TICK TOCK

Changing Designs of Timekeeping Devices

Clocks are one of the most common devices around us and yet we fail to notice the gradual shift in them. Apart from design there has also been a shift in their notion from a timekeeping device to a device which people boast about. Also there is a bit of marketing involved in which manufacturers tell people to wear a particular type of watch with a particular outfit which results in coming up with different designs.

Devices from early days

• Shadow clock:- This clock estimated time using the shadow cast by the sun. This design had several constraints major one being that it could not be used at night. Also it lacked affordance as it was not intuitive to use it to estimate time. It’s complex design resulted in coming up of new designs.
• Candle clock:- This clock made use of candles to tell time and thus could be used at any time of the day. Also it had a feedback mechanism to tell when to refill it. Issues with it were that it was bulky and thus not portable.
• Water clock:- This clock, though bulky and not portable introduced concept of multi utility in clocks where users could use it to set alarms. It’s complex design made it lack affordance.
• Hourglass:- This design acted as a breakthrough in the early days. It was based on the concept of clean complexity. It was very intuitive to use it and thus was a design with high affordance. It’s small and compact design made it possible to transfer it from one place to another easily ensuring portability. Besides the improvements in designs, it was accurate to a great extent

Now in order to keep track of time more accurately, wall clocks were invented. These were highly accurate but lacked portability where as hourglass was highly portable but lacked accuracy. This led to the invention of pocket watch which were both accurate and portable.

Soldiers during world war 2 came up with the idea of wrist watches. While practicing they noticed that it took sufficient time to take out the pocket watch from their pockets and check time which could be fatal in war scenario. Thus they came up with the idea of wrist watch which could be worn on the wrist and thus saved their time that was wasted by the pocket watch. This is one of the many cases where a change in design was completely driven by the constraints of previous designs with technology playing no role in the shift of design.

Advent of smart watch

Due to the advancement in technology, the lifestyle of people changed and they wanted their day-to-day devices to provide more functionalities. They wanted to replace multiple devices with a single device which could perform all their functions. By doing so the product should still be easy to use. Thus multi-utility along with simplicity with complexity led to the invention of many products that we see today and smart watch is one of them.

Some of the design principles followed in smart watches are:

• Feedback:- These watches are equipped with different features which can provide feedback in the form of sound for notifications, vibration for calls etc.
• Constraints:- Basically what smartwatches have done is that they have redefined what a watch can do and thus removed the constraint that a watch can be used only for timekeeping purposes
• Consistency:- Smartwatches provide consistent navigation across all the applications which allow users to use them easily.

A smart watch provides various utilities including notification system, social-network, long battery etc. Equipped with all these featured one might think that smartwatches cannot be improved upon. But now also smartwatches face some challenges. Some of these are:-

• Visibility:- Due to small interface, most of the features are hidden and need to be explored.
• Affordance:- They lack affordance due to their multi utility and complexity.
• Short life:- Smart watch is a technology driven product and its design keeps on changing as the technology advances. As technology will progress, soon the watch will be outdated and users will need to upgrade to the latest version.
• Dependency with smartphones:- Though it removes some of the constraints, it also adds a constraint that we need to carry a smartphone along with it. As of today, there is clearly no smartwatch out there which works all by itself.

Personalisation

One of the aspects of HCI is how humans interact with various objects around them and since every person is different, he/she will interact with an object in a different way from another person. That’s where personalisation becomes important and that’s why it has been a top priority for many manufacturers. Besides it is a psychologically proven fact that users prefer customisation as it gives them a feeling of control and power. Thus customers are ready to pay high amounts to get customised products which motivates the manufacturers to focus more on customised products.

Personalisation in watches can be done in two ways:-

• First is that manufacturers allow us to customise the whole watch. Companies like FOSSIL provide interface on their websites where users can chose dial, strap etc and create their own watch.
• Secondly some may create watches that have customisable parts. These customised parts can be purchased from most of the stores including online shopping sites like flipkart. Also many manufacturers have started coming up with a design that allows users to interchange between pocket watch and wrist watch through a detachable chain and strap.

Usability

It is the flexibility with which we can use a product in different environments. Different watches offer different usability depending upon the conditions in which they are worn. Based on usability we have two types of watches:-

• General-purpose:- These are normal casual watches that we wear and can be used in all general locations.
• Specialised:- These are the ones which are designed for a particular activity. For example for diving we may want a watch which is waterproof and emits light so that it can be used deep under the sea to see time.

Marketing

Watches are marketed as an item which compliments peoples outfit and the formality of a particular occasion. So basically manufacturers tell people to wear a particular type of watch with a particular outfit. This allows manufacturers to increase their profit and seeing positive response from the people many manufacturers came up with different designs for different occasions. This is also the reason that led to the origin of luxury watch brands like Cartier and Hublot. Also this is one of the major factors that resulted in the shift of perception of watches from a timekeeping device to a thing to boast about. We can see many celebrities on social media flaunting their expensive watches as it determines their personality and is a major indicator of their personality.

CONCLUSION

One might think that development of any product is affected only by technological advancements. But through this one can see that design principles also play a major role. Apart from this, factors like personalisation also have a huge impact on watch designs. Marketing led to luxury watch brands and changed perception of watch from timekeeping device to a thing to boast about.