Our first project of the semester was to create a smartwatch app in a week.
To start off this project, the first thing I need to do is research smartwatches and their features. I personally don’t own a smartwatch, which makes this process much more interesting to me as I won’t always be designing a product that I personally use.
I wanted to ensure that I conducted the best competitor analysis, in order to do that, I read these articles beforehand so that I could learn industry standard research techniques.
Conduct a Competitive Analysis (With Examples) [2024] • Asana
| Apple Fitness | MyFitnessPal | Calm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key features | Tracks fitness, sleep, heart rate, and other vitals. It integrates with many third-party apps to compile a comprehensive view of your health. | Tracks calories, macros, and nutrients. It integrates with the apple watch to monitor daily activity and calories burned, giving users insights into their energy balance. | Calm is a leading platform for meditation, mindfulness and relaxation. It’s designed to help users manage stress, sleep better, and improve their mental well-being on the go. |
| Unique features | Personalised Recommendations- Tailored workout suggestions to suit the users needs. Instructor-led workouts - World class trainers conduct workouts, and are able to give feedback. Guided meditations-Mindfulness and relaxation sessions to help manage stress, focus on mental clarity and encourage relaxation. Time to walk- Audio guided walks with celebrity guests. Mindful cooldowns- Dedicated post-workout cool-downs. This includes gentle stretching with guided breathing exercises. New workouts weekly- Fresh content is added every week to ensure workouts remain interesting. Audio- guided workouts- For users who prefer audio guidance over visual instruction. | Quick access to nutritional overview-View daily calorie and macro (carbs, fats and protein) intake/goals on smartwatch instead of using the app. Add food and water on the go-Log meals and water intake. Real- time calorie adjustment- automatic adjustment based on activity level. Meal reminders- personalised meal reminders to ensure the user has a structured eating schedule and proper hydration throughout the day. Goal tracking and progress alerts- You can set personalised nutrition and fitness goals and the smartwatch will show real-time progress toward these goals. Bar code scanner quick-add -users can log food items quickly by scanning the barcode on packages. Voice command logging- log food and workouts via voice commands. Food insights and Feedback- when logging food on the app, the app provides feedback on the nutritional value of their food. Nutrient and calorie graphs- visual representation of daily intake. | Guided breathing exercises- quick access to breathing exercises directly from the smartwatch. It involves visual or haptic feedback to guide you through inhalation and exhalation patterns, helping calm the mind and body instantly. Meditation reminders- Set personalised mindfulness and meditation reminders. Sleep tracking and bedtime reminders- Sleep guidance and tracking through the smartwatch. sleep stories and relaxation sounds- access to sleep stories and relaxing sounds. played on phone but can control it on watch. stress monitoring- Integrating with the watch’s sensors to detect heightened periods of stress. Recommends calming practices to manage stress. |
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| Design | |||
| Onboarding | |||
| Unique UX approaches | |||
| Common approaches |
I brainstormed ideas on what I want my app to be. I thought of a range of things from safety, education and lifestyle.
Then I started to think of any time in my life as well as my family and friends lives, that was a bit of a hassle or an inconvenience. I listed a few health conditions and I thought of a family member who suffers badly from migraines. With this thought, I remembered when I thought I was having migraines and I went to the doctors to see about it and how difficult it was to get diagnosed with migraines.
Why it was difficult:
After this discussion, I was told to document my headaches. When they occurred, the duration, where the pain was and if I did anything beforehand that could have triggered it.