For my first project, I will be designing a smartwatch application that demonstrates how content can adapt to small, wearable interfaces while remaining useful, engaging, and accessible. Content on a smartwatch can take many forms: text, icons, colours, imagery, and even video, and my task is to translate these into a functional, three-screen experience. I will be producing at least three screens, supported by a style guide, visual grammar, branding, storyboards, and wireframes. The final delivery will be high-resolution mockups that bring the concept to life. I aim to create a design that supports users like myself while resonating with my creative process and design thinking. I want to design something future-proof, accessible to all user types, and reflective of clear objectives in both usability and aesthetics. I’m excited to explore new ideas and challenge my perspective, crafting solutions that meet user needs through thoughtful and inclusive design.
Smartwatches are wearable digital devices designed to extend the functionality of a smartphone onto the wrist. They provide quick access to information and features such as notifications, fitness tracking, navigation, and communication, all through a small, glanceable interface. Unlike traditional watches that only tell time, smartwatches combine convenience with connectivity and personalisation. Their value lies in being always accessible, lightweight, and designed for quick micro interactions that save users like me from constantly reaching for our phones. The concept of a smartwatch dates back to the late 20th century. Early digital watches in the 1980s, such as those by Casio, introduced calculators, calendars, and simple data storage. In the early 2000s, companies such as Microsoft and Fossil experimented with connected watches that could display news and weather via radio signals, although they were limited by battery life and bulky designs. The real breakthrough came in the 2010s with the rise of smartphones; Samsung’s Galaxy Gear in 2013 and Apple Watch in 2015 brought mainstream attention, evolving smartwatches into lifestyle devices. Since then, major players like Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, and Garmin have advanced the market, focusing on health, customisation, and accessibility.
Today, smartwatches are widely used for fitness and health tracking, e.g steps, heart rate, sleep, oxygen monitoring, as well as mobile payments, notifications, navigation, and even safety features like fall detection or SOS alerts. They also allow for personalisation with interchangeable faces and bands, as well as app ecosystems that can extend functionality far beyond fitness. For many users, including me, smartwatches have become a daily companion, blending utility, health insights, and style in one small device. Smartwatches highlight the challenge of designing effective interfaces for tiny screens. This makes them a valuable area to study for interaction design: how to simplify information, prioritise accessibility, and ensure an inclusive user experience. Designing for wearables forces consideration of timing, glanceability, and user context, for instance, how an app functions during exercise, commuting, or work. For my project, this is especially important, as I want to focus on designing something not only functional but also future-proof, intuitive, and accessible for a wide range of user needs.
Smartwatches combine functionality with personal style, extending smartphone features to the wrist while adapting to different lifestyles such as fitness, communication, productivity, and self-expression. They are designed to be both practical and personal, giving users quick access to information while reflecting individual preferences through size, controls, watch faces, and straps. By understanding these features and how different brands approach them, I can gain clearer insight into user needs and design choices. This will help guide my project towards creating a smartwatch app that feels relevant, accessible, and effective for a wide range of users.
Smartwatches come in a variety of sizes to suit different wrists and preferences, ranging from 38mm to 49mm cases. Larger displays, such as on the Apple Watch Ultra or Samsung Galaxy Watch Pro, allow more content to be shown and are often geared towards fitness or outdoor users. Smaller sizes are designed for comfort and everyday wear. Most displays use high-resolution OLED or AMOLED screens for sharp visuals and efficient battery life.
Physical controls, such as Apple’s Digital Crown or Samsung’s rotating bezel, provide tactile interaction alongside touch-screens. These allow users to scroll, zoom, and navigate menus without blocking the small screen with their fingers. Buttons are often customisable, offering shortcuts to workouts, payments, or safety features.
A defining feature of smartwatches is the ability to customise digital watch faces. These not only change the look of the device but also provide at-a-glance information such as weather, calendar events, heart rate, or activity rings. Apple, for example, offers complications that let users pin key data to their watch face, while Garmin focuses on performance metrics. Apple uses its
Interchangeable straps make smartwatches highly adaptable to different contexts, from sport to fashion. Materials range from silicone and nylon which are durability and sweat resistance to leather and stainless steel which are style and luxury. Companies like Apple and Samsung sell a wide variety of strap designs, allowing users to tailor the watch to personal expressions.
Alongside exploring smartwatch features, I also looked at the gestures users perform to operate their devices. Modern smartwatches rely heavily on intuitive gestures, such as swiping, tapping, scrolling, or using the digital crown, to navigate and interact with apps efficiently. To better understand these interactions, I illustrated a series of gesture sketches that visualise how users engage with their watches in different contexts. This process helped me analyse how gestures enhance usability and accessibility, revealing which interactions feel most natural or beneficial. By studying and sketching these gestures, I gained a clearer understanding of how to design my smartwatch interface in a way that feels responsive, user-friendly, and tailored to the needs of specific users and features.
