Apple Watch is the one of the most foreseen devices of 2015. Many firms are considering it as a great opportunity to add more value to their brand by introducing their apps through this amazing wearable device.

The design of the Apple Watch is focussed on enhancing and broadening the functionality of an app on the device employing advanced techniques. And, designing apps for the Apple Watch is not similar to techniques followed for other handheld devices like iPad and iPhone.

1) Minimalism is a key2) Icons should be clear and recognisable3) Good contrast is a win-win4) Animations should be personalised5) Keep menus sparse6) Navigation should be simple

Minimalism is a KeyIf you are designing apps for the Apple’s smart watch, minimalism will help you emerge as a clear winner. Whether it is text, graphic elements or any other content, keep the least possible things so that screen will not appear as a cluttered space. The good thing is that you can make use of entire screen space ranging from edge to edge for your space. There aren’t any restrictions in terms of margin space. All you have to do is – emphasis on characters no words – that will help you present impactful content, which will give a detailed idea to the users with just a glance of their wrist.

A circular icon on Home screen holds a great significance in terms of Apple Watch interface. Even if the original design of you app’s icon is in a square shape, you must abide by the guidelines of Apple and come up with its circular version.

In the process of doing so, don’t forget to make the icon recognisable. Keep the colour palette, text and graphic elements as you want to keep in the square version. To be precise, design compact icons that the wearers can depict. The size of the icon is of utmost importance. Also, Apple has provided a table that you can refer to while creating icon-design.

Bright colours can blemish the app. Keep the text and background contrasting in your app. Choose some solid colours that will help users to feel connected with the app or the brand. Using black background is ideal for the Apple Watch as it makes a perfect blend with the device’s oblique edges and provides great readability for text used in the app. This way, you can create an elegant look and feel in your app that will lead to a winning situation.

The cornerstone of the Apple Watch is animation. Though, it won’t be possible to design large-sized, comprehensive animations as you had for the screens of iPhone and iPad, you can personalise them on the basis of your app. Determine the basic actions that users will take while using your app and create the animations accordingly.

You cannot use ample amount of content in your app due to small screen arena of the Apple Watch. Also, users might not get impressed with the gestures to move back and forth for executing a particular action. The best solution here is to keep the contents compact like you can use sparse menus – only when are a necessity. The best practice calls for 1-4 actions at one time that should be applied to the current screen only.In addition to this, avoid using the hierarchical scrolling and menus.

The navigation layout should be designed keeping technology in mind to allow users to do more with less. Two most common navigation approaches made today are swiping and tapping. Your objective should be integrating a simple yet practical navigation. In fact, a pressure-sensitive Force Touch is introduced in the WatchKit that differentiates the actions of tap and hold. All this is just to allow swifter navigation so that wearer can scroll, enter data, zoom in or out or can simply switch to the home screen.

Designing the intuitive apps for Apple Watch allows the firms to reap the benefits of branding through different devices and generate more revenues.Using the above-discussed tips, a firm can build impressive apps and use Apple Watch for aggrandising its reputation in the marketplace.

From:App Xperts Pty LtdW: www.appxperts.com.auEmail: info@appxperts.com.auCall Us: 1300 939 225