Who knew the tiniest screens could spark the biggest design challenges and the boldest opportunities?
The idea of developing devices for convenience has scaled ironically. As technology advances, the screens get smaller with some devices not even using a screen anymore. What challenges lie ahead for designers in such rapidly innovating times? Or are these opportunities for a whole new creative dimension?
Let’s find out.
Prioritising essentials
Designing for small screens means you cannot cram a lot of things into it. Whatever design makes its way to such small screens has to have a specific and high level of usability. A smartwatch user in the middle of a meeting is not looking for a newspaper. They want actionable snippets like step count, notifications, a quick reminder to drink water etc. In such a case, it is really important to prioritise what goes on to your interface. Easily graspable/consumable designs that don’t need a lot of support to sustain them on a device are the priority here. Functionality prevails over flashiness and your design needs to survive without frills.
Navigating interactions
When designing for wearable devices, it is not the time for your design to shine. Your design should make the user’s life easier. The screens are so tiny that an action like a pinch to zoom or double tap could become a big fuss. Make navigating on these devices smoother with simple actions like a swipe or a tap. To make sure that these designs actually work on small screens, test them with screen-size mockups. And NO, you cannot just resize a design on smartphones for a smartwatch.
For devices that don’t have a screen (and there are many), voice search is a game changer. This is where an efficient voice search SEO comes in. Design is not just an experience for the eye.
Context is king
The purpose of a wearable, and other small/micro-sized devices, is to enhance user’s life. This is why we design for micro moments. We do not want to capture their attention for a long time. We want them to interact with the device for what they need and move on. Key things to ask while creating something for such moments are – what is the user doing right now and how does my design fit into their moment?
It is important to remember the main purpose of the device and the apps within such devices more than the quantity of content/graphics we want them to interact with.
Personalising the experience
When a person wears a device, it almost becomes an extension of themselves. A very personal relationship is formed. The dawn of AI has made this relationship even more real with the way it can interpret the available data and provide personalised suggestions like “Your favourite coffee shop is 200 metres away”. A dynamic interface that adapts according to individual choices and provides tailored experiences is highly valued among users.
Building a visual heirarchy
A clear hierarchy, amid all the elements in a design, aids in instant understanding and subsequent action. This is not unique for smartphones and desktops but is also as much of a ‘rule of thumb’ for smaller screens. Bold topography, white space to guide the eye and colour contrast, well, especially colour contrast for clear visibility in sunlight and at dusk, must be tested for wearables with tiny screens.
Optimising battery life
Battery life is considered the archnemesis of a design. If your design or app drains a lot of battery very quickly, users won’t take long to uninstall all your hard work. Using lightweight animations, designs that work for dark mode and efficient coding can be of massive help in making sure this doesn’t happen to you.
There’s a whole new world beyond the wrist
Be it Apple Vision Pro or Meta AI glasses, an Oura ring or even the bio-sensing fabric, there’s a whole range of wearable devices that may not even have a screen to begin with but still have high functionality and value for the users. We are beginning to enter into an era of highly advanced everyday devices and the design industry needs to keep up with them. Creativity evolves and amazes every day.