DESIGNING THE INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE OF A LUXURY SMARTWATCH (PART.1)
This the first part of a series is based on a personal project I worked on during my Internship at design consultancy VanBerlo.
Retaining the “feel” of high-quality
Touchscreen’s provide a very versatile form of interaction, but their feel is associated with phones, tablets and kiosks. Expensive watches and chronographs are more semantically linked to precision tools than entertainment hubs and consumer electronics. Companies have spent years investigating the emotional experience of physical interactions down to the small nuances of their tactile feedback and sound of clicks. To provide a distinguishing tactile experience from your 3-year-old’s tablet, luxury smartwatch manufacturers will have to invest in alternative input methods.
The small size requires precise and intentional input
Our fingers are large and clumsy, and at watch screen sizes, interactive content on touchscreens will have to be limited to avoid accidental taps. Sure you can swipe between screens, but scrolling through many options becomes unweildy and time consuming.
With luxury watches representing their image, why would you expect a suave, suited business tycoon to look like he’s playing fruit ninja in order to scroll through a list?
The Approach
Next Part…
In the next part of this series I’ll explain how I defined the product’s function and interface paradigm.
This series is based on a personal project I worked on during my Internship at design consultancy VanBerlo. I wanted to explore what a luxury smartwatchwatch experience would be as an extension of a branding project. If you have had similar ideas, or would just like to have a chat about your thoughts on smartwatches and wearables, feel free to contact me on linkedin or medium!
