Alan Dye reveals how features in Apple Watch Series 6 are founded in design choices Apple made back for the very first Apple Watch, plus just how carefully crafted every Watch face is.
Apple's vice president of human interface design, Alan Dye, has been a principle figure in the making of the Apple Watch, and has now talked with a watch podcast about its origins — and how those early principles still apply.
Dye first came to Apple around five years ago, given the position of vice president of human interface design in charge of the company's products.
According to him, the reason Apple got into the wearable business was because it saw it as a way to keep up with changing screen technology:
"We had been noticing that since the original Mac the screen size doubled every year. It didn't go from a 60-inch to an 85-inch TV. It went from a 50-inch to an 87-inch TV," he explains. "It was just advancing the circle too fast."
Dye explained that while he remembers initially being skeptical of sensors, having products in his hands and being able to investigate new ideas, by the time Apple Watch came along, he felt "hands on."
"We heard about tri-numerical sensors, and sensors that could sense what people just thought they sensed but probably didn't. In the same first-generation iPhone, we got playing cards… [and] in the next-generation iPhone we had the iPod, and on the iPhone 4 we had the iBook. Because we'd added new sensors, we could see how people did against each other… [so] if the same sensors were coming out we could always use what we were doing now when there's a surprise like Siri or the new flagging system on Maps to find out where customers are. You knew everyone was happy after no one was unhappy for a long time."
When Apple came back around requiring a passcode to unlock your iPhone, it was, he tells Apple Developers, because it was leading another revolution:
"…You could see, if you had one phone that had a fingerprint scanner on it, it's crazy how much easier it was for you to put in that phone. Other people were able to find out about how open... people were open to change. The rating platform [which proved the fad for passcodes] was developed on that level. People were open to that kind of magical, online experience they had on their iPhone. Think about what that meant, when you go to that party, when you go to use your company credit card in HotelTonight, it was wizardry."
Dye then clarifies why the fad for passcodes, being an Apple flop, may be reappearing:
"It's fair to say we've brought that dominant experience into a new way that [millennials] are comfortable with using their smart
Apple's vice president of human interface design, Alan Dye, has been a principle figure in the making of the Apple Watch, and has now talked with a watch podcast about its origins — and how those early principles still apply.
Dye first came to Apple around five years ago, given the position of vice president of human interface design in charge of the company's products.
According to him, the reason Apple got into the wearable business was because it saw it as a way to keep up with changing screen technology:
"We had been noticing that since the original Mac the screen size doubled every year. It didn't go from a 60-inch to an 85-inch TV. It went from a 50-inch to an 87-inch TV," he explains. "It was just advancing the circle too fast."
Dye explained that while he remembers initially being skeptical of sensors, having products in his hands and being able to investigate new ideas, by the time Apple Watch came along, he felt "hands on."
"We heard about tri-numerical sensors, and sensors that could sense what people just thought they sensed but probably didn't. In the same first-generation iPhone, we got playing cards… [and] in the next-generation iPhone we had the iPod, and on the iPhone 4 we had the iBook. Because we'd added new sensors, we could see how people did against each other… [so] if the same sensors were coming out we could always use what we were doing now when there's a surprise like Siri or the new flagging system on Maps to find out where customers are. You knew everyone was happy after no one was unhappy for a long time."
When Apple came back around requiring a passcode to unlock your iPhone, it was, he tells Apple Developers, because it was leading another revolution:
"…You could see, if you had one phone that had a fingerprint scanner on it, it's crazy how much easier it was for you to put in that phone. Other people were able to find out about how open... people were open to change. The rating platform [which proved the fad for passcodes] was developed on that level. People were open to that kind of magical, online experience they had on their iPhone. Think about what that meant, when you go to that party, when you go to use your company credit card in HotelTonight, it was wizardry."
Dye then clarifies why the fad for passcodes, being an Apple flop, may be reappearing:
"It's fair to say we've brought that dominant experience into a new way that [millennials] are comfortable with using their smart
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