Making Solar
Designing & Developing an Experience
As aspiring college grads, my friends and I thought it would be fun to start a design project, one that we could do as a team to utilize our wide range of skills. The idea grew into a challenge for ourselves that we felt would reveal our passions for product design, and ideally, change the world for the better. Naturally we decided to tackle one of the most significant products we use in our society today, the watch.
The Problem
One of the biggest issues I find with every modern time piece is that they are abstractly disconnected with the real world. Perhaps it's true that we orient our lives around the 12 hour cycle, but does the planet? Looking at this, is our modern perception of time healthy when it revolves around a metaphor that doesn't represent the real world? We work late into the night and get up before the sun does. What kind of effect does this have on us?
We came together as a team and thought it would be interesting to build a watch-face for Android Wear that represents a planet centric view of time instead of a man centric one. This we felt required our design to go back to an older form of measuring the passage of time: light.
Early Concepts
We knew exactly what we needed to do. Borrow from the traditional time piece, a round design, and center the watch-face on the rotation of the earth while indicating the reach of the sun's light as it wraps around the planet. In this way, the watch face can convey time in a more global minded perspective.
We went through many variations on design, working towards a glanceable, adaptable scheme. It became apparent that the user's location would need to be obvious in relation to the light, and though it would be possible to communicate the current time through visual cues, we realized that some users might desire an exact numeric indication. Both methods made it to the final design.
Our Solution
We landed on what we felt was the perfect balance between simplicity and informative design. Earth is shown with the sun's light illuminating part of the planet. 24 dots surround the earth representing 24 hours in the day, with the largest representing 12 AM and 12 PM, and the lesser representing 6 AM and 6 PM. Around the Earth, the movement of seconds in a minute is shown. Finally in the center, the time is shown in a vertical, 24 hr format.
Personality
We put together a color scheme representing the four seasons and a neutral color, with the intent of allowing the user to choose their own color, or let Solar change based on the current season. With any wearable it is really important to include features that allow the wearer to make their experience more personal and color is always a good start in that direction.
We knew a great companion experience would add to the value of the product and give users better control of Solar so we incorporated a simple configuration page that previews the changes you make to the watch in real time.
Companion Experience on Phone
In our spare time, while in college and working at our other jobs over the course of a year...
Solar was released to the Google Play Store
What Did We Learn?
How to make an Android App
How to use Android Studio
How to use Github
How to Calculate Sunlight Using Longitude & Latitude
How to Develope a Product as a Team
Meet the team behind the app.
James Hines
Product & User Experience Designer at Circle with Disney.
What drives you?
In all that I do my desire is to make products that encourage human centric experiences, informing people about truth and empowering healthy lifestyles.
What was your goal when making Solar?
Originally it was a project to make myself stand out from my classmates in college. But as it evolved and grew as a concept, it became much more. In the end, it was a powerful learning experience that taught me about teamwork, the application design process, and how to be an effective leader of a team.
What is your spirit animal?
I relate to grumpy cat 😼
Nathaniel Dykstra
Electrical Hardware Design Engineer at Teradyne Inc.
What drives you?
Cool projects have always been a passion of mine. Whether it's constructing speaker systems, tinkering with cars, building computers, or programming a watch face, projects that involve imagination, creativity, working with my hands, and learning new skills along the way are what I enjoy doing.
What was your goal when making Solar?
Before studying engineering in college, I actually wanted to study computer science. When we developed the idea of Solar, I wanted to expand my abilities in the programming realm.
What is your spirit animal?
I'm a Mediterranean Cactus! 🌵
Stephen Howell
Software Engineer at George Fox University
What drives you?
I am driven by a desire to learn by exploring and creating. In the world of software, I thrive by applying my learned knowledge to create great software for other people.
What was your goal when making Solar?
My goal with Solar was to explore and learn the various facets of Android development and to create a product that would change people's lives for the better.
What is your spirit animal?
Unladen Swallow, probably European 🐦