Smart Watch

Thanks a lot, that’ll be a great resource! I thought I’d mock up something to show where my head’s at right now with the look of the watch. Shown with a leather strap.

That is looking much more designed than your initial pass. Make sure you investigate where the strap interfaces with the actual case. That intersection of materials is critical, as well as the fit adjustment. In a wrist based device a single mm can be the difference between something that is elegant and right to something that looks undersized or cartoonishly large. Try printing out top views in different sized and placing them on your wrist. Make quick 3D studies to get the sense of the right thicknesses.

Yo: Thanks, mocking up the watch is a good idea. And you’re right about the watch strap, If I’m using a standard watch strap I’ll have to be very careful about the attachment points. I really appreciate your input so far, it’s helping me to move this project forward. I just got back from a weeklong vacation to the Grand Canyon (it was pretty cool!), so I’ll be starting up work on this project again this weekend.

Good, good, looking forward to checking it out.

Here are a few more thoughts on how the watch is put together and how you would charge it:



What is that, Penultimate? I hate sketches from that program. So corse!

How do you pop the strap on and off if those spring loaded pins are blind?

Also, with all that tech on the wrist, you might want a more robust connection, like a 1/4 turn lock down of the assembly, so it doesn’t pop off when you knock your wrist against something.

Think about raising the fidelity of your hardware visualization. Right now your UI is tightened down but your hardware visuals are sloppy!

Reference:

http://david-whetstone.com/

Haha, yeah these are definitely loose sketches, I was trying out that new iPad app ‘Paper’. I’ll pull these drawings into Sketchbook Pro and tighten them up. Looking at some of those references, my sketches are not quite up to snuff! Those Fischer Thierry sketches look like they were done after the design was already in CAD, so that might be a bit difficult to achieve at this stage. The Austin Lee drawings look tight but more achievable to me.

For those pins, I could probably add a hole piercing through to the outside of the casing. That way you could push one side in with a paper clip. There could even be a button on the side that releases the pin without tools. Or I could always go the Scott Wilson route and use hex bolts, like with Tik Tok.

For the connection points, I was thinking of having magnets at the bottom and the square peg would just be for alignment. Sorry, I must have left that bit out. But that’s a good idea, I’ll have to do a page of sketches on connection techniques.

EDIT: I’m working on tightening up the hardware design, more updates soon!

I started tightening up the design a bit more, showing how the band interacts with the watch backing. The watch is held in place with a set of magnets, letting you swap out the band and backing quickly for a different color or style.



This view of the underside shows a bit more of how the strap interacts with the backing. You can also see a set of charging connections on the back of the watch that also function as a serial port.



EDIT: The pin release can be pressed in with a paper clip or small tool to remove the strap from the watch backing.

I’m still trying to think of other ways to secure the watch itself to the backing. Magnets are the easy solution but may not be durable enough. Maybe I could use something similar to the old Macbook Pro latches, which only use magnets to deploy small pins which secure the screen closed. Any thoughts or suggestions?

The small details are making it feel more real. The buckle doesn’t seem to match the design right now.

I’m dubious of the magnet connection. As someone who bangs their watch around a bit, I’m concerned it will pop off. You could make a dirty prototype by popping the mechanism out of an inexpensive swatch and gluing a magnet in there. Then glue a magnet onto a cylinder of material. Wear the assembly for a week and see if it pops off in casual use.

I was thinking that it would be nice to use an off-the-shelf strap to make the watch more customizable, but the strap could stand to be a little more design-ey.

I’m a little unsure about the magnet too, I’ll keep thinking of some other options. I do think there should be some sort of mechanism to secure it in place better, it’s just that since the whole bezel spins to navigate the UI I’ll have to get a bit creative with any locks that involve spinning or turning. In the end I just want to make it as fool-proof as possible for the end user to swap out watch straps.

I the mean time, here are a few paper mock ups I made to help figure out the right scale:



This first sketch model was made from the 42mm watch face and I think it looks alright on my wrist (maybe a little bulky). Next I’ll have to see what size watch looks good on a girl’s wrist.

Nice idea to do the size studies. A couple of mm either way makes a big difference.

In terms of a mechanical connection, you could do something that dovetails in from the side and locates with a ball Bering style detent. In fact each of the strap ends could have a ovetail like molded end bit that could slide onto the case eliminating the need to have a double wall there…

But, is his is a case of the tail wagging the dog? Watch straps are already reasonably interchangeable. Maybe the focus should be on executing one great strap so you don’t go down a rabbit whole because you already have a lot for a user to learn and understand.

A few millimeters do make a huge difference! I made 4 of those paper models into 3d foam sketches and went around talking to some people at a local coffee shop. I figured that men and women would have different preferences as far as the size, but this pretty much cemented that idea.


I talked to 20 people at the coffee shop (12 women, 8 men). 5 of 12 women preferred the smallest watch (34mm), and 6 of the 8 men preferred the 2nd largest watch (40mm). I guess my next decision is whether to have two different versions of the watch or to have a size somewhere in the middle. Another surprising stat was that 15 out of the 20 people I spoke with had watches, I was actually expecting fewer people to have them. A few said they used to wear watches, but don’t now that they have a smartphone.

That’s not a bad idea with the interchangeable/universal strap. I was thinking off-the-shelf parts so that it could be user-customizable, but if I made a one-size-fits-all strap, that would make it a lot easier to sell the first batch of watches. I like the idea of dovetailing for the watch connection… I think I should start looking at other things that lock together for some mechanical inspiration. Thanks for the insight!

No problem.

A way to resolve the size issue would be to pinpoint who you feel the early adopter for this might be… For example, of it is the silicon valley male, maybe just make the men’s watch.

Also, design research much more about what people do than what they say. Sometimes we go in and ask a question, like “what size would you prefer?” and then casually ask “wou,d you mind if we measured your watch?”… I bet there was a discrepancy between what they said they would prefer and what the size of their watch actually was. The second is more important because it gets to what they would actually choose to live with vs what they think is the right answer. You could always repeat the exercise. I’m not surprised how many people were wearing watches, it is a popular blog story to say people aren’t wearing them but they remain a tribal indicator of status in our culture.

If you want to use an off the shelf strap for customization, a solution for both the attachment of the module and the customizable strap is the NATO strap. They come in a lot of widths and colors and only need two bars to slip under. If you design a double of bars or slots into the underside of your module you should be all set.

http://www.fusiongear.com.au/traser-traser-nato-watch-strap-black-22mm-p-443.html

This is a great thread. Tip of the hat to Yo! and to Jake for making this a very fun and informative back-and-forth. Lots of great information and process being shared, and it’s really starting to take shape from your initial designs!

I’m enjoying watching the progression. (BTW, personally I’d prefer the thinnest watch… I tend to bump my watch and catch it on things if it’s too thick…)

Thanks NURB, I’m glad the process has been interesting so far! I think a watch like this could be a very successful, so it’s encouraging to have your and Yo’s feedback. You know, it might be a good challenge to design an interface for that smallest watch. How much information is really necessary to show on a 1 inch screen?

Yo: I’ve heard of that technique, but I haven’t really used it before. It can’t hurt to do a second round of interviews! I like the idea of the NATO band, I’ll have to include that in my next batch of designs. I haven’t thought about directing it towards early-adopters before, but I guess those really are the people who spread the word about your product. I should do a little research on that, but I’m sure you’re not far off that techie guys are most likely going to be the first buyers.

Hey Jake, It may make sense to spend an hour thinking of what your brand values/ story would be. I think it’ll help you with some of the design decisions…screw in bars? spring bars? proprietary snap system? NATO? Black PVD steel case? or ceramic? or Rubber? Is the UI really white with red blue?

I’m not quite sure where the design of the watch is aimed yet.

Hey Brett, That’s a really good point. This could be a good opportunity for me to expand on the personas I developed early on in the process into a full-blown brand identity. I think that will be my next step, because it’ll probably answer most of the questions I have about what the device should look like and what kind of functions it needs to have.

I have a couple of job opps I’d like to apply to, so I might try to package the work I have so far into my portfolio. I know it’s still early on in the process, but it’s probably a good idea to show people the projects I care about. I’m thinking 3-4 pages just showing early process and research. Do you guys have any suggestions on how to present work-in-progress?

I just put together the work I have so far into a little story that explains where the idea originated and what my next steps are. I should be starting some of those next steps as early as next week.