I had the first interview with a 50- year old bus driver, who is has been driven buses for more than twenty years. I chose to interview him because bus drivers are strictly not allowed to use phones while driving and a portable device like smart watch would be handful for those people. Although the driver at his age is not familiar with new technology, he was very enthusiastic about the future watch. I started to introduce what a smart watch is by telling him a sample functionality: the health application. Modern watches has the sensor to track user’s heart rate and help them work out by either walking or running. However, the bus driver expressed his own concern: as a bus driver he has to travel to different places so it’s hard to make the work out plan. Moreover, a bus driver sent people to some places and wait for them at the exact same place, so he cannot go to local gyms either. Personally I feel its sad that the new technology cannot applies to everyone and help them out, but I also believes that more and more applications will be ready to use for everyone who needs them.
The bus driver also talked about his needs in smart watch. First of all, not all buses are equipped with GPS navigations and since driver cannot use their phones while driving, a watch with a navigation application will be very useful (he usually keep his phone in the bus’s glove compartment). The navi app doesn’t has to have many functionalities; it only has to speak loud at the turning and with a clear interface. Second, since bus drivers need a tool called e-log to help their companies track their location, the distance traveled and how long it takes, a bus driver need an application to replace the traditional e-log, which is complicate, heave and expensive. One last thing the driver reminded me was that, its better to make text and symbols as big as possible because drivers cannot focus on watch while driving.
I had the second interview with a salesman in Apple Store. I asked him a lot about the iWatch and he made me realise the difference between a smart watch and a smartphone. A smart phone is more versatile in almost everything but a smart watch is more personal, so its not very useful to build the business applications on smart watch. Unfortunately, the salesman was not allowed to take photo with me.
However, I met another helpful interviewee at the Apple Store, she is an 25-year old dentist. She told me that she loves cooking but cannot access phone while cooking, so a simple cooking app would be very helpful. Basically, the app should have the timer function (to set cooking time) and recipe function (tell user what to prepare while cooking). The app can do even more by making checklist for shopping, smartly plan the cooking procedures so that user won’t waste time. Another idea she told me was that, as a dentist (and many doctors may have the same need), she cannot use phones while performing surgery, so an app that can call her assistants will be handful.
1. The more efficient navigation apps for driver specifically, with big icon and loud voice reminder.
2. (For bus drivers only) The e-log system: report bus’s location, distance traveled, etc to the bus company.
3. Cooking app, has timer that can be easily set up, will be able to make checklist, and record recipe.
4. (For doctors) Alert app that can call assistants easily, or assistant can call doctor for help during emergency.
5. A workout app: remind user what to do next, how many sets left/ how many miles left. it can also be a long term planner.
6. Learning app: takes new vocabulary as input, pump up certain words to help user remember new words.
7. Express checkout: by match the two watches, buyers and sellers can make transaction anywhere at the store.
8. Sleep app: track when user go to sleep, track their sleeping cycle and wake them up at the best time. It can also giving sleeping advice.
9. Fake phone call/ text message: make user’s phone ring to help him/her get out the the embarrassed circumstances.
10. Pair-up: track user’s heart rate at background, if he/ she saw someone and crushed on them, (the other guy also has a smart watch), they will be paired up by the watch.
11. Alcohol tracker: input what user is drinking, each time he/she drinks, record the info in the background, and send alert while drinking too much.
12. Discount finder: remind the user of the current discounts when they enter a shopping mall.
Among all the ideas, I like the third one best. So I made a prototype for the cooking app. The app can help users with their dishes from preparation to finish. User can choose the previously saved recipe or create new recipe. The app can help users create a checklist before cooking; it is also able to set timers for oven, microwave, etc, and pump up alerts when time is up. After set different timers and preparation process, user can make arrangements to create a reasonable schedule. After creating the recipe, users can save and start cooking. The dish will then be added to the dish list. After finish cooking, users can take photo and share their recipe.
After I finished the prototype, I found the chef in my house to test it. He is a very experienced chef and usually cook for more than 20 men in the house. Amazingly, he gave me many insights I've never thought about.
1. The font size of the text should be bigger, as the chef cannot touch the tiny icons while cooking.
2. The app should be able to go back and forth easily, for example swipe left means go back and swipe right means go forward.
3. One bug I haven't think about was that I cannot delete timers and recipes after created. The chef told me I can also do delete by swipe the timer/ recipe to the side.
4. The app should have a "Delay" option, as chef may not finish the preparation at the time when timer rings. If user press "delay 5 more mins", the whole process should be able to delay accordingly. For the same reason, the app can expedite if the chef finish one process early. It can also remember the timeline for future use.
5. Instead to typing on watch, all interfaces should use spinner to choose from. For example, the checklist has spinner contains choices of all vegetables, meats, etc.
6. Colour code recipes! If user want to create more than one dish at a time, the different alerts appear as different colours.
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