вЂњAnything that requires multiple taps or precise cursor placement, such as filling out forms, editing documents or navigating nested menus are all likely to work better on a phone, whereas dictating short messages or tapping a simple set of buttons could be better on the watch,вЂќ says Jamie Hull, vice president of mobile products at Evernote. Anything requiring forms or nested menus will fail вЂњSmartwatch users wonвЂ™t spend a lot of time tapping through loads of menus, the smartphone is brilliant for those kind of tasks,вЂќ says Dave Slocombe, mobile apps product owner at travel service TheTrainline. The current crop of smartwatches rely on being paired with a nearby smartphone, which is sharpening developersвЂ™ awareness of which tasks are better left to the parent device. This means that you need to get the most important information in front of your users as quickly and often as possible.вЂќ вЂњThe watch makes this even more true вЂ“ itвЂ™s a simple glance, quick interaction device. вЂњItвЂ™s important to remember that users are busy, and want to be able to interact quickly and simply with their favourite products,вЂќ says Boone Spooner, director of mobile product at radio streaming app TuneIn.

вЂњIt wouldnвЂ™t surprise me if folks eventually began watching videos on the watch - people will watch videos on anything - but at the start, the watch seems like it provides you with quick feedback, small bits of information that you can transact on. I think Apple has it right with glances,вЂќ says Eric Gillin, executive director of cookery service Epicurious, which is launching the app Smart Timer in tandem with the launch of the Apple Watch.

Lots of developers are talking about вЂњglancesвЂќ right now: the idea of smartwatch apps as things you glance at for a few seconds, with one or two simple interactions, before going back to whatever you were doing. How have they used experiences of mobile app design to inform smartwatch apps? How are they differentiating watch apps from those on mobile without duplicating functionality? And how does a designer approach planning out an interface on an impossibly small screen? ItвЂ™s all about the вЂglancesвЂ™

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