The origin of the Apple Watch dates back 12 years, just a few months after the death of Steve Jobs.

The team decided to pause and think about where to go in the future, so they asked themselves: $Apple (AAPL.US)$ What is the contribution to users? At that time, Apple's chief designer Jony Ive gave the answer:

Making complex technologies easy to understand and use.

The idea of making a watch came from Jony Ive, whose obsession with watches comes from "the craftsmanship, originality, miniaturization, and art of creation contained within a closed system."

He found that computers and timepieces have striking similarities: initially, they both appeared in massive forms - clock towers, large machines. Then, they became housewares - wall clocks and home computers. Eventually, they both shrunk into personal devices - smartphones and watches.

"We have a feeling that technology will move onto the body," said Alan Dye, head of Apple's Human Interface team. "We felt the most natural place, the place with historical relevance and meaning, is the wrist."

Jeff Williams, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Apple, and also the top leader of the Apple Watch product line, took over the Apple design team in 2019. In an exclusive interview with iFanr, he mentioned that watches have been around for a century in the world, but mainly for telling time. There is no paradigm to refer to.

The team first established some rough consensus on the Apple Watch - social, activities, health, and the ability to interact with the real world, then it was a matter of feeling one's way carefully.

"Drawing on the past to be relevant today" design philosophy continued for a decade

Watches are a metaphor for time and also need the power to resist time. In the popular conception, watches can be passed down through generations.

In the words of design master Dieter Rams' "Ten Principles of Good Design": Good design is long-lasting.

After ten years, looking back, Jony Ive's design profoundly embodies the principles of his idol. Even though the Apple Watch digital product's fast-moving nature naturally contradicts the durability of luxury goods, when you wear a first-generation Apple Watch that can't be turned on today, you don't feel like it's an outdated product.

Round-rectangular dial, two case sizes, three body materials, interchangeable buckle design, the first-generation Apple Watch profoundly set the direction for the product's development over 10 years.

The evolution of the Apple Watch form has not cycled between round and rectangular borders like the iPhone, but has always moved in one direction: thinner and rounder.

After two curvature adjustments in Series 4 and Series 10, the current Apple Watch is seamless, with the screen and body naturally transitioning like a pebble polished by flowing water.

Simulation, analogy, and conversion are common design techniques, and although there are still some differences from traditional watches, the Apple Watch's replication of the crown is fascinating.

This 'digital crown' is not used for adjusting time and winding, but to solve the challenge of precise touch control on a small screen. Users can scroll, zoom, and navigate by rotating and pressing.

To enhance the experience of this knob, Apple uses the Taptic Engine to simulate the gear meshing feeling, giving virtual operations a real physical feedback.

In the subsequent development, the digital crown is not limited to just a simulated knob. On the Apple Watch Series 4, it becomes a conductor, connecting the crown and the metal sheet below to the upper limb passing through the heart, forming a closed loop, thus achieving the function of an electrocardiogram.

Respecting and inheriting watchmaking culture, introducing traditional experience into a digital interface, Apple uses the digital crown and Taptic Engine to create a set of digital era watch aesthetics, becoming an example of interpreting classics with a modern perspective.

However, Apple is not satisfied with the classics and hopes to enter the luxury goods market: in addition to stainless steel and aluminum cases, the first-generation Apple Watch also offered an 18K gold Apple Watch Edition version.

Apple invested heavily in the fashion field, hiring Burberry Group PLC Sponsored ADR CEO Angela Ahrendts, inviting celebrities, supermodels, and fashion editors to events, and even getting Beyoncé and supermodel Christie Turlington to wear the Apple Watch.

Just a year later, the Apple Watch Edition in gold was replaced by a ceramic version, marking the end of the luxury goods route. In the following years, Apple Watch still had models selling for over tens of thousands, but mainly focused on Apple's collaboration with Hermès.

An interactive exploration of an 'anti-attention device'.

Although the hardware design is almost impeccable, the software experience of the early Apple Watch was not satisfactory.

The first two generations of the Apple Watch adopted a complex mechanism, where the watch app was actually installed on the iPhone, and all data was transmitted to the watch via Bluetooth. Bluetooth was not the ideal solution for high-speed transmission, and the spinning wheel became a unique memory for old users of the Apple Watch.

In addition, the flagship feature of the Apple Watch has also experienced a shift: 'social networking' was once one of the three major functions of the first-generation Apple Watch. With a press of the side button, you could find the person you wanted to contact and send them a heartbeat or a doodle.

Technical Vice President Kevin Lynch described this process as 'People picker,' believing it to be the starting point for socializing. However, data collected anonymously showed that not many people were using this feature.

The watch naturally occupies one hand, and users do not randomly raise their wrists to do something on the watch.

'We spent a long time understanding how people interact with the watch.' Kevin Lynch said the team gradually realized this issue that the interaction with the Apple Watch should primarily be passive and must be completed in a short period of time.

Apple emphasizes Apple Watch Moment on its developer website as the primary principle for product development, advising developers to focus the experience on a single moment.

Kevin Lynch told iFaner that initially Apple set this interaction time to be within 10 seconds, which was later further shortened to 2 seconds. Over the next few years, the 'two-second task' became the core of Apple Watch software experience iteration.

In watchOS 2, the watch can already run apps directly, and by watchOS 3, Apple is able to keep commonly used apps resident in memory.

Apps are ultimately not the best form of information interaction for the Apple Watch. The key is to allow users to solve problems without taking out the iPhone, which is where the Apple Watch comes in handy.

As a result, the team developed the 'interactive notifications' feature, allowing users to quickly reply while receiving messages.

On the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple implemented the 'Double Tap' gesture for quick one-handed message replies.

The watch face is the shortest path for users to get information. The first-generation Apple Watch adopted the presentation form of 'complex features' and Glances, allowing users to quickly access information without opening the app.

If Glances still require users to lift their hands to actively find information, then ten years later in watchOS 11, 'Smart Stack' and 'Live Activity' bring information to users actively: when a user calls a car, lifting the wrist will show the license plate number and distance of the vehicle, and when a user is at the airport, the watch face will prioritize displaying boarding pass information, without the need to pull out the phone.

The watch is keeping an eye on you.

Kevin Lynch accurately epitomizes the interactive essence of the Apple Watch. Unlike all other mobile devices, even when the user does not touch the watch, it is always quietly paying attention to the user. Kevin believes that the interaction of the Apple Watch often remains invisible, but not excessively disturbing the user is a principle of the Apple Watch.

Outstanding interaction design often stems from a profound understanding of human nature: Macintosh succeeded in realizing that the computer should be an easy-to-use tool for everyone, so the interaction interface transitioned from a command line to a graphical interface.

What is the insight of the Apple Watch?

Wired magazine documented a discussion about the Apple Watch 13 years ago, and the conclusion at that time was:

Smartphones are causing information anxiety. People need a device that neither can nor should be used continuously for hours, one that can filter out most of the information and only provide you with the most essential information.

In an interview, Cook stated that the Apple Watch still continues the spirit legacy of Jobs:

There is a chronic ailment in the technology industry, where success is defined by maximizing numbers. How many clicks can you get? How many active users do you have? How many units have you sold? It seems that everyone in the tech industry wants to see big numbers. Jobs never did that; he aimed to make the products excellent.

If manufacturing addictive products for users is the basic logic of commercial companies, then the Apple Watch may be the first 'anti-attention' Apple device.

Shift from 'indicators' to 'coaches'.

Before the Apple Watch came out, 'self-quantification' was already a trendy term. For less than a hundred yuan, you can buy a fitness tracker, with step counting being a standard feature of such products. The marketing slogan 'walk ten thousand steps a day' has become as deeply ingrained as 'a constant star'.

By entering height, gender, weight, and combining it with a heart rate sensor, the fitness tracker can estimate physical exertion. However, multiple surveys have shown that users doubt the accuracy of these numbers, leading Fitbit, the manufacturer of the fitness tracker, to face lawsuits.

Apple chose not to buy ready-made algorithms on the market, but instead set up a laboratory, recruited volunteers, and spent several years accumulating data.

IFanr has visited Apple's health lab (Apple Fitness Lab), where every participant wears a blue breathing mask. According to Jay Blahnik, Apple's vice president of fitness technology, this is a metabolic monitor used to accurately calculate oxygen consumption during exercise, the most accurate way to calculate calories.

Before joining Apple, Jay Blahnik was a well-known fitness coach in the industry, serving as a guest health expert for MSNBC and the Los Angeles Times, and has written a best-selling fitness book.

We hope to integrate fitness into Apple's DNA. Making mistakes on our own and getting bruises will help us understand this process.

As a signature UI design of the Apple Watch, the classic design of the 'three rings' has continued for ten years.

此后几年，Apple Watch 逐步扩展了对游泳、瑜伽、徒步、潜水等多种运动类型的支持，本着为所有人设计的原则，还加入了对轮椅用户的支持。

Jay Blahnik 指出，苹果对于算法的研究，不仅是为了满足普通用户，更要以专业运动员看齐。比如对于跑步这样看似简单的运动，苹果就将其细化成「垂直振幅」、「测量步长」和「触底时间」三项指标去测量，使用机器学习和传感器融合，包括加速度感应器和陀螺仪，将躯干运动分离出来，再测量其产生的垂直振幅。

如果说不断精进的算法和完备的数据指标让 Apple Watch 显示出「专业」的一面，那么 watchOS11 增加的「训练负荷」，则让机械性的数据呈现出「人性」的一面——就像健身教练那样。

训练负荷会通过一系列细分指标分析出用户看不见的趋势和端倪，通过 7 天的训练负荷与 28 天训练负荷的对比结果，帮助用户了解当前自己的身体负荷是在上升、没有变化还是在下降，从而针对性地调整训练强度。

「它就像是用户戴在手腕上的教练一样」，Jay 说，「让用户知道自己什么时候可以努力一把，什么时候应该稍微放松一些。」

一封信改变产品走向，Apple Watch 如何成为救命工具？

在帮助人们改善健康上，我们最初的目标要窄很多。

Jeff Williams 告诉爱范儿，添加心率传感器只是为了更精准地获取健身活动的卡路里，但有一件事改变了 Apple Watch 的走向。

We have received some letters from users, telling us that the Apple Watch has sent alerts at critical moments, saving their lives. This has surprised and inspired us, prompting us to gather clues and integrate more sensors into the Apple Watch.

Jeff Williams directly promoted the company's health plan and medical research, believing that:

One of the challenges faced by health issues is that people simply do not always think about their health. However, wearing a watch helps a lot because monitoring is integrated into people's daily lives.

In the past, products represented by smartphones usually existed as 'external objects,' but the Apple Watch was the first to tie consumer electronics to the wrist, with richer sensors and a network connection for constant monitoring of your body.

The Series 4 is a major turning point for the Apple Watch, as it was the first to provide FDA-certified electrocardiogram functionality. It can detect atrial fibrillation, detect if the user falls and automatically dial for help, and remind the user when their heart rate is abnormally high.

Since then, the Apple Watch has found its unique value – being able to save lives at critical moments. However, when a consumer product involves medical functions, it means it must undergo strict regulatory approval and testing.

For this reason, Apple has recruited many medical scientists, such as Dr. Sumbul Desai, who serves as Vice President in the health department, is a clinical associate professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

According to her, Apple compares technology with the 'Gold Standard' used in clinical environments when designing health features, while conducting feasibility studies in different populations.

The 'Gold Standard' is a set of procedures for diagnosing diseases or evaluating treatments, usually verified in long-term clinical practice, with the highest accuracy and reliability.

With the passage of time, the health data covered by the Apple Watch becomes more comprehensive, ranging from physical health to mental health, from daily guardianship to sleep monitoring, from menstrual tracking to medication reminders.

But providing data alone is not enough, just like how patients cannot see body clues from lab reports, the doctor's interpretation is where the value lies.

Just as fitness functions are moving towards 'coach-like', the health functions of the Apple Watch are also moving towards 'personal doctor-like': on watchOS11, Apple's new 'vital signs' combines multiple indicators for trend analysis for the first time. Users are no longer faced with cold numbers like sleep duration, heart rate, and body temperature, but can see at a glance whether various body indicators deviate from normal.

Our goal is not to replace doctors, but throughout the process, users can better understand their own bodies, make better health decisions through conversations and collaboration with doctors.

Sumbul Desai said.

Summary

Without competitive analysis, no user research, Apple, relying on its product concept and insight into human nature, has brought Macintosh, iPod, iPhone and other products that have left a mark in history over the past forty years.

The story of the Apple Watch is not as legendary as those predecessors: it is the first product without guidance from Steve Jobs, the first product to be proposed first and then explore its features, experiencing numerous changes before becoming a model of smart watch.

It defined the aesthetic of digital watches, with a design that bridges past and present for a decade; it took a different evolutionary path from the iPhone, independent of developer ecosystems and without focusing on killer applications; it did not seek to attract user attention, silently guarding its essence of interaction; it started with self-developed algorithms, gradually becoming a professional 'coach' and life-saving 'doctor'.

In ten years, the Apple Watch was born on the crest of wearable devices, ultimately rising when the trend of smart watches was declining.

It's hard to imagine that today we can wear the same watch to run a marathon, take an electrocardiogram, play music, buy a cup of coffee, and even save lives.

Jeff Williams said.

Editor/Somer