Analysis of tasks of the Russian Design Cup 2013. The task of smart watches

    In anticipation of the Russian Design Cup 2014, we offer to recall and analyze the tasks and solutions of last year’s championship. In particular, we will talk about the most interesting works and their authors.

    The strength of Habr is that his community consists of many different specialists: designers and layout designers, front-end and backend programmers. We invite you to discuss the best solutions to problems with RDC participants. Designers will talk about their findings and how they came to them, about the difficulties they faced. We will go through the three most interesting problems of the Cup, and today we will begin with the problem of the clock.

    “Large companies introduced new devices, the so-called smart watches. They interact with smartphones via Bluetooth LE. It is also known that many buyers are already returning them without finding any use for them. Imagine the concept of the application of any social network for such a watch so that people do not want to return it. What features and capabilities will you put on your watch? Ok, about notifications of new messages, we already know. ”

    1. Ayrat Gafiyatullin , top 10 participants.



    Full version of the solution

    It was a simple task. Given that I am quite skeptical about using a watch for anything else besides showing time, it was not difficult to discard inappropriate services and social networks. Vkontaktiki and facebook immediately flew into the furnace, there was an idea about Instagram, but I imagined how stupid it would be to build a frame while looking at the clock, and abandoned this idea, although I saw that some guys really believe in it. He stopped at Foursquare checks, as on the simplest and most suitable watch functionality. In the appendage did Badu, to demonstrate to others "state of mind." If I performed the task now, I would have thrown out the second solution about Badu and left only Foursquare. The main thing that I wanted to lay in the application was simplicity, adequacy and feasibility.

    From the work of competitors likeddecision of Julia Matyunina .


    2. Alexey Antonov, 2nd place



    Full version of the solution

    First of all, the idea was based on the restrictions imposed by the device and taking into account the functionality of the selected social network, to provide users with an easy way to perform actions for which smart watches are suitable: write comments - no, but post photos - please; viewing a tape with text and photos is not very convenient on such a screen, and making calls inside OK or changing music is easy.

    The second idea was to add features using the device’s unique capabilities and form factor, which, at the same time, might interest some of the audience of the social network (for the most part, they justify the feasibility of a perfect purchase in the eyes of the owners of smart watches of the first generation). Here the calculation was for geeks, who will make up a significant part of the application’s audience.

    An important condition is a sufficient number of devices from users of the selected social network so that the development of the application is justified. With its help, it would be possible to occupy the niche of a progressive brand promoting technological innovations, study the audience of the application, analyze user behavior in order to properly plan development for smart watches of applications for other projects of the company (maintain a knowledge base and share them in thematic articles on Habré) . An important factor is the receipt of another screen on which the user sees a recognizable brand (and on which there would be no competitor applications at that time). The application would solve the tasks of the user of the social network and help in achieving his personal goals - all in accordance with the terms of the competition task and, at the same time, solve my problems in the framework of the competition.

    If I did now, I would try another idea: the application for Instagram, the killer feature of which would be a kaleidoscope mode - shook the clock, received a new image from pieces of what the camera saw. I would add the ability to select ready-made kaleidoscope effects and the ability to post it all in one tap: launched, shook, “taped” - everything was saved and published (application settings are transferred to the smartphone). Swipe down to exit the application without publishing.

    Of the competitors, I want to mention Sergey Kiselev , he got a thoughtful and complete concept.


    3. Alexander Kotov , mrkotov , top 10 participants.



    Full version of the solution

    I tried to think as close to reality as possible, I was guided by the existing watch models. He refused the idea to create a new social network right away, the watch simply does not have unique functions that could lie in its foundation and attract a sufficient number of users. Therefore, I chose the network with which I am best acquainted - Vkontakte, and tried to come up with scripts that would be convenient to execute using the watch application. The problem turned out to be few of them, some included in my decision with a stretch. Viewing notifications, for example, will be an unpopular function, because you still have to answer from your computer or phone. Notifications on the phone and so annoying when you're near the computer, and then the clock will vibrate.

    Most of all I liked the feature with remote control of the camera descent, to photograph myself from the side and take group pictures, it is really convenient and in demand. As well as managing audio recordings: flipping tracks from a watch while running or cycling, for example, is more convenient than from a phone.

    If I were solving the problem now, I would make an addition to my friends through a touch of two hours, Olga Konovalova really liked this idea. I also liked the “Passport” function , thanks to which the owners of establishments see who comes to them. A very competent use of NFC in the first case and Bluetooth LE in the second. And Alexander Pavlov has a cool HIGH5 in terms of branding and advertising.


    4. Sergey Kiselev, top 10 participants



    Full version of the solution

    The first thing that had to be done was to study the market of smart watches, sort through existing models, understand the principle of work and evaluate the usefulness in everyday life. After that, it became clear that in most cases this gadget does not bring anything to life, it only copies (does not even supplement) a smartphone, which is most likely at your fingertips. And we had to arouse the interest of the user and show that the gadget could be useful, so the favorite was chosen (at that time), which stood out from the rest thanks to the built-in camera.

    If I decided now, I would try to find application for the application on a smart watch without a camera (remote control, for example).

    I liked the idea about mining bitcoins.at Ivan Korzun. Obviously, it is unlikely that the application would be implemented, but the gamification process itself (complete the task - get a coin) could be adapted to something useful.


    Anton Tyulenev, 1st place



    Full version of the solution

    First of all, I wanted to simplify the interaction of a person with a gadget as much as possible. A watch is mobility, movement. He glanced briefly, read the information and ran on. All that requires thoughtful interaction and attention is on the phone, there is more screen, more options.

    Therefore, I wanted something simple and familiar, but slightly forgotten. For example, a compass. I chose the direction, checked the arrow and go. Well, I wanted to help doubting guys to take the burden of responsibility from their shoulders. He trusted the occasion, pressed only one button and the watch leads you to a dream. A light breath of chaos in a measured life will not hurt anyone. The basis of my decision was the simplicity and straightforwardness of the script. Clicked-came-check in, it is impossible to make mistakes or get confused.

    In my opinion, the best of what other participants didSergey Kiselev and Olga Konovalova .


    Next week, we will continue to “plunge into the brains” of the best designers of the contest and analyze another task. And what do you think, which of the participants coped better with the solution of the proposed problem and why?

    PS Now we are actively working on the organization of the RDC 2014 contest. We have already decided on the prizes - they will be much more interesting than last year. What is the new cylindrical Mac Pro worth? Together with the contest participants and the jury, we also compiled a list of the best design books that we want to give to those who will pass into the second round of this year. We also plan to make this year a completely enchanting offline final and much more, which you can learn about from our twitter .

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