PROJECT SCOPE
• Smartwatch Customization Platform
• Date: June 2023 - January 2024
• Duration: 7 months
• My Role: UX Researcher
• Methodology: Surveys, User Interviews, Quantitative Data Analysis, Sketches
• Tools: Figma, Zoom, Excel, WatchMe, FitFace
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
• This project pertained to smartwatches, and particularly, how users can go about customizing their watches to better suit their needs or interests.
• Elaborating, we compared and contrasted a platform that we had developed (WatchMe), and tested it in relation to a competing design platform (FitFace).
• We distributed surveys, conducted user interviews, and collected data on which platform they felt was more user-friendly.
• Some of the factors that influenced their opinions included how much prior design experience they had, as well as how interested they were in customizing their watches.
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?
• Many of the initial participants who opted to be in the study were either scammers or bots.
• There were also some difficulties onboarding participants, due to a fairly limited budget.
• It's challenging to make inferences on a small sample.
HOW MIGHT WE. . .
• Source applicants that align with our research goals and budget?
• We reached out to participants via Craigslist and offered compensation for those who met the criteria.
• In order to make sure that we sourced the proper candidates, I manually excluded those who did not have the specific watch type we were looking for or those who were only trying to receive the compensation.
• Since we had 15 participants, we chose to conduct user interviews, as it would be the best way to gather in-depth data on a smaller sample size and be resourceful with our budget.
SURVEYS
• I was in charge of managing the Qualtrics pre-interview surveys.
• Although there were some initial issues, as many applicants turned out to be bots or scammers, I manually sourced the participants who met the qualifications, and made sure there were enough users for the project.
• During this process, we asked participants about which smartwatch brand they use (e.g., Apple, Samsung, Garmin, etc.), what feaures they utilize the most, and how frequently they use their smartwatches.
• The first survey was designed to gather demographic information on our users, while the second one was a post-interview survey that asked them about their opinions of the design platforms.
USER INTERVIEWS
• For this project, my team and I interviewed 15 participants total.
• During the interviews, I asked participants to design their ideal smartwatch homepage, starting with a paper sketch and moving on to the actual platform.
• Many, if not most, didn't actually know that their watches were customizable, which added to their learning process, giving them greater takeaways for designing their watched in the future.
SMARTWATCH SKETCH
• During the interviews, we had our participants first sketch a design they felt best resembles their interests, including icons they would like to have or use regularly.
• Many preferred a simplistic layout with less icons, as it prevented the homescreen from looking too cluttered.
FITFACE DESIGN TEMPLATE
• Although FitFace offered a more diverse array of features and icons, majority of our participants felt that it was too intricate, and that there were too many options available.
• As mentioned, since most of our participants were unfamiliar with design platforms, the large amount of features available made most of them feel overwhelmed.
• Adding to that, many felt that it was missing important features, such as an option to upload personal images.
• Many users, particularly those who were a bit older, wanted an option to upload photos of their chilren or other family members.
WATCHME DESIGN TEMPLATE
• Although some wanted specific colors (e.g., pink, purple, yellow), most gravitated toward darker colors such as black, gray, or dark blue.
• WatchMe, despite having fewer features, was received more positively among our users.
• They stated how the plaform was more user-friendly and offered them the appropriate amount of design options.
QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
• Upon gathering our data, I created charts and graphs that accurately portray our users' responses.
• More broadly, our users typically use their watches to count their steps and measure other health-related metrics, such as their heart rate and calories burned.
• In terms of metrics, users were fairly scattered and use their watches for various reasons.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• After comparing the two design platforms, most of our participants felt that WatchMe was a more user-friendly platform.
• More specifically, they felt that FitFace was a good product, but was more geared toward experienced designers, and didn't appeal to the average smartwatch user.
• In general, majority of our 15 participants felt that a major reason as to why they haven't customized their watches was because they had no knowledge of how to do so or because of a lack of time.
• I valued getting to speak one-on-one with users and see them learning new ways to customize their products to fit their interests.
