Previously called Android Wear, Wear OS is a smart watch platform from Google that serves watches of multiple shapes, sizes, and use cases. Among its top features at the time I worked on the platform were actionable notifications, fitness tracking, and messaging.
As a senior interaction designer on the Wear OS UX team, I worked on several projects. I led UX for Wear OS support for users of iOS devices, when previously the watch had only worked when paired to an Android device. I designed and oversaw multiple iterations of the setup flow and companion app experience from releases 1.1 through 2.0. I established principles and techniques for on-watch onboarding and user education for features such as wrist gestures enabling one-handed use.
I also led the design of features that enabled watches to be standalone from a phone by designing the flows, patterns, and guidelines for on-watch permissions and authentication. Each of these projects involved collaborating with visual and motion designers, engineers, product managers, developer relations teams, and the larger Android system team.
Summary of my activities
- Interaction design
- Mentorship
- Prototyping
- Project management
- Guideline publication
- Strategic design planning