Playback
A Smartwatch App Concept for Music Discovery
Wearable Technology • UI/UX Design
💭 The Assignment:
Design a smartwatch interaction that facilitates a task while adhering to watchOS guidelines. The interaction should be simple, glanceable, and intuitive, leveraging microinteractions to enhance usability.
💡 My Approach:
I designed Playback, a smartwatch app that delivers daily rock album anniversaries through quick, glanceable interactions. Users can browse past album releases based on the current date and seamlessly listen on Apple Music.
This concept explores microinteractions using notifications, smooth scrolling, and tap-to-play actions. A smartwatch is perfect for music discovery since it enables spontaneous, bite-sized exploration, making it easier for users to engage with new music in the moment without disruption.
👩🏽💻 My Role:
UI/UX Designer and Graphic Designer
🛠️ Tools Used:
Figma, Adobe Illustrator and Procreate
🗓️ Timeframe:
Year: 2025
Length: 3 weeks
🔍 Research Phase:
To ensure Playback followed watchOS design principles, I conducted secondary research using Apple’s watchOS guidelines to optimize readability, contrast, and tap-friendly interactions for a smartwatch. Given the smaller screen, I prioritized glanceability. For content accuracy, I researched album release dates using Loudwire to ensure the prototype displayed reliable information.
🎨 Design Phase:
Using Procreate, I sketched the core screens to visualize the app’s structure and refine interactions before moving into high-fidelity design. This process helped me explore layout, hierarchy, and user flow while ensuring a glanceable and intuitive smartwatch experience.
Notification Screen: Designed for quick engagement, allowing users to instantly see album anniversaries and take action.
Album Release List: A scrollable list displaying albums released on the current day, keeping interactions minimal for efficiency.
Album Detail Screen: Initially, I considered this screen for daily rock history facts, providing extra context about the album’s impact. While I decided to remove it for now to keep the experience fast and streamlined, this is an idea I’d love to explore in the future to further enrich music discovery.
Loading Screen: Added to provide visual feedback when retrieving data. Since Apple Watch sometimes displays loading screens when switching between apps, I included this to maintain consistency with watchOS behavior and set user expectations.
Apple Music Integration: Features tap-to-play controls, enabling seamless music discovery.
📝 Reflections & Next Steps:
Designing Playback reinforced the potential of music discovery beyond streaming platforms. By merging rock history with smartwatch accessibility, this concept encourages users to engage with music by learning as they listen. The project also highlighted how smartwatch UI can enable quick, meaningful interactions, making discovery effortless. Following watchOS guidelines pushed me to refine information for clarity, glanceability, and usability. Looking ahead, I’d love to expand this concept by:
➡️ Adding a “Learn More” feature for deeper insights into album milestones and cultural impact.
➡️ Refining the logo and UI based on user feedback for a more seamless experience.
➡️ Introducing daily rock trivia to engage users with interactive challenges.
➡️ Implementing genre filters to let users customize notifications based on their rock music preferences.