A Complete Guide to Wearable Product Design and Development

Brief Note on Wearable Device Design 

With the rise in health concerns across the globe, the development of wearable products has seen an explosion in terms of adoption as well as production. Nowadays, consumers are keen to continuously monitor their health-related statistics such as blood pressure, heart rate, circadian activity, steps taken, and much more, which has led to this surge in the manufacturing of such products. Commonly used wearable technology design usually features intuitive liquid crystal displays, high-quality sound, seamless user experience, advanced motion-tracking sensors, precise and swift movement and other parameter tracking, adjustable tracking systems, regular checks related to weight and center of mass, wireless connectivity components, low-power electronics, and compact batteries, all included within an elegant design. 

As of 2024, the global market value for wearable technology was reported to be US $84.2 billion, which is forecasted to reach US $186.14 billion by 2030, surging at a CAGR of 13.6% during this timeframe. Wearable products and other medical technology solutions may be subjected to adverse environmental conditions, and thus it becomes necessary to design and develop reliable products in a way that affects them minimally through apt resistance to moisture, impact, dust, and vibration, while keeping in check regulatory standards for safe intended use, especially in the case of medical wearables. This blog will equip you with important insights around medical device design services, fitness trackers, smartwatch applications, wearable tech stack, etc., which may prove useful in the creation of impactful products in this dynamic landscape. 

Source: Grand View Research 

Growing market size of wearable product design and development during forecast period 2018 to 2030 

Understanding Wearable Tech Design 

Wearable technology mainly refers to smart devices that can be worn on the body and used to track data, provide convenient access to information on smartphones, download from or upload data to the cloud, and perform other functionalities through embedded engineering. With time, advancements in IoT connectivity have surged and expanded beyond common fitness trackers and watches. Given below are the types, unique characteristics, and user benefits of these wearable devices that showcase basic as well as distinct functionalities that may also impact the design and development process. 

Types of Wearables 

Fitness Trackers

These trackers seamlessly monitor fitness parameters for fitness enthusiasts, such as heart and breathing rate, blood pressure, sleep patterns, SpO2, physical activities like steps taken or miles completed, calculation of calories taken or burnt, etc. A few examples include Fitbit Charge, Xiaomi Mi Band, Garmin Vivo smart, etc. 

Smartwatches

These multifunctional wearables can be used to track and alert regarding various health metrics like cardiovascular activity, calories, peripheral oxygen saturation, etc., and connect with smartphones to run certain applications such as calls, emails, messages, echocardiography, electrocardiography application functions, etc. Certain examples include Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, Fitbit, and others. 

AR/VR Glasses

These are another type of wearable product design that can be used to access hands-free information and enhanced user interaction through augmented reality. In this case, digital information is overlaid onto the real-world surroundings or transported to a complete virtual environment. Head-mounted displays, or HMDs, are also included in this category and provide an immersive experience through eye and motion tracking, hand and voice controls, etc., and examples include Meta Quest 3, Microsoft HoloLens 2, etc. 

Smart Earphones

Advanced type of earphones that easily respond to voice commands and seamlessly interact with smartphones. 

Smart Clothing

Smart clothes that are used to track health metrics and provide haptic feedback in real time. 

Smart Eyewear

These are hi-tech glasses that can integrate data related to the objects visualized by the user through external and internal sensors as well as wireless technologies, including wireless fidelity, Bluetooth, global positioning system, etc. They assess the information retrieved, track visuals, store data, and perform necessary communication. A few examples of smart eyewear may include Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, Google Glass, Lucyd Eyewear, etc. 

Smart Jewelry

These types of jewelry, like smart rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc., can be used to operate in a similar manner to fitness trackers. For example, they can provide smart notification alerts to users related to missed calls and allow financial transactions in case their phones are not nearby. Oura Ring, Ringly Smart Jewelry, Bellabeat Leaf, etc. fall under this category. 

Benefits of Wearables 

Extensive Functionalities: These devices feature health data collection through biometric sensors, tracking heart rate in real time through compact monitors, essential location, and physical activity tracking. With adaptive connectivity, they ensure users stay connected to their smartphones and laptops through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for ease of data transfer, updates, and notifications at all times. 

Increased Productivity: Wearable devices and connected applications assist users to stay focused and organized and integrate task management as per their lifestyles and daily routines. They easily integrate with smartphones, laptops, and other smart gadgets and equipment to establish an interconnected and cohesive ecosystem based on the Internet of Things for personalization, automated responses, and a better user experience. 

Enhanced Engagement: It is of utmost importance to include necessary personalization features in wearable design development of devices and applications. These devices can perform at their maximum when application data collected on an everyday basis gets integrated into their functioning. This fosters user loyalty and better engagement, as custom notifications generated as per user preferences improve experience. 

Better Convenience: The major purpose of these devices is to increase convenience and multiply user awareness through quick reminders and alerts. This not only simplifies their daily activities in lieu of constant phone checks and rising screen time but also allows swift access to vital information at times of need right from their wrist, eyes, body, etc. 

Health Insights: As mentioned earlier, users can monitor their health metrics on the go, such as cardiovascular activity like atrial fibrillation, circadian rhythm quality, etc., which helps them to gain access to valuable insights on health issues and change their habits accordingly. 

Industrial Applications: In the healthcare sector, wearable devices like biosensors and smartwatches assist in real time patient monitoring, remote diagnostics, and chronic disease management to foster precautionary measures. In retail and e-commerce, wearable tech design has proven to be useful in engaging customers through personalized smartwatches during shopping and streamlining operations, such as for inventory navigation through smart glasses, smart apparel for worker safety, and more. Smartwatches and near-field communication sensors allow real time transactions, fraud alerts, balance checks, and contactless payments in the fintech and insurance sectors. 

They enhance safety, productivity, and efficacy in manufacturing environments, such as through AR glasses for assessing facility blueprints, machinery diagnostics, etc. VR headsets are used for immersive and uninterrupted AI-backed gaming experiences. In the fitness and sports industry, biosensors provide information related to elevation, heart rate, sleep patterns, physical activities, fitness levels, etc. As for the edtech industry, AR/VR head-mounted displays and screen projections can help in analyzing detailed anatomy of objects like molecules, virtual dimensions, recording sessions, capturing images for research, etc. 

Key Design Considerations for Wearable Tech Design 

Wearable devices, being electronic gadgets, track health-related metrics, improve convenience, and deliver notifications in real time. Devices such as smartwatches, smart glasses, and fitness trackers connect with smartphones and laptops to extend functionalities. As they become part of the daily lives of fitness enthusiasts and other users, it thus becomes crucial to lay apt importance on their design part, which needs to be intuitive, customized as per the user’s needs, non-intrusive, engaging, and satisfying as per the user’s expectations. 

UI/UX Optimization 

A key factor to consider during development of these devices is UX optimization since these are smaller in size due to limited battery life as compared to smartphones or laptops. Medical prototype development is necessary in this case to develop a minimal, intuitive, and user-friendly interface with efficient design, as it involves optimization of data presentation, validation of design concept with low complexity, and overall refinement of user experience. 

Device Agnosticism 

For a seamless user interface, it is necessary to consider cross-device compatibility during wearable device app development, such that it can connect easily with the user’s other devices, including tablets, smartphones, smart home equipment, laptops, and more. Moreover, wearables majorly collect data, whereas further analytics, trends, reports and reviews are provided on such above-mentioned companion devices. 

Complexity 

Wearable product design directly interacts with users and is not meant for handling complex computation tasks as compared to their companion devices. Their responsive interface design should be of less complexity, featuring restricted processing power and limited application functionalities. Therefore, it is necessary to consider which functions need to remain on the device, smartphone, and cloud. 

Integration 

Effortless integration with platforms and connected devices to cater for a unified experience is a key feature of wearables. This process requires careful selection and leveraging application programming interfaces, System-on-a-Chip, data point collection, etc. to facilitate seamless data exchange between applications and devices. 

Various types of wearable technology design 

Glanceability 

Smartphone interfaces require data and alerts to be presented in an engaging format. On the other hand, since wearable devices are meant for quick notifications, alerts, and other interactions, information presented on these small screens must be precise and in a glanceable format. Meaningful and minimalistic icons, visuals like lights, etc., are required to convey essential information at a glance. Integration of voice commands during on-the-go activities is also growing with the increasing interest in artificial intelligence. 

Target Users 

The user base can be different as per the device under consideration, which in turn is dependent on demographics to ensure usability and relevance. It is necessary to consider for whom wearable design development is taking place, the kind of application they require, and the stepwise amendments that would be introduced with upcoming trends. 

Context 

Contextual awareness requires different types of sensors embedded in these devices for processing real time data and providing actionable insights, push notifications, and alerts as per user activities. Developers must consider a context-driven approach for relevance, timely perception, personalization, and maximum usability. 

Security 

User-related data collected by wearable health monitoring devices, such as the person’s likes, dislikes, health conditions, location, etc., can be sensitive in nature, which calls for stringent security and privacy measures. These may include compliance with data protection regulations in healthcare, multi-factor and biometric authentication mechanisms like fingerprint or facial recognition, encryption techniques, etc. to maintain user trust, brand loyalty, and avoid personal data breaches. 

Others 

Due to continuous monitoring of health metrics, user activity, and surrounding conditions, wearables are required to sync collected data in real time with their companion device to ensure up-to-date information. As discussed earlier, longevity of the device’s battery is important for user satisfaction, and thus, the device must aptly utilize applications to extend battery life, device functioning, minimize battery usage and iterative recharging. Medical device contract manufacturing can ensure that these devices must feature apt ergonomics, motion or gesture tracking, and control apps, including taps or swipes to perform tasks such as changing media, taking calls, and conducting payments easily. It is also important to allow users to customize settings in the device, such as changing health metrics and interface options, for better appeal and usability. 

Development Process of Wearable Technology Design 

Businesses looking to establish a market presence in the wearable field need to consider these key steps during the development lifecycle. 

1. Platform: Medical device engineering services can assist in choosing an appropriate platform for wearable, which is fundamental by weighing pros and cons with device goals; for example, Android Wear is compatible with many devices, whereas developers need to select watchOS in the case of Apple users or iOS devices. 

2. Tools: Programming languages and tool-related proficiency need to be considered for a streamlined development process, such as Kotlin for Android Wear applications, Swift for watchOS applications, and others such as Flutter for developing cross-platform applications that run on both iOS and Android. 

3. Lifecycle: This includes all stages of wearable product design and development, right from ideation, design, medical device testing, and deployment to updates. All stages from conception to implementation are supported with continuous haptic feedback loops, even post-launch, to shape device features, user-friendliness, limited functionalities, and to meet their requirements. 

4. Optimization: Devise strategies for function, design, and usability testing and optimization for speed, energy utilization, and efficiency of the wearable device through specialized tools for continuous improvements necessary to avoid application failure and poor user experience. 

5. Compliance: Businesses need to ensure the device complies with GDPR, HIPAA, and other standards; uses strong encryption, secure storage, and access control; automatically updates security measures against vulnerabilities, threats and prioritizes privacy. 

Get Hold of Our Expertise in Wearable Device Design 

Wearable technology has revolutionized user interactions over the years, as it offers innovative solutions for monitoring their health, improving fitness, as well as productivity. Given its various other advantages, wearable tech design has been in high demand and thus requires careful consideration during its design and development. For effective utilization of their extensive applications, they must feature user-friendly design, streamlined data collection, and better usability. KritiKal Solutions excels in leveraging innovative strategies and its collaborative environment in the development of such devices. We have assisted numerous HealthTech companies in the development of in-vitro micro diagnostic devices, biosensing devices, sensor matrix-based wearable diagnostic tools, electrotherapeutic devices for depression, pain, and insomnia, and many more such innovations. We are at the frontier of developing intuitive artificial intelligence-powered wearable technology. Please get in touch with us at sales@kritikalsolutions.com to know more about our products and realize your wearable device development-related requirements.

Sanjay Kumar

Sanjay Kumar Chauhan currently works as a Senior Embedded Software Developer at KritiKal Solutions. He has extensive experience working with embedded systems, microcontrollers, and electronics. He has helped KritiKal in delivering various projects to some major clients.