Michal Marek David Pierce from Wired magazine had the opportunity to talk in detail with two key men who are behind the expected novelty with the bitten apple logo - Apple Watch. The first important man is Alan Dye, the designer of the so-called "human interface", the second important person is Kevin Lynch, Apple's vice president of technology and head of software for the Apple Watch.
We had the opportunity to see Kevin Lynch during the keynote, when he "demos" the individual features of the Watch on stage. Alan Dye is more inconspicuous in the background, but his task was no less important when it came to designing how to interact with the watch. The two men reveal what the Apple Watch actually means and why Apple decided to design the watch in particular.
The unexpected acquisition of Kevin Lynch
Interestingly, when Kevin Lynch came to Apple, he had no idea what he would be working on. In addition, the whole world was surprised by his arrival from Adobe. Indeed, Lynch was one of the loudest scoffers, publicly lashing out at Steve Jobs and the iPhone for its inability to play Flash. Even blogger John Gruber commented on his arrival with astonishment. "Lynch is a fool, a bad acquisition," wrote literally.
When Lynch arrived at the company in early 2013, he was immediately thrown into the whirlwind of new product development. And he found out that the project was behind at that moment. There was no software and no working prototypes of the device. There were only experiments. The crew behind the iPod tried out different variations involving the click wheel and the like. However, the company's expectations were clear. Jony Ive commissioned the team to create a revolutionary device designed for the human wrist.
So work began on the watch. However, it was not yet clear what significance the wrist-worn device could have and what progress it would bring. The issue of control and user interface was also important. And that's the moment when Alan Dye, an expert on the so-called "human interface", basically the way the device reacts to the user's input, enters the scene. "Human interface" includes the overall concept of the device and its control, i.e. the user interface, but also, for example, hardware buttons.
Dye joined Apple in 2006 and had a career primarily in the fashion industry. In Cupertino, this man started working in the marketing division and participated in the design of the iconic product packaging that is now an inherent part of Apple. From there, Dye moved to the team that works on the already mentioned "human interface".
Birth of the Apple Watch concept
Jony Ive started dreaming about the Apple Watch just after Steve Jobs' death in October 2011 and soon pitched his idea to Dye and a small group of his colleagues. However, at this time, designers were very busy working on iOS 7. The seventh version of the mobile operating system for iPhone and iPad was not just a redesign. It was one of the turning points for Apple and a complete transformation of the popular operating system under the guidance of Jony Ivo, who at that time was getting to the absolute designer throne in the company. Dye and his team had to re-imagine all the interactions, animations and features.
Manufacturer Saturday Night Live Lorne Michaels is famous for inciting employees to work for insanely long hours because he believes that people become more creative and courageous as a result of enormous fatigue. Similar philosophies were followed in the design office of Apple. As the team worked on app launch animations or the new Control Center, daytime discussions about future devices spilled over into nighttime discussions. The idea of building a watch came up more and more frequently, and thus also the debate about what such a watch would bring to people's lives.
Dye, Lynch, Ive and others started thinking about how much our lives are being disrupted and controlled by our phones these days. Especially busy people, as these three definitely are, are constantly checking their phone screen and dealing with incoming notifications all day long. Sometimes we are slaves to our phones and look at them too much. In addition, when we are with someone else, reaching into our pocket for the phone every time it rings is inconvenient and rude. Apple has largely caused this problem and the malaise of today. Now they are trying to solve it.
The idea was to free people from the captivity of their phones, so it's a bit ironic that the first working prototype of the watch was an iPhone with a Velcro strap. The team created a simulation of the Apple Watch in its actual size on the iPhone display. Software was developing much faster than hardware, and the team simply needed to test how the software concept would work on the wrist.
The watch projected on the display even had its classic crown, which could be rotated with gestures on the display. Later, a real hardware crown was also connected to the iPhone through the jack, so that it was possible to test the real feeling of controlling the watch, the response of the crown, and the like.
So the team started trying to transfer some of the key functions from the phone to the watch, thinking how best to capture them. It was clear from the beginning that elegant communication through a watch could not work in the same way as it does on a phone. Select a contact, tap a message, confirm a message,… “It all sounded logical, but it took too much time,” says Lynch. Moreover, such a thing would not be very pleasant. Try raising your hand and looking at your watch for maybe 30 seconds.
New ways of communication
So a feature that Apple calls Quickboard was gradually born. Basically, it's a bot that reads your messages and tries to put together a menu of possible responses. So when you receive a message asking whether to go to a Chinese or Mexican restaurant in the evening, the watch will offer you the answers "Mexican" and "Chinese".
For more complex communication, the watch is equipped with a microphone so you can dictate your message. If even that is not enough, you can always reach for the phone. It will still be the main communication tool, and the Apple Watch certainly has no plans to replace it. Their job is to save your time.
As the testing of different watch concepts began, the team found that the key to creating a good watch was speed. Working with the watch must take 5, maximum 10 seconds. So many functions were simplified and those that would take too long to use were simply removed without mercy.
The software was redesigned twice from the ground up until it allowed work to be done quickly enough. The first concept of the notification system was that the watch displayed a timeline with notifications that were simply arranged chronologically. In the end, however, another idea prevailed.
The watch, which will hit Apple Store shelves on April 24, uses a feature called "Short Look." It looks like the user will feel a tap on his wrist, which means that he has received a message. When he turns his wrist towards his own eyes, he is shown a "Message from Joe" style message. If the user lowers the hand back to the body, the notification disappears and the message remains unread.
Conversely, when he raises his hand, the message is displayed. So you influence the behavior of the Watch simply by your natural behavior. There is no need to press, tap or slide your finger on the display. And that is precisely the speed and minimum distraction that they tried to achieve in Cupertino.
Another challenge the watch design team had to face was figuring out the right way for the watch to alert its wearer that something was going on. The Watch might be the fastest, but if it annoys users all day with persistent and annoying vibrations, the Watch could become the most personal device you've ever bought and quickly returned. The team started trying a variety of notification types, but ran into problems.
"Some were too annoying, some were too bland, and some felt like something broke on your wrist," admits Lynch. However, in time, a concept called "Taptic Engine" was born and won. This is a notification that evokes the sensation of being tapped on the wrist.
As our body is very sensitive to vibrations and similar stimuli, the Apple Watch is able to alert its user in several different ways and informs the user immediately what kind of notification it is. A sequence of multiple taps indicates that someone is calling you, and a slightly different sequence indicates that you have a scheduled meeting starting in 5 minutes.
At Apple, however, they spent a lot of time trying to come up with those series of feelings and sounds that will directly evoke the given event in you. The engineers tried to make it immediately clear to you that the watch is alerting you to a tweet, even if it is the very first time you are alerted to it.
Of course, the various clicks weren't the only manifestation of attention to detail. At Apple, they had to figure out how to comfortably work with the content of such a tiny display. So the digital crown and the so-called Force Touch came into the world, i.e. the ability to press the display harder to display, for example, hidden menus.
In addition, a completely new type of font called "San Francisco" was designed, which is created directly for the small display of the watch and guarantees better readability than, for example, the standard Helvetica, the use of which is simply different. “The letters are more square, but with elegantly rounded corners,” explains Dye. "We just thought it was more beautiful that way."
The watch as a turning point in Apple's journey
The Apple Watch is a completely different product than Apple has been used to designing. It is not just a technological gadget and a toy with a clear purpose. Watches are, and always will be, also a fashion accessory and a sign of individuality. So Apple could not choose the same strategy as it chooses for other products. He had to give users a choice.
That is why 3 editions and a whole range of different modifications of the watch were created, even in different price ranges. The $349 watch does exactly the same as its $17 luxury gold counterpart. But they are completely different products and for different kinds of people.
The watch is designed directly for the human body and also for the wrist, which is visible. That's why people care about how a watch looks. In order to please Apple, they had to come up with watches of different sizes, with different bands of all kinds, and with a huge number of different digital watch faces. It had to cover the needs of people with different lifestyles, tastes, and last but not least, budgets. "We didn't want to have three variants of watches, we wanted to have millions of them. And through hardware and software, we were able to do that," Lynch explains.
At the end of the interview, Kevin Lynch talks about how the Apple Watch changed his life. Thanks to them, he can spend more time undisturbed with his children. He can immediately see on his watch if something important and urgent is happening, and he does not have to constantly look at his phone. Apple has enriched and facilitated our lives in many ways with its technologies. However, the iPhone and other devices have also taken away a lot from us. Now Apple is trying to fix the situation, again in the way that is closest to it - through technology.
nice article :)
agreement:-)
Please correct the typo in the title.
Klic's men - according to the model of young women (that is, young men).
Well, that last paragraph is pretty stupid. So I play with the children, I immediately see that something comes to mind and if it is urgent, I immediately leave the children alone and go do something else. I don't understand why he claims to be playing undisturbed. Personally, I'd rather take off the Apple Watch and put the iPhone in another room if I wanted to play undisturbed.
In the application for Watch, it will be possible to set which notifications will go to my wrist - so I will be able to play with my children and not be bothered by regular notifications, such as emails and so on. (because they will stay in the iPhone in the other room), and at the same time I will be calm, that if something important happens, I will know it without constantly checking the phone display (if I didn't miss a beep).
Just my view on the matter. This is how I imagine it.
You have to take it to mean that the person is under constant stress from his work duties, even when he is playing with the children. Thanks to the fact that he can immediately see on his watch (and he doesn't have to take out his phone) that nothing urgent is happening, he can play with the children in peace.
I don't fit into Apple at all, a completely ugly nerd as if he dropped out of Microsoft. apple needs fesacikov like federighi... tim kuk would agree with me.
I still don't know why it's good. You can't swim with it, it's not good enough for fitness. I don't want a notification display for an iPhone for 400 euros. And somehow I don't feel like sending smileys and hearts to someone.
well, if you don't have a heart, this is for people who like each other... but this term doesn't tell you anything
"this is for people who like each other"
:D
I really don't need a 400 euro Apple watch to show someone my love :-)
It is cheaper to send this in an email or SMS: <3
and then meet him
Super readable and interesting article. thanks for every one like this :)
Thanks to everyone, every compliment is appreciated. :)
Rather, I think that a few "smart" heads got together and thought about how to milk the iSheep again. What could someone shelling out a fortune for an iPhone buy? And it would be good if a lot of people bought it. For example, the watch. Although you can place the iPhone two meters away from each other, you still have to pack another charger for the watch. Yes, I can really see those hyper successful people playing carefree with their children thanks to the iWatch. Thanks to this great watch, which Timeček can't live without and doesn't understand how he lived without it until now, you can plan your precious time up to the last second. And children? You can play with them carefree.
Nice article. Whoever does not have an iWatch will be out :-) I will be out. for now :-)
Well, smart watches have their future, so far I see the biggest use in sports - especially running, I myself use a Garmin with GPS, Apple can't compete there yet, because to have a correctly recorded route you need a GPS or a phone, so actually you can only run with an iPhone . Measuring the route run using a hand-held accelerometer is not one of the most accurate, as each person has different hand movements when running.
In order to find out if someone has called or texted me, all I need is a mobile phone with a notification diode, or a phone with Amoled and an application that shows me an envelope on the display - very low consumption, because only the icon lights up on the display. In today's sizes, no one has a phone in their pocket all day anyway, and if they do, then vibration or ringing is enough. In order for the watch to show you if someone called, you still need to have your phone nearby. And reaching for the phone and answering the message will probably be faster than scrolling the correct answer with a wheel. Well, I'll let myself be surprised...
Instead of people going out into nature, leaving the phone at home and enjoying the undisturbed freedom without a phone, they will still buy an overpriced wristband, which is just a smaller phone for the hand. People, wake up! For that money, it's better to go somewhere amazing and get to know something, real experiences and not wait for a notification to arrive.
And has someone already solved it, what will they be for? I still don't see the only point of them anywhere... regardless if they are Apple or any other smart watch.
Personally, I would see the benefit if I really didn't have to carry my phone with me. So it would need a watch with GPS and, above all, the ability to make a call in an emergency. When I go for a run or a bike ride, I usually don't take calls anyway, and I don't even respond to SMS or emails. Previously, when the iP was 3,5 inches, it was quite compact, but where do you want to take the iP6 Plus or, like me, the Note 3? In the summer, one is just afraid to leave those things on the boat without supervision. With a watch on my hand, where I can make calls, text messages and, ideally, pay, if necessary, I could only go to the swimming pool with them. Or maybe to the cinema in the evening. But the Apple Watch doesn't allow that yet. I'm eyeing the Samsung Gear S. It seems prettier and certainly more functional. And there you really don't have to pick up the phone anymore. I'll see.