Design 01: Watches in the Wild

Introduction:

I've been getting more into golf over the past year, so I decided to look into the interesting topic of golfing technology. I'd noticed the boom of smartphone technology and smart watch technololgy for golf, but I haven't seen a comparable watch interface that could offer what a smartphone app could. I went up to Tilden golf course and talked with a budding pro for the course and a teacher for the course, as they would have had experience with a lot of the technologies, both for personal use and for training purposes with clients.

Observations:

I first interviewed a young man in his twenties who was working in the pro shop, who was planning to get his pro certification in the near future. He was well-versed in the apps that were used for golfing, but for a variety of reasons, such as professional and strategical purposes, he uses neither a smartphone nor a smart watch while he golfs. From his experience, GPS-based apps, which cover most golf distance tracker apps, are not as accurate as laser-based tools, as in a 3-5 yard difference. Also, none of these are allowed in professional tournaments, so he has no need to become dependent on smart technology. The use of the watch for other tasks such as score-keeping and other technologies was dismissed due to professional etiquette rules, although he acknowledged it is common among amateurs. I did end up having to push the conversation a bit, as most uses of technology reached a dead end.

The only decision we came up with that would make smart watch technology viable for play would be to add laser technology to the watch itself, but even then the issue of having a watch interfere with one's swing was at the forefront. At that point we agreed that the best use for smartphone and smart watch technology was for learning and training purposes. 

For the second interview, I visited a teacher in his fifties who had been golfing for over 30 years. He also was not a big user of technology, but this was due to age and was mirrored by all other aspects in his life, and because service is poor on the course except for Verizon's coverage. His primary use of technology was in using an iPad to film students during their swing. Despite his own infrequent use, he was also very well-versed in golf technology, and was very interested in discussing its purposes. 

After learning that he did not personally use a smartphone or a smart watch, I then asked if he had noticed his students struggling or delaying during swings because they were fiddling with smartphones. He had noticed this, including observing people at the range struggling to set up their phones to film themselves. He then suggested using a watch to be able to film while swinging. We didn't discuss the details of how, but the watch would capture a unique angle while swinging.

Another idea brought up was the use of a watch to easily book tee times and contact the pro shop while golfing without having to dig through one's golf bag. He had experienced many of his friends do this while golfing, and as many golfers keep their phones in their bags so their pockets aren't crowded while swinging. Having a watch with a solid interface for golf resources would be a great help in his opinion.

Although he doesn't use smart watches, he has seen them in action before, and he doesn't believe they supply enough detail to be that useful for golfing. The watches he has seen show only the numbers for yardage, par, and not much else. He would prefer to get some sort of visual, and expand the smart watch app to have some more course detail like the app on a smart phone would. Overall, he provided a solid idea of the smart phone and wearable technology he has encountered, and helped me understand what could be added in such a growing market.

Although another interview would have been helpful, by this time I had been at the course too long and had to head back.

Brainstorming:

1. Laser-based distance app - User points the sensor towards the pin, and the display shows a video of where the laser is pointing and how far away that point is. Voice commands could stop the reading and save the distance on the screen.

2. Tee-time booking app - Building off mobile services such as GolfNow, this would allow a user to quickly find nearby courses or search for them by voice, and quickly book a tee time in the future. As a watch with voice controls, it could be done while in the car driving to the course.

3. Swing video app - This would allow a user to take a video of their swing from their wrist. It would require the screen or camera to pop out a bit in order to see over the knuckles, and could use the accelerometer to show the correct line for the swing, since the angle of the video would require some additional help to understand the swing.

4. External camera video - This app would connect to a camera/smartphone via bluetooth or other method, and allow the user to control the start, stop, playback, and delete functions of the camera from the smartwatch. This would allow the user to film repeatedly without having to walk over to the camera, find the video, and then set it back up again. It could also be extended to many other uses.

5. Course info download app - Since courses are very large, many are built outside of cities where the service may not be as good. This app would allow you to download the course map and par/distance information to your phone ahead of time to be accessed by the smart watch while on the course.

6. Course map app - This would allow a user to see a simplified version of the course map, which would include the important information such as hazards, fairway, and green/pin. This would improve current watch models which rely mostly on text. Using GPS, voice commands would allow the user to display distances for certain areas on the hole.

7. Swing analysis app - This app would take information from the wrist to judge a swing's speed, point of contact with the ball, and the club's trajectory to find where a swing may have gone wrong. The data can be viewed easily on the watch after the swing and compared with ideal values and past averages.

8. Scorecard app - This app allows the user to track his/her score, and view progress or saved data from previous rounds.

9. Pro-shop applications - This would integrate the use of a pro-shops facilities, such as a food/drink menu and calling services, to prevent a bottleneck between the 9th and 10th holes, as well as allow golfers to be less disruptive to the flow of the game while ordering.

10. Cart maneuvering guide app - This app would direct the golfers to the correct next hole, and warn the user if they are taking the cart into an area of the course the club deems improper, such as near the green or by a fairway under repair.

11. Course guide app - This allows users to provide feedback of the course or individual holes as a warning or as advice to other users playing on the course. These would be short voice to text messages that can be viewed, along with a timestamp, and judged to be helpful or unhelpful by a single click. These warnings could include messages such as "wet", "go down a club", or "green is fast". Algorithms could be used to group similar messages.

12. Course delay app - This would keep an updated time sheet for courses so a user could see how long it would take to get through a round on a certain day, or how delayed their tee time would be.

Prototype:

I chose the course map app because getting a working, readable display for courses on a watch would be a big improvement over current watches.

I created the watch out of cardboard with a large square face because the app would require as much room as possible to be very effective. I create menu screens to be able to search courses, find nearby courses, and to see the list of commands and gestures. The watch supports both touch screen and voice commands, and most buttons have a voice counterpart, which I attempted to make clear by the use of a microphone icon as well as quotation marks. However, in using a Sharpie, as well as through my own shoddy artwork, the execution fell flat and the screens did not come out as desired. The courses were simplified versions of a course map, where only the areas in play are emphasized, and the hazards, green, and pin are depicted clearly. The user could then use techniques such as zooming, scrolling, and setting markers by simple touch gestures, as well as bring up the menu by double-tapping the screen. The additional screen for menu options is to free the course view of clutter. By setting markers, the distance from the user to the marker is calculated by GPS, as is the distance from the marker to the pin. The user can also bring up a set of points showing key distance markings through the fairway from the current position. The user can also easily switch between holes when they get to a new one.

Feedback:

There aren't many pictures since it was difficult to handle all of the cards for the screens, but each screen and functionality was eventually reached. 

Since I found it would be difficult and against golf etiquette to test the prototype on the course, I instead found a friend that golfed to try the functionality out with a bit of explanation. Although the legibility was terrible, it was large enough that it was understood, which would only improve with computer graphics and cleaning up. The user jumped right into the nearby course search, bypassing the command list, which required slight guidance later to bring up the help page. The only course I started building was Tilden, due to time constraints, so that was where the user ended up reaching by nearby courses. At this point, it became apparent that I left off  the "Hole selection" menu, which was the first option the user chose. The user then chose to start the course, which took him to the first hole, at which point he was stuck, since the commands are not evident. The combination of having no prompts on the screen for users, as well as the paper prototype not lending itself to smartphone techniques, such as scrolling and zooming for maps, led to the lack of understanding. At this point I had to guide the user to bring up the help menu, which shows an area of improvement for the app, as this functionality is voice/gesture based, which are explained in the help menu. The only other way to access the help menu is back at the home screen, which would require navigation back to the course afterwards. The user did also comment that it felt too long to start the course, and that a few clicks could be eliminated. The help page itself posed a problem, as the scroll arrows were too small and were missed, which include many of the important gestures and voice commands. The user did also neglect to search through to the 3rd page of help, the hand gesture section, which also prevented ease of use. After the user learned the gestures, the uses went much quicker, and worked well for what the user would like.

Insights: 

Since the user bypassed the help menu at the beginning, I realized I should create an initial tutorial setting with sample commands to pop up during normal app use, and to make the help menu more accessible everywhere on the app. 

The items listed in the search terms were also hard to read, so that menu would have to be simplified to fit a smart watch better, as the way I implemented echoed the style of a smartphone. This could mean having one course per page, with more info, and easy swiping to access the next course.

The user's comments on the time it would take to begin to view the first hole also poses a problem. I based the watches format off an app I've used on the smartphone, which i have noticed takes a while, but it also allows more varied use. For a watch, however, simplicity is key, and some of the screens could be bypassed by default and only viewed if the user is looking to do some more complicated activity.

Overall, the UI for the app needed to be more obvious, and allow the user to learn commands easier while first using the app. Once the commands are learned, the app becomes simpler, but for first time users, it could be a huge pain. An actual touch screen model would help a bit, but the layout would also have to be changed.