Insight
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch is a leading smartwatch in a thriving category where small screen interfaces and the development of increased functionality have resulted in a complex user experience.
However, the Galaxy Watch 4 marks an opportunity to introduce an all-new experience full of life that people not only enjoy wearing but can’t live without every day.
Idea
Spanning five weeks, the combination of rapid concepting and daily collaboration with Samsung’s product design team in Seoul resulted in 10 user interface (UI) concepts.
The final visual direction, named Spacial, combines a 2D interface with 3D animation and strikes the balance of being simple and tactile while clearly looking like a Samsung product. It measures heart rate, body composition, and stress level and is paired with ever-changing personal animations.
A rethink of the core navigation and hierarchy means people can now glide through the smartwatch experience in a more streamlined manner, ticking off everyday tasks with ease.
There are also nine unique watch faces to compliment the playful interface concept, which are beautifully crafted for the 40mm display. The customised dials include illustrated Chinese zodiac animals, 3D rendered abstract art and a meditation timer.
"We did not just work with AKQA. We were one team trying to reimagine a smartwatch user experience and ways to enrich wearers’ lives. We’ve discovered many seeds of inspiration, and I’m confident we will see more fruits from our discovery in the future."
Yongkie Park, Design at Samsung
Impact
Samsung Galaxy’s connected design system allows the product team to iterate and build upon these concepts as they inspire the final product experience.
Glanceable information and text size are designed to maximise clarity, the circular grid creates consistency across a wide variety of layouts and the vibrant colours are fine-tuned with the native saturation and luminosity of the watch display in mind. To add to this, influences of the concept are experienced throughout the entire OneUI watch interface to ensure it brings joy to customers’ wrists and feels truly Samsung.
