Designing Inclusive Smartwatch Interfaces: Guidelines for Enhancing Usability and Adoption Among Older Adults

Aging introduces sensory, motor, and cognitive challenges and limited familiarity with digital interfaces, often hindering older adults’ adoption of new technologies. Smartwatches, with their compact size and health monitoring features, promise to improve older adults’ quality of life. However, their small screens and complex interfaces create significant usability barriers. While guidelines for mobile and web interfaces exist, frameworks for smartwatch design still need to be explored. This study addresses this gap by proposing smartwatch-specific design guidelines for older adults. Through an analysis of user challenges, existing design principles, and smartwatch constraints, the research formulates actionable recommendations to enhance usability and user experience. The contributions include identifying key obstacles older adults face with smartwatches, evaluating the applicability of established guidelines, creating tailored design principles for small screens, and developing a design system that balances simplicity, usability, and functionality. These contributions aim to facilitate smartwatch adoption and improve the inclusivity of digital technologies for older adults.