This is not a watch. Reframing the design of wrist-worn devices

Various types of wrist-worn devices are increasingly introduced as consumer products in our daily life. However, most of these devices are framed as a watch regardless of their different purposes and contexts of use. This paper reflects on the design of current wrist-worn devices and reframes their meanings with an aim to inform and inspire further design explorations. We conducted a trend survey by reviewing articles about consumer wearable design and technology from popular online press and student design explorations. The insights from the trend survey and the design explorations are synthesized to identify gaps and overlaps between wearable design in the wild and in a design studio context. Based on the insights from both approaches, we propose varied meanings of wrist-worn devices in relation to corresponding formal and technological components. The meanings include 1) tracker for making sense of personal behaviors and situations, 2) controller for streamlining interactions across connected devices with unique affordance and style, 3) notification manager for prompting follow-up actions with minimal distraction, and 4) statement for lifestyle changes and goal achievement. Based on the proposed framework, further design and research implications are discussed toward connected and mediated human experience with augmented digital systems