Smartwatch-Centered Design and Development in Mobile Computing Classes Andrey Esakia Lindah Kotut Department of Computer Science Department of Computer Science Virginia Tech Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA Blacksburg, VA [email protected] [email protected] Abstract—In this Research-to-Practice paper, we describe our The unique smartwatches form factor, manifested in quickly approach to using smartwatches in a college level computer accessible small displays, offers a new dimension in terms of science class. Smartwatches are unique in the way they provide an the potential lessons that students can learn by designing and interface for interaction–similar to smart phones, while also lever- aging affordances inherent in wristwatches such as glanceability. developing around these capabilities. For example, research This hybrid nature is especially useful as a means for guiding in the domain of physical activity promotion has shown design scenarios in classroom instruction. We first considered dif- that users prefer a brief look at the provided feedback [3]: ferent application domains such as community physical activity the glanceable nature of smartwatches, much like the fitness and how they leveraged smart watches. From these domains, we trackers, can be used to accommodate such behaviors [4]. It is elicited general ground rules that inform our approach for using smart watches in a computer science course. We then synthesize notable that smartphones, despite being more ubiquitous than and describe five design guidelines that directed our approach smartwatches, are suitable for providing users with glanceable to teaching and evaluating students’ designs. We assessed and awareness through microinteractions (low interruption inter- evaluated these guidelines in a third-year level mobile computing actions in under 4 seconds) due to the interaction burden class where students were asked to consider them as part of a associated with the device form-factor [5], [6]. three-week design and development assignment. After concluding the assignment, the students were asked to complete a survey to When compared to fitness trackers, smartwatches feature capture their experience with the use of the design guidelines, and bigger screens, and thus are capable of providing more feed- to also provide general feedback on the suitability of these design back. This can be very helpful in group based physical activity goals. Throughout these exercises, we found the design guidelines promotion programs where users need to receive granular, to be especially useful in three ways: in providing small-screen group related feedback, for example: ‘‘You are third in the specific design and development experience, in affording practice and reinforcement of core mobile computing topics, and as a team”, in addition to the individual ones – for example: means to meaningfully contribute to socially relevant projects. “Number of steps you’ve taken today”. We contribute to the computing education corpus by detailing Smartwatches, while promising and potentially interesting the five design guidelines, how they can be used to lead higher- to students as a tool to learn mobile application design and level computer courses, and how they can be used as a lens in development, present a challenge to the educators that seek considering design approaches in general. Index Terms—Smartwatch; Mobile; Health and Wellness; to help students in designing meaningful smartwatch applica- Design tions. The present challenge is the lack of clarity on how to guide students in their application design efforts in a way that will ensure a focus on the unique form factor of smartwatches: I. INTRODUCTION the capability of presenting glanceable information using the A Smartwatch can be defined as “an electronic wristwatch small display. that is able to perform many of the functions of a smartphone To ford this gap, we leverage a combination of intensive or tablet computer” [1]. Smartwatches allow users to access a related work analysis, a review of current commercial solutions wide range of information at a glance, which has led to an in- for promoting wellness, and our own work in community creased user demand–as highlighted by a recent market report health promotion via smartwatches, to present five guidelines that showed that demand exceeded the market capitalization for smartwatch-centric design that focuses on leveraging the of fitness trackers [2]. glanceability of smartwatches. We detail our assessment of From the computer science education perspective, the main- the use of the guidelines in a three-week long, WearOS stream smartwatches (WearOS and WatchOS based platforms) smartwatch-focused module, which was a part of a junior level are very similar to the smartphone platforms (Android OS and mobile software development class. iOS correspondingly). They are derived from their smartphone The rest of this paper is organized as follows: we start counterparts in terms of the knowledge, skills and tools by presenting a background on mainstream smartwatches and required to develop software for, thus making them appealing outlining our motivation of this paper. We follow this with and easy to adopt from an educator’s perspective. an overview of research in related domains. We then describe how the guidelines were derived, and use the remainder of the the smartphone education should be one of the core mobile paper to describe the class module and the assessment of our computing class modules [12]. use of the guidelines. In terms of the benefits of small-screen focused design and development, it has been shown in the context of a II. BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION mobile computing class, that designing for varying screen Wrist watches have been in use since the late 19th cen- sizes present a valuable challenge for students requiring ad- tury by soldiers to coordinate time in warfare conditions ditional considerations–an important skill that is helpful for [7]. Smartwatches use the same form-factor, but offer fully developing Human-Computer Interaction competencies [13]. programmable watchfaces that convey information as non- For platforms like Pebble, the challenge of dealing with the interruptive updates [4]. Recent studies have shown that smart- small screen size is compounded by the need to deal with the watch users glance at the watchface several times per hour to monochrome screen which also requires additional processing mostly check time [4], [8]. During such glances, users are to display visualizations [11]. However, the Pebble has been likely to notice other feedback on the watchface [4]. This discontinued,1 and current smartwatches feature full color reveals the opportunity to be able to envision smartwatch displays which do not require such processing. designs that are able to frequently catch and satisfy a user’s Designing socially relevant projects in the computer science attention without the detrimental cost of interruption. education context that engage students in projects with real- Users are more likely to be annoyed by interruptions world applications have been shown to provide benefits beyond and would seek to get rid of the sources of interruption, a straightforward community support. Pauca et al. [14] argue unless these interruptions are considered critical [9]. Thus that such efforts can spawn real world projects attracting multi- smartwatches offer a unique ability to frequently provide a disciplinary stakeholders that ultimately collaborate towards means to catch users attention, without causing interruptions. large-scale versions of the initial projects. Van et al. [15] These means of providing updates is particularly valuable for further claim that by working on socially relevant projects, programs designed to inspire behavior change by providing students have the opportunity to demonstrate and apply com- continuous feedback as a means of influence. The latest petencies and externalize their own experiences and values. evolution of the mainstream smartwatch platforms recognize Murphy et al. [16] approach this from the development of a this capability, and accordingly tailor the user experience specific skill-set development, and argue that through working towards supporting brief glances. on real-world problems, students can develop a sense of From the computer science education perspective, it is self-efficacy with regards to collaborations and adherence to important to recognize the utility offered by smartwatches, and specific software engineering methodologies. prepare future designers and developers accordingly. In this paper, we argue that the use of smartwatches in the domain of IV. FIVE DESIGN GUIDELINES computer science education can be beneficial in three ways: (1) In this section, we present five design guidelines that are the smartwatch constraint in the form of small and (typically) aimed at helping current or future designers and developers round screens can help train students in user interface design to focus on the ergonomic advantages of smartwatch devices. and implementation of 2D graphics. (2) The smartwatch’s We support each guideline by scientific evidence. We focus similarity with smartphone development can be helpful in on interventions where small groups of socially connected both practicing and reinforcing the core mobile computing individuals track progress, compete and cooperate with each topics. Finally, (3) the glanceable nature of smartwatches can each other, with the ultimate goal of increasing physical be helpful in pursuing socially relevant initiatives where