Developing the interaction of a health monitoring wearable

Abstract

The existing wearable was developed at Sony and is part of a product system referred to as mSafety. With its built-in sensors and connectivity it is used to monitor and inform of the users’ well-being. Fundamentally, the use cases are widespread and not limited, but those pre-defined are within the health-care domain, risky sport-activities, and hazardous work environments. For the second generation it was initially suggested the entire product system, including the service design, could be reconsidered. However, due to the time constraint, three major components stood in focus. The user interface, the layout of interactive mediums, and the hardware form. With the objective to develop an improved product in these three categories, the aim is to a greater extent meet the user and its expectations in functionality and accessibility. In the pre-study, the system and its users were clearly mapped, while the user interface, physical hardware, and functions were thoroughly disintegrated and analyzed. Eventually, a Specification of Product with demands and requirements similar to those of the previous generation was established. Accompanying the hard requirements, visual material was produced to provide the soft values in terms of experience and expression. Utilizing the knowledge collected throughout the bachelor study, complemented with literature studies, a range of methods were used to generate and evaluate new possible solutions. Throughout the generative phase, methods of divergence, in combination with feedback-sessions were iterated on. Possible users and experts were consulted, and theories were verified, while the usability of different concepts was determined. A final concept was compiled with development in hardware form and layout, and user interface. It is heavily backed by design arguments from literature, users studies, expert opinions and ISO-standards. The result fulfils the goal of providing an improved, and realistic, solution in terms of interaction, experience, and usability.