I recently had the opportunity to interview Jeremy Ashley (@jrwashley), VP of Applications User Experience (UX) at Oracle. He has over 18 years of experience in UX, and he is passionate about technology and always looking for new ways to improve people’s lives. When it comes to wearables, he owns Galaxy Gear, Pebble Smartwatch, Google Glass, Fitbit, and Jawbone Up. He shared his experience with the wearables and insights on what goes into providing a good user experience for such devices.
Jeremy Ashley (left), VP of Applications User Experience at Oracle, talks to Ultan O’Broin (@ultan), Director of Applications User Experience at Oracle. Photo by Misha Vaughan, Applications User Experience at Oracle.
Jeremy’s Own Wearables Experiences
According to Jeremy, "wearables allow us to interact in a very casual way." He said he likes how Pebble, Google Glass, and Galaxy Gear let him quickly glance at notifications to decide whether or not he needs to respond immediately.
To draw a contrast, Jeremy first took his phone out of his pocket. It took him a few seconds of shuffling in his chair and struggling to reach into his pocket to pull out the phone before he was able to look at it. With his Pebble, he was able to glance down at a new notification in just a second. And he was able to do it without drawing attention as he quickly glanced downward at his wrist.
Jeremy prefers his Pebble because it allows him to see important notifications in a more subtle way than Google Glass and also has longer battery life than Galaxy Gear.
Google Glass is his next favorite wearable. While showing me a lovely photo of his daughter smiling naturally that he had taken with Google Glass, he said, “I cannot get a shot from this angle with a traditional camera.” In addition to the the camera and video on Glass, Jeremy said he also values the ability to access Google search hands free. As an example, he pointed to a situation where he wanted to access information on the internet while working on a home project but his hands were covered with grease.
As downsides of using Google Glass, he mentioned the need to maintain a link between his phone and his Google Glass and to charge Google Glass every three hours. He also got a fashionable pair of prescription lenses made for it, but Google Glass came with a bulky case that takes up a lot of space in his bag. Overall, Jeremy said the effort spent on the upkeep of Google Glass currently negated its value for him as a device he could use all the time.
Designing User Experiences for Wearables
Based on his industry expertise and experience with wearables currently on the market, Jeremy shared some insights on what it takes to design a good wearable device product experience.
1. The utility of a device has to outweigh the effort of using and maintaining it
“Like any other device, a wearable needs regular maintenance,” Jeremy said. “For example, if people want to buy a Pebble, they are committing to charging it, and updating the software, apps, and the phone.” He said that the benefits the device provided had to outweigh the costs of the upkeep for it to be useful. In Jeremy’s case, he feels that the time and effort involved in charging Google Glass and maintaining the data connection with his phone were not compensated for by the benefits that the device provided him.
2. Keep social implications and context in mind
Jeremy provided an example from his personal experience of how wearing Google Glass in public affected others’ perceptions of what he was doing:
Jeremy Ashley (left), VP of Applications User Experience at Oracle, talks to Ultan O’Broin (@ultan), Director of Applications User Experience at Oracle. Photo by Misha Vaughan, Applications User Experience at Oracle.
Jeremy’s Own Wearables Experiences
According to Jeremy, "wearables allow us to interact in a very casual way." He said he likes how Pebble, Google Glass, and Galaxy Gear let him quickly glance at notifications to decide whether or not he needs to respond immediately.
To draw a contrast, Jeremy first took his phone out of his pocket. It took him a few seconds of shuffling in his chair and struggling to reach into his pocket to pull out the phone before he was able to look at it. With his Pebble, he was able to glance down at a new notification in just a second. And he was able to do it without drawing attention as he quickly glanced downward at his wrist.
Jeremy prefers his Pebble because it allows him to see important notifications in a more subtle way than Google Glass and also has longer battery life than Galaxy Gear.
Google Glass is his next favorite wearable. While showing me a lovely photo of his daughter smiling naturally that he had taken with Google Glass, he said, “I cannot get a shot from this angle with a traditional camera.” In addition to the the camera and video on Glass, Jeremy said he also values the ability to access Google search hands free. As an example, he pointed to a situation where he wanted to access information on the internet while working on a home project but his hands were covered with grease.
As downsides of using Google Glass, he mentioned the need to maintain a link between his phone and his Google Glass and to charge Google Glass every three hours. He also got a fashionable pair of prescription lenses made for it, but Google Glass came with a bulky case that takes up a lot of space in his bag. Overall, Jeremy said the effort spent on the upkeep of Google Glass currently negated its value for him as a device he could use all the time.
Designing User Experiences for Wearables
Based on his industry expertise and experience with wearables currently on the market, Jeremy shared some insights on what it takes to design a good wearable device product experience.
1. The utility of a device has to outweigh the effort of using and maintaining it
“Like any other device, a wearable needs regular maintenance,” Jeremy said. “For example, if people want to buy a Pebble, they are committing to charging it, and updating the software, apps, and the phone.” He said that the benefits the device provided had to outweigh the costs of the upkeep for it to be useful. In Jeremy’s case, he feels that the time and effort involved in charging Google Glass and maintaining the data connection with his phone were not compensated for by the benefits that the device provided him.
2. Keep social implications and context in mind
Jeremy provided an example from his personal experience of how wearing Google Glass in public affected others’ perceptions of what he was doing:
“I wore Google Glass to a conference last year. In the elevator, people started asking me what kind of things I could do with it. I noticed that a guy next to me was wearing a nametag indicating he worked for an insurance company. So I used his work as a use case. I said if he had a Google Glass, he could take photos of accidents to file with the claims when visiting his clients. His face became serious as he asked me ‘How can you tell I work in insurance?’ He thought Glass had pulled out some hidden information about him just by looking at him.”Jeremy also gave me an example of the importance of social context in using wearables:
“I wear Google Glass around my coworkers, including when I socialize because it is accepted in my circle. However, when the social context changes, users are expected to behave in a certain way. I don’t wear Google Glass during private meetings even with another Google Glass user, especially so in meetings such as appraisals where a high level of privacy is involved.“From a design standpoint, Jeremy said it is also important to understand cultural implications because the social context can vary in different cultures. 3. Know people’s preferences and physical limitations According to Jeremy, wearables need to be designed to fit in naturally with our behaviors and our physical limitations. For example, despite all the different tablet sizes that have been tried, only 7 inch to 11 inch screens are now common since users found them to be the most usable. 4. Wearables don’t need to do everything “We seem to be forced into a culture where one device has to do everything,” Jeremy said, “but in reality, we use multiple devices throughout a day to be productive.” He told me that he uses a Livescribe pen, iPad, iPhone, computer and other devices throughout his day, and he uses a cloud documentation service and email to collectively keep track of all his work. The Pebble is also now in his work routine to provide notifications in a discreet way. His point was that a wearable can find a place in our lives if it can fill a need and work in tandem with other devices. Wearables in the Enterprise Space Jeremy said wearables are useful not only in the consumer space but also in the enterprise space and industrial settings. He provided an example of how Google Glass can help a user be effective in some job situations because of the way it is designed, allowing the user to work hands-free and to collaborate remotely with others:
“Consider a Google Glass use case for engineers who repair aircraft. With Google Glass, they can access manuals hands-free. They typically go in with a big manual and clipboard. They could substitute these with an iPad but their hands are not free either way, and it may be hard to find a place to put the iPad down while working. Also it is difficult to climb up and down ladders while holding things. With Glass, both these difficulties disappear. “Another scenario is two engineers working collaboratively. One engineer could be working in the engine area and another checking the specs and keeping an eye on the accuracy from a remote location.”Jeremy pointed to today’s fragmented device ecosystem as one challenge to wearables in the enterprise space. He said that more and more companies are building their devices on top of different or forked operating systems and as an enterprise customer it is a challenge to find products that are supported across platforms. For example, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and Google are all trying to build out their ecosystems. If you have a Samsung Galaxy Gear then you have to get their smartphones to pair it with. Apple devices play well with each other but not with Windows or Android devices. He concluded, “Unless there is an industry standard, which device do you choose to use and support?” Conclusion Jeremy showed me that many of the same user experience principles that apply to mobile and desktop design also apply to wearables, but wearables also need to be designed with their unique social implications in mind. Another important insight from him was that the benefits of using a wearable should outweigh the effort of maintaining it. Talking to Jeremy convinced me that wearables are here to stay and will only get better at enriching lives for consumers and enterprises alike. For More Information For more information on Oracle’s work in wearables check out Will You Be Wearing Your Enterprise Application Data? and Learning to Build a Wearables User Experience from Mickey Mouse For more information on EchoUser’s user experience research and design, visit EchoUser.com