Wearable product ID and app UX for safer family communication
Australian based Spacetalk enjoyed success with the launch of their first kids wearable smartphone, and had plans to develop their product range and grow the business internationally.
What started as the design of a next-generation wearable became a partnership covering a new series of products, UX and UI development of the watch interface and the app.
We are now actively engaged with Spacetalk supporting them with design strategy and design to extend their global reach and expand their portfolio.
Services
- Product Design
- Design Strategy
- UX, UI and App Design
- Colour, Material and Finish
- Design for Manufacture
Learning
Safety is at the heart of Spacetalk’s smartphones; giving family members peace of mind with location tracking, SOS, and instant messaging to pre-approved contacts. For their first product, they had developed a purpose-built kids smartwatch supported by a simple app for parental control management and location tracking.
Their first generation watch and app was well received in the market and hit a sweet spot with kids aged 6-8. Our challenge with the Adventurer watch was to create a truly desirable and engaging product that would work well and appeal to both parents and children aged 5-12. It needed to be fun, fashionable and technologically advanced, while still safe and secure.
Leaping
We set the context of the design challenge through a series of calls where we discussed technical requirements, competitors and presented a wide range of initial concept directions. The design needed to be aesthetically pleasing and engaging, at the same time as being robust and easy to use.
Our holistic approach ensured that every dimension of the product and app experience were developed to be on-brand, design-led and visually and functionally integrated.
Multiple concepts of the watches’ form, method of strap attachment and material selection were generated, with a landscape-oriented screen being adopted for optimal viewing of content.
Graphic icons for the watch UI and app, that are stylistically right for parents and kids were created, and the whole user experience was designed to enhance and extend its functionality and improve usability.
Landing
Spacetalk Adventurer was designed from the ground up. The overall product form, user experience and design language give strong differentiation in a crowded market. The distinctive ‘wink’ of the watch face design, which disguises the camera and speaker grille, has become a signature element of their design DNA.
The completely new app is fun and family orientated, offering engaging content and secure features. Designed in collaboration with our UX designers and Spacetalk’s development team, the end result makes connections “richer” and the use of the app “stickier”.
A host of new features were incorporated into the design; including improved parental controls, SOS feature, chat and instant messaging, rewards and goals setting, fitness and activity, and location tracking.
Launched to market in 2020, Adventurer is now being sold in the UK in partnership with O2, and we are now underway developing Spacetalk’s next generation of smartwatches for both seniors and kids.
Awards
Adventurer was designed and developed from the ground up by a cross-disciplinary design team from Australia and the UK with leading industrial design team, Tangerine Design, directing the product design from their offices in the UK. The device is a huge advancement for the kids connected wearables category, building on what we have learned from the phenomenal success of our original Spacetalk Kids connected smartwatch, and incorporating major industrial design, hardware and software engineering breakthroughs and enhancements into a high-quality device.
Mark Fortunatow, CEO at Spacetalk Ltd
