Tanner Kohler is a Principal Experience Specialist with Nielsen Norman Group. Tanner's studies have focused on social psychology, and he has researched theories of human motivation and the gamification of learning. He has developed, taught, and evaluated curricula for thousands of full-time volunteers for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He has an MS degree in instructional psychology and technology.
Applications native to smartwatch operating systems get used the most. Just because a new smartwatch app could offer basic functionality, it does not mean that users will find it valuable.
Smartwatches are for more than just receiving notifications and tracking steps. They afford at least 6 different types of interactions that users find useful.
Dark mode is popular, but not always a critical feature. Users behave similarly without it. They think about it at the system level, not the application level.
Basic psychological principles can guide you as a UX designer because most users share many common characteristics. Consider learning more about: motivation, attention, memory, persuasion, learning, decision making, emotion, sensation, perception, or cognitive biases.
