Speculative Design
Team:
Solo Project
Role:
Conception to Realization
Tools used:
Adobe Fresco,
Rhinoceros 3D,
Keyshot,
Adobe XD,
Photoshop
Duration:
1.5 month
(2020)
is a speculative design concept for
a world clock for desks that features an intuitive user experience. Its design caters to individuals who frequently need to keep track of the time in different cities.
The target users of Spectrum are individuals who regularly need to check the local times of other time zones to stay in touch with their loved ones, family members, and business partners.
The interfaces of many world clock apps and websites out in the market are often not intuitive to read, presenting users with an unstructured collection of multiple clock faces without a clear order. Additionally, important information such as the date is often missing, making it difficult for users to keep track of different time zones.
The interfaces of many world clock apps and websites out in the market are often not intuitive to read, presenting users with an unstructured collection of multiple clock faces without a clear order. Additionally, important information such as the date is often missing, making it difficult for users to keep track of different time zones.
By designing the clock face based on the standard time zone map, users can quickly and easily understand the time in different locations. For example, a user in New York can immediately see that it's 10:00am in London without having to zoom in and out or go back and forth between the two locations. This design approach can help users stay connected with their friends, family, and business partners across the world, without worrying about time zone confusion or miscalculations.
The Time Zone Map Grid displays the 26 different time zones across the world, ranging from UTC+14 (the first place where a new day starts) to UTC-11 (the last place where any date exists). When you add a city on the Spectrum app, a local time card will be displayed on the grid for that city. The position of each local time card remains fixed and does not change over time, while the Spectrum strip flows across the 26 time zones as the sun moves across the earth.
The width of the onscreen grid is precisely matched to the concave curves on the top of the device, giving a sense of expansion of the onscreen UI. This design element creates a feeling of infinity and adds a touch of elegance to the overall look of the clock. Spectrum desk clocks provide a unique and versatile solution for users in narrow desk spaces, with support for both landscape and portrait modes.
This concept was developed from my personal project aimed at improving the usability of world clock websites. Unlike a single clock face, there is no established archetype for a world clock. Moving forward, I plan to focus on enhancing the usability of the new clock face interface and the hardware by gathering and synthesizing user feedback to guide the design for further iterations.