Our first project for this new module is creating content design for a smartwatch. Last year we briefly covered design for smartwatches but not as an official full project. A very important thing that I remember from the last designs we did for smartwatches is, the limiting content that can appear on a screen due to the restricting size of the device. I think that this is an important note that I should consider going forward with this project, as I found it challenging in previous designing attempts.

Nevertheless, this new project involves creating three screens for a smartwatch app. There has not been any theme regarding the project, so it allows a lot of creativity in terms of both idea and design.

To help with stating the project we did a workshop which required us to be in groups with our class members. This exercise was to brainstorm ideas about various topics regarding the different problems encircling each. As a group we chose to do a spider diagram with our two topics being entertainment and health, we chose these because we thought these were very broad topics we could generate more ideas with.

Following this, we did something called finding alogical connections. This consisted of circling two words that have no clear connection between each other, which created very interesting and creative combinations. We did these with a few and wrote down on post it notes how they could be related with solving problems for the audience, while also being displayed in a smartwatch.

Some of the ideas that we wrote on our spider diagrams had not been chosen to be written and displayed to the class. I personally thought that some of the ideas that we wrote or briefly discussed were really good, so instead of taking one of the ideas we chose to display, I went back to the spider diagram and created a list of some of the ideas that I like and thought I could use for this project. This can be shown in the image shown below.

One of the ideas that really stood out to me was a combination of the word festival and medication, two words taken from our two different categories. Looking at this from a perspective of someone enjoying a festival, part, club, or any event of a similar manner, we cannot be denied that spiking of drinks in this situation is still a very big problem everywhere. This is a very dangerous situation that can put someone at harm in many ways. However, usually people are unaware that this has happened to them in the moment. My idea was to create an app that will detect if any substance has entered your body. Before anything can happen or take effect on you, the app and watch will alert you and give prompts with a small variety of options to get or call for help. I think this is a very good thing to ensure much better safety for everyone in these situations.

In regards to the app, I created a series of rough sketches that visualises how my idea could look as a watch. As mentioned previously, an issue I often encountered when designing for watches is the unawareness of the limited content that can appear on a watch. Consequently, I have tried to keep the information on the screens I sketched very minimal and the content in it to be very direct. Furthermore, I think that the nature of the app that I am designing requires content to be very direct, as this would be used majorly in times of urgency, so not much time could be spent on thinking through information.

In week two we talked about user stories, which consists of a shot explanation about the setting, the user, and the problem that they encounter which we need to solve. A user story is very short and it lacks detail on purpose. A user story should contain three sections the user of the product, the problem they are encountering, and the reason why they need this problem to be fixed.

In the image to the left is a post-it note with my user story, which was done as part of a class exercise.

Critique and wireframes

On week three we had a critique where we showcased our idea and our designs to the class in order to receive feedback from the tutor and our classmates too. It was very inspiring to see everyone’s designs and the ideas that they were able to come up with. Overall, I would say that I have received quite good feedback on my design. Design choices had been validated to be good and effective for their purpose. However, it was pointed out that the idea itself could be further thought into and would be able to expand on it. It was stated that the app could be used in a broader sense to aid anyone with any condition when in need, not necessarily for substances. If this feedback were to go forward, it was suggested that a screen with “assistance on the way” would be a very good addition. The screen with the graph and the prompt asking how the person is feeling, was said to be very unnecessary. It was stated that this is not something that is needed as people who are in need would not have time to stop and take any of his information in. Therefore, I should remove this whole screen and replace with something different.

Overall, I found all feedback to be very useful and I was able to understand how I can improve my designs and my idea going forward. It was a huge help as well to see some feedback that my classmates had given me that the tutor had not pointed out. I will also try to take their point of view in consideration when trying to refine and correct my designs.

To get a better idea of the whole design that I had to make, I refined my sketches with a more detailed design and layout that I wanted to create, taking in consideration the feedback that I had received from the critique and trying to apply it to my designs. I used these wireframes to make my final designs.