Wearable apps
the iPhone/Android app but not mimic it. Phone apps
tend to include a number of pages but wearable apps
must be designed for quick interactions.
INTERACTION GUIDELINES
DIGITAL CROWN
This is one of the most essential aspects of wearable
interfaces and it enables the users to scroll through
without any distraction to their content. Whenever
the app is being designed, make sure you provide
visual feedback to the user when they interact with
the Digital Crown. One example of this would be
showing the location of the scroll when the Crown is
rotated to scroll.
HAPTICS
A haptics engine in a wearable device uses force upon
the skin to create real-time tactile feedback. This
is essential in creating an intuitive experience for
the user whenever something significant happens
in the app. You can customise the available haptics
for an Apple Watch to make the app experience
more meaningful. Always use each haptic only for
its intended purpose. For example, notifications,
confirmation and error scenarios can each be linked
to a specific haptic.
GESTURES
Gestures are an important piece of wearable
technology but are limited to very few choices.
Generally, there are few systems-generated gestures
in the wearables, which should not usually be
changed otherwise you risk creating confusion for
the users. The most common gestures are taps,
vertical and horizontal swipes and left-edge swipes.
However, when you create a custom gesture such as
double tap, make sure they are recognisable.
INTERFACE ELEMENTS GUIDELINES
ALERTS AND ACTION SHEETS
These interface elements are generally used to
communicate when an error has occurred or gather
some feedback from the user. Always make sure
that you use the alerts sparingly and use the action
sheets to give the user a list of options to respond
to an event. For example, in our food delivery app
for messaging functionality, the action sheets
can include the option for either responding to or
dismissing the notification.IMAGES
Images in the wearables can be either static or a
series of images that are animated with time. Make
sure the format of the image being used or exported
to the design is a PNG element. Also, since there is
always a loading time associated with the images,
use a placeholder image in place of the actual image
to give the user a visual cue.VIDEOS
Media is essential to any kind of interface, which
can just be audio files or video files. Make sure that
the audio/video clips are no more than 30 seconds
as they consume more disk space. Always include a
poster image that is associated with the video so the
user can make informed decisions.PICKERS
These are the interface elements that display a list
of items that are scrolled or navigated via the Digital
Crown. This is one way of enabling the user to make
selections. List pickers should be used whenever
the selection needs to be text/image. A simple
example of this is the date picker. Sequence pickers
are generally used to replicate an image to create a
custom interface, such as a rating feature. Users can
give a rating to one of the orders they received using
a customer rating picker.
All the apps you create for an Apple Watch – or any
other wearable – should be responsive, actionable
and glanceable. The interactions should be quick and
the data in the apps must be updated occasionally.
Reducing the loading screen time also does a lot to
make the experience more intuitive.Far left Always provide
visual feedback when the
Digital Crown is used, such
as showing the location of
a scroll
Middle left The Taptic
Engine of the Apple Watch,
which is responsible for its
haptic feedback
Middle right Give the user
a choice of options for how
to respond to an event by
employing action sheets
Far right An example of
the images as icons, where
each item is associated
with a colourful logo