and output.
3. Weather forecast - The display shows the weather, as well as suggestions on what to wear based on your current body heat.
4. Periodic reminders - Reminders are called out throughout the day on your smart watch. You can sync these reminders from your online calendar (e.g. gmail).
5. Texting with your watch - Text based input can be attached on the wrist instead of on the display.
6. Music player - Music would be played via audiojack or speakers.
7. Map Service - Uses a built-in GPS and has a map on its display. It can also show ratings of various places (e.g. Google Maps).
8. Wolfram Alpha scanner - Take a picture with your phone, scan the image, and attempt to solve the problem with Wolfram Alpha.
9. Geocaching helper - Tracks your coordinates as you get closer to a potential geocache.
10. Money Tracker – Keep track of how much money you’ve used throughout the day, can potentially scan receipts or enter price via speaking into it.
11. Cooking Helper – Keep track of timers as you cook. Will call out when a timer is finished.
12. Fitness Monitor – Monitors your heart beat, body temperature, number of steps taken, and the distance you’ve traveled.
13. Smart Watch social networking – Take a picture, and tag it with a list of commonly used phrases, or say it into the watch mic.
14. Calorie Tracker – Keeps track of what you eat and how much you’ve eaten, via mic input or picture recognition. Can input numbers on the screen for calorie intake.
15. Email Viewer – Read emails by syncing your smart watch to your emails. Doesn’t support writing emails. Could potentially be linked to your smart phone, which you can use to type emails instead.
16. Instagram – Take pictures solely through your smart watch, and post the picture later using your phone.
17. Smart Watch for Pets – Track your pet, keep track of the number of steps it’s taken, and keep track of its heartbeat and health. Sync the watch with your phone, so that you have easy access to the information.
18. Translator App – Via Mic Input, can translate a foreign language through voice recognition to the language of your choice.
19. News Tracker – Keep track of breaking news, and read the news on your favorite news provider. Breaking News Alerts will periodically appear automatically on your screen.
20. Shopping Recognizer – Take a picture of an item you’d like to buy, and find the cheapest offering for it online.
21. Music Recognizer (e.g. SoundHound, Shazam) – Press an easy access button to listen to a song, recognize the song and artist, and display it on the watch.
Making the Prototype:
I decided to implement the money tracker because there were many potential avenues for tracking expenses, which provided a holistic approach to designing the actual watch. The actual watch I designed had a forward facing camera from the wrist, a button to the left to take a picture, a large touch screen display, and audio input and output at the bottom of the watch face.
I first designed the screens leading up to the actual application. By swiping the watch to the right, you'd go from the lock screen to the watch menu. By clicking on the Tracker app, you'd appear at the loading screen, followed by the amount of money that you had spent for the time period specified (in this case, days). Your budget for that time period would also be displayed.
Four options would be provided in the menu.
1. Change your budget. You can change your budget by pressing the "-" or "+" buttons, and then click "OK" or "Cancel" to confirm or deny your changes.
2. Change your Tracking Period. You can change how long you'd like to budget for, from one day, one week, or one month.
3. Receipt Camera. Take a picture of a receipt, and the watch will recognize and record the amount into your money spent.
4. Record Spending. You can say the amount you've spent into the built-in mic, or you can type in the actual amount into the virtual number pad. A confirmation screen with the amount you put in will be displayed afterwards, verifying if it's the correct amount. Both "Yes" and "No" options will return you to the main menu.
Afterwards, I tested the app with a couple of my friends. These were their insights.
Tester 1:
The app was pretty straightforward. He thought that icons would look cool for the menu, instead of long phrases. He really liked speaking into the mic for recording spending, as well as the validation for the correct amount at the end. He would have liked a transition screen for changes, such as “This amount of money is being added into your budget.” He would have liked an arrow to where the camera was located. He didn’t know that the button to the topleft activated the camera. He wouldn’t have wanted to press the screen to activate the camera, even if the option was there. He would have also liked another option to see the history of his previous expenditures.
Tester 2:
He wore the smart watch wrong the first time, since the camera was facing towards him. Therefore, a forward facing camera might not be a good idea for a smart watch that could be worn in both directions. He didn't know how to turn on the watch, either. (There was no "Power" button for the watch.) He could access app pretty easily. He wasn’t sure what "Change tracking period" did until after he fiddled around with it. He also thought that after you change the period, you should also be asked to change your budget. He would have liked an option that showed the statistics of how much he spent during his tracking period. He would have liked a warning message if he had spent more than his intended budget. It’d be helpful if all the screens had a “Go Back” button that went back to the home screen. He did not think this was a confusing app. He said that he would want to use an app like this in real life. In his words, "College students would especially love this app because they tend not to track their money."
Final Insights:
A couple of things I could have done to improve the design include:
1. Making the camera button more transparent
2. Adding a statistic option to keep track of how much you spent at different time intervals.
3. Adding an actual record of what you spent money on.
4. Adding a Back button for every screen.
5. Adding a Power button to the actual watch.
From this feedback, I've learned that there are still many things that I did not take into account while designing my smart watch. For the future, it would be good to get as much feedback as I can and account for all possible ways a person would use a money tracking app.
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