Designing the user interface for Suunto's first-ever color screen dive watch

Suunto dive computers and sports watches are used by professional athletes and sports enthusiasts around the world. New Things Company’s (nowadays called Witted) designer had an important part in designing the user interface for their first-ever dive watch with a color screen.

“We appreciate good partners and skilled designers who are able to jump into our often technically challenging operations, understand the use context and do quality design”, Mikko Ahlström, Head of Design, Suunto.

Case studies 18.01.2022 Things get done by being part of the team

Our experienced consultants integrate well with the client’s organization whether it’s designing and developing entire products or supporting the client’s team. At Suunto, consultants are treated as members of the in-house design team.

Collaboration was close, ideas and design solutions were critiqued periodically and the results speak for themselves. This approach ensures a cohesive design language for Suunto products and a pleasant company culture to dive into.

The design is what actually ends up at the hands of customers and developers are an integral part of making sure the execution matches the vision (by the way, all the UI pics on this page are from the actual product). The final details were often worked out by designers and developers together.

Like all Suunto products, the D5 went through rigorous testing both in and out of water. Feedback was taken into consideration throughout the design and development process.

Attention to detail

The small form factor of the wearable provides a nice challenge in trying to distill the user interface design into its essence since there is no room for anything extra. Everything needs to be pixel perfect.

Suunto D5 provided a unique opportunity to design a user interface that complements the industrial design of the product, even more so than many other Suunto devices. Generally, Suunto sport watches have multiple variants and the same software is used in multiple different watches. Suunto D5 feels like an especially cohesive product where digital and physical design blend effortlessly because it was specifically designed so.

A successful product launch

After the launch, the Suunto D5 has won multiple awards, gained an impressive user satisfaction score and been a sales success. It is a robust dive watch that stays on the wrist also between the dives. These are the results we aim to achieve when working with our customers.

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