Concept
Staying connected across time zones is part of modern life. Whether with family abroad or teammates spread around the globe. The challenge was how to make time differences feel immediate, legible, and glanceable on a watch face that allows very little screen real estate. This exploration set out to answer: how can multiple time zones be displayed simultaneously without overwhelming the user or sacrificing clarity?
Process
The exploration began with sketches of simple digital layouts, testing how three time zones might coexist on a single widget. Early iterations leaned on traditional watch layouts, but these quickly felt cluttered and unintuitive. I shifted my focus to a linear display of time, experimenting with typography and spacing to create a clear spatial relationship between home time and other time zones.
Midway, I brought my UI iterations into 3D to see how the widget would behave in the context of a smart watch. This surfaced legibility challenges with lighting and glare, which led me to refine the spacing and width of the UI elements for better readability.
The final iteration strikes a balance between clarity and utility, allowing up to three time zones to be viewed at a glance without clutter.
Midway, I brought my UI iterations into 3D to see how the widget would behave in the context of a smart watch. This surfaced legibility challenges with lighting and glare, which led me to refine the spacing and width of the UI elements for better readability.
The final iteration strikes a balance between clarity and utility, allowing up to three time zones to be viewed at a glance without clutter.
