Foraker Labs
I-70 Traffic Watch App
Role
Solo / Lead Designer on Project
Cross-Functional Partners
Product Management, Leadership Stakeholders, & Frontend Engineers
Core Focus
Wearable Interface Paradigms, High-Density Content Compression, Emerging Technology R&D, & Micro-Interactions
Overview & Challenge
Project Summary
I-70 Traffic is a native mobile application engineered to deliver glanceable, real-time traffic summaries and transit analytics for travelers navigating the heavily congested mountain pass to ski resorts in Colorado. With the highly anticipated global launch of the first-generation Apple Watch approaching, I stepped in as the solo designer to extend the product ecosystem into the wearable space. I designed a specialized companion smartwatch application that translates high-density traffic data, estimated travel times, and changing mountain road conditions into ultra-compact viewport paradigms, designing a comprehensive user experience encompassing glance views, short-look and long-look notifications, page-based layout navigation, and force touch context menus.
The Challenge
Smartwatch design demands a radical departure from traditional mobile layout structures due to severe physical screen space limitations (38mm and 42mm viewports) and exceptionally brief user attention spans. Because the physical Apple Watch hardware had not yet been released to the public or development teams during our design cycle, I had to architect all micro-interactions blindly based purely on early, pre-release developer documentation. The primary product hurdle was figuring out how to translate the iPhone app's complex, horizontally stretching "traffic snake" data visualizer into an interaction model optimized for fast, safe, wrist-based scanning while driving.
Process & Execution
Pre-Release Guidelines
Poured over early WatchOS design frameworks and human interface resources provided by Apple. I thoroughly decoded rigid grid alignment constraints, specific system font behaviors, and native force-touch interaction trees to ensure the designs would execute flawlessly inside the unreleased operating system environment.
Micro-Interaction Mapping
I brainstormed and mapped out dozens of interface variants to systematically account for distinct native hardware alert states. I established clear layout differentiation between automated short-look notifications (instant, high-level alert banners) and long-look notifications (detailed, scrollable utility blocks containing action buttons).
Day-One App Store Launch
The application passed Apple's strict review guidelines on the first submission and was deployed live onto the App Store exactly on day-one of the Apple Watch global launch. This milestone established the product as a cutting-edge pioneer in the early wearable tech market and expanded brand presence across an entirely new hardware ecosystem.
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