4 principles of excellent wearable equipment

The lack of popularity of smart watches is due to the fact that many people attribute the problem to a lack of fashion. Because the software experience is also critical for this type of product, the current experience of smart watches is hard to call satisfying. So how do you design a smart watch UI that is attractive enough? "Wired", a well-known technology media, gives its own understanding:

4 Basic principles of excellent wearable equipment

1. Glance, rather than gaze: smart watches should not always require attention, especially from the user's eyes. Users should only be able to keep their eyes on the smart watch for a few seconds, more than they would use a smartphone.

2. Single interaction, multiple display: Smart watches should be mainly to provide information and reminders of the display, rather than bring rich interactive elements, that is, they want to display a large number of passively digested information.

3. Faster than accuracy: consumer smart watches should become flexible and fun and become the user's current partner. This means that they should provide a large number of overlooked recommendations, rather than spending longer on the current predictive services to provide more accurate advice.

4. Through illusion testing: smart watches can be considered avantgarde devices, but they cannot be like Bluetooth headsets, making it impossible for users to distinguish between the sound of the phone and the surroundings.

Voice

Since Apple released Siri, the outside world has been looking forward to voice control as the next big thing. Given that the smart watch doesn't show the space for a virtual keyboard, many people think that voice is the ideal way to interact with smart watches.

But in fact, it's a dead end. The accuracy of the speech is very low, and it relies on a relatively quiet environment (which clearly excludes any public place, contrary to the basic idea of wearable equipment). This means that users need to carefully stare at the screen and repeat their commands, which contradicts the first three of the 4 basic principles above.

Gesture

Compared to voice, gesture control is the ideal way to manipulate smart watches. Gestures such as remote control, slapping, twisting, and flipping are ideal for clearing notifications, skipping messages, or playing songs, or actions that are identified or canceled. Gesture control also conforms to the first three of the 4 basic principles: It is a scanning and interacting control mode that focuses on the rapid display of information. These gestures are just a little bit of movement, and there's no problem with the illusion test.

Contextual response

One of the reasons that big data has become so important in the past few years is that it has the ability to personalize information and activities based on context, and that's a good example of how you can set up a reminder on iOS to check your email when you get home. Contextual responses are user-oriented, rearranging information and triggering events based on your current position, emotions, activities, preferences, and physical analysis. Contextual information can be designed to meet the first three basic principles, because it only provides users with the current feasible choice, so there is no illusion problem.

No one's leading the race

In 2014, smart watches may finally have a turning point. Google has already shown its Android Wear platform, and Apple may be able to bring its own iwatch at any time. Although the existence of the opportunity has been very clear, but the success of the way no one can touch. The author believes that gesture and contextual response will be the way to win in this market, and the real opportunity to wait until the user interface and the use of the way (health, mobile payment, post-PC personal productivity) combined.