Next Challenge for Developers & Designers: Smart watches

Shrinking Real Estate offers Unique Challenges

By Noah Addy — Founder at Digital Fio Seattle, User Experience Architect, Software Developer, Mobile & Tech Trends Analyst, Social Media Strategist

Follow @UXNoah on Twitter to get notified of new blog posts.

In the not so distant past, the big buzzword was Responsive Web Design. It was the new kid on the block. It created opportunity and challenges for the design community. The reduced real estate offered a unique set of challenges for User Experience. Well, fortunately, or unfortunately, things are gonna get “worse”. Brace yourself, child. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

Welcome to the Smart Watch Party! Much Smaller Real Estate!

That fruit company in Cupertino has done it again. They unleashed the iPhone upon us a few years ago which led to a crazy innovation boom. Well, they’re back at it again with the Apple Watch! Google, Microsoft and otehrs have also joined the fray with their smartch watch solutions. This is expected to lead a multi billion dollar industry and opportunity for the masses.

This creates, what I consider a unique opportunity for User Experience Designers and Software Engineers to start thinking “small” and come up with some rather compelling experiences for these smaller form factors.

You say Challenges, I say Opportunities!

One thing I’ve always liked to do is stay ahead of the curve when it comes to latest technologies. The Tech industry is changing at a rapid pace that you either keep up or your skills become obsolete in no time.

As designers and developers, this new smart watch era gives us an opportunity to start learning how to design for these small screens and stand out from the pack. It’s an opportunity to usher in the new era of user experience where mobile devices, wearable technologies and other internet of things work seamlessly together to create the ultimate user experience! I call it thinking beyond pixels. [blog post coming soon on this]

It’s an exciting time to be in tech. We’re at the forefront of innovation and driving major consumer trends. Let’s Embrace the speed of innovation. Embrace the challenges. Embrace the opportunities. Learn some new skills and let’s kick some ass in this next era of computing.

Welcome to the smart watch party! It’s gonna be an exciting ride!

Noah Addy

Follow @UXNoah on Twitter to get notified of new blog posts.