Defining User Experience Principles for Developing Health and Fitness Wearables and Smartwatches

Abstract

This thesis explores the use of health and fitness wearables and smartwatches from the user perspective in order to define the user experience principles for the design and development of health and fitness wearables and smartwatches. And benefits from wearables that continuously and unobtrusively monitor health of the user and guide the user towards healthier habits, in the face of social, physical and emotional challenges of life. The proposed user experience principles assist the designers and developers to better understand user needs.

The study is conducted using the case study research approach, along six steps, from setting the objective to the evaluation of the outcome. The study evaluated the user experience when using several different brands and models of wearables and collecting qualitative data that is instrumental in the generalization of the user experience principles. Publicly available in-depth reviews, surveys and research offered important building blocks in the formulation of user experience principles. Some of the user-designers and user-developers were part of the co-creation sessions to formulate and validate the user experience principles.

The outcome of this study is five formulated user experience principles for development of health and fitness wearables and smartwatches. These principles are formulated to help the design and development teams to better meet the user needs and expectations. The next step is to apply these principles to the real-life design and development of health and fitness wearables and smartwatches, especially regarding the user experience when interacting with the wearable. It is significant since sustainable long-term engagement brings value to the whole community.