In early December 2023, I completed a mission that I’ve been working onThe way we control our technology is changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse. Geoff Meads looks at the best methods of control for end users. since 2014: I ran my 250th 5km Parkrun.

Now I am far from a keen runner, I can’t say I enjoy the actual running part. However, I do it for my health and I enjoy the rush of endorphins I get at the end. If I went back to 2014 and told myself that I would still be getting up early every Saturday to go running (often in the cold, rain, mud and even sleet) nine years later I would never have believed it. But here we are.

So, what has this got to do with technology and, more importantly, user experience? Well, as you might imagine, it wasn’t long after I started running that I, a registered tech geek, began to investigate running watches. While smart watch technology was in its infancy at the time, there were lots of specifications to drool over, styles to choose from and all manner of other considerations (that we tech fans love) when making a purchase. However, there was one big thing I forgot to consider before buying my first running/smart watch.

I am a humble human.

The human condition

As an industry, all too often we buy and sell on specification. How many watts, inputs, pixels, features etc. a device offers are key considerations. However, when it comes to a watch for running, there are a couple of special things to think about that aren’t obvious. Most of these don’t apply when you buy a ‘regular’ smart watch, they are specific considerations for sports users.

For starters, when we exercise, most of us will get sweaty. Not a nice thought I know but it’s true. Things change when we sweat, we get moist, wet even.

When you apply dry fingers to a capacitive touchscreen (like you might find on a phone, tablet or many smart watches) the change in the screens’ electrical characteristics (caused by the proximity of your finger’s conductivity) triggers a touch event. This is interpreted by the device which then acts on the event accordingly. When we sweat the conductive characteristics of our skin changes and the touch event trigger becomes vague and/or unpredictable.

When running, time is everything. I am not a hugely competitive person when it comes to sports, but I would like my watch to start and stop at the right time so the time it registers for my run is accurate. After all, if I put in the effort, I want the best time.

It’s easy to be precise with a button press but not so easy with a press on a touchscreen. In addition, a button gives immediate physical feedback without you having to look at the device. You can feel it click. Now some touchscreens offer a short vibration on registering a press, but this is not always the case and thus the feedback is not inspiring confidence.

Finally, when I’m sprinting to the finish line of the run (believe it or not sometimes I have the energy to sprint the last little bit…) I do not want to be scrolling through several screens to get to the ‘stop’ button of my watch. At this point of a run my energy levels are very low and it’s often all I can manage to get over the finish line. I need the simplest way possible to stop my watch.

Where I’ve been before

My first running watch was an ‘all sports’ GPS type. It was mid-2015, if memory serves, and I remember several things about it. Firstly, it was big, far too big for my wrist in fact. I had hoped to also use it as an everyday watch to count steps etc. but it looked all wrong. It was okay for running but too cumbersome for everyday use.

The second thing I remember is that it took a good five to ten minutes to grab on to a GPS signal when starting a run. This meant you had to think ahead and get it ready to go sometime before your run. Finally, the screen just wasn’t that bright. It was OK to read indoors but nearly unreadable in sunlight.

All that said, it had a couple of features which I really liked. It had proper buttons for start and stop which always worked perfectly. It also had decent battery life. Even if you did wear it every day, you could easily get five to seven days life on one charge, including a 5km run at the weekend where the power-hungry GPS was used.

A new, fruit-based diet

A couple of years later, I succumbed to temptation and bought an Apple Watch Series 2. I’m an iPhone and Mac user so it made complete sense to go with the Apple Watch as a replacement for my first ‘sports’ smart watch.

Of all the Apple products I’ve had, it was the only one I’ve been seriously disappointed with. Sure, it looked good, but as a ‘sports’ watch it was heavily flawed. The battery life was a real disappointment too. You had to charge it every day, regardless of what you were using it for. There are no start/stop buttons and you can’t configure the crown or side buttons to fill these functions either. At the end of a run, you had to side scroll on the screen then press stop. When you did, often the touchscreen wouldn’t work with sweaty fingers. Not great.

Now sorted

To celebrate my 250th run I’ve treated myself to a new smart watch. I looked again at the latest Apple watches but was disappointed to find out that neither the start/stop button issue or the battery life have been improved. They were then discounted as an option.

The watch I eventually chose, now with understanding of the true nature of what I really needed, is great! It’s a good size, looks great on, it has start and stop buttons that work perfectly for sports, the GPS is fast to lock on, the screen is nice and bright, and the battery lasts between one and two weeks between charges depending on activity. Finally, nine years later, I am a happy smart watch customer.

Conclusion

If my watch adventures prove anything it’s that a fancy feature set in the brochure sometimes leads you to the wrong purchase.

It’s often simple human factors that matter most in the real world. Is a device usable by the intended customer for the purpose it will be used for? That’s the question we all need to answer before designing and producing or buying something new.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what designing for user experience is all about.