This document discusses the potential for wearable technology if approached from a fashion and expression perspective rather than solely as a tool for monitoring and tracking. It argues that focusing on how wearables can amplify personal expression and foster human connection could lead to more widely adopted applications. The document outlines several steps to develop wearables in this way, including identifying a target user and their story, embracing aesthetics and display as key interactions, and allowing imagination to fuel new material innovations. It notes the large existing market for fashion that wearables could tap into if designed with these priorities in mind.

1. Thoughts on Fashion
and Wearable Technology
Rachel Hinman
@Hinman

4. 41
Creation
Desktop Computing Mobile Computing
Content
Consumption &
Communication
Wearable Computing
?

5. Estimated value of the
global wearables technology market in 2015*
$16 Billion
*PR Newswire: Wearable Technology Market Forecast 2015-2020. Sara Peerun

8. 41

10. Q: “But what’s the function?
A: “To look good!”

11. “I don’t want
to look like an
asshole.”
“It’s not really
my style.”
“If it’s not cute,
I won’t wear it.”
“It’s... kinda
ugly. ”
“They seem unnatural –
like they would get in the
way when you’re having
a face-to-face
conversation with
somebody.”

12. Fashion?

13. Fashion!!!

14. Fashion

15. 9

16. “When I wore those clothes,
I felt like I belonged.”

17. What we wear creates an
emotional experience.

18. It’s how we tell our story.

20. Fashion = Expression

21. Expression -> Connection

22. “Thanks!”
“Nice Bag!”

23. People crave connection
“Connection is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. All the science
shows that connection, the ability to feel loved and connected, is
neuro-biologically how we're wired – it's why we're here.”
~ Brene Brown Researcher, Ted Speaker

25. Killer Wearable Use Case?

26. Killer Wearable Use Case?
Expression & Connection

27. 13

30. “The issue right now is that
99 percent of wearables are
geared toward the Silicon
Valley male.”
!
~ Ayse Ildeniz

33. What if, instead of
thinking about
wearable technology
like an engineer…

34. … we started thinking
about wearable
technology like a
fashionista?

35. What if instead of
focusing on tracking
and monitoring,
we focused on
amplifying
expression and
connection

36. Inspiring Pioneers

41. Where to begin?

42. Identify Your User
Expert interviews in the
fashion industry revealed
that fashion designers design
for “their girl” (similar, in
some ways, to the design
persona process).
Fashion designers use
aesthetic choices to enable
people to project who they are
to themselves and to others
through garments and
accessories.
“I design for the woman who loves being a woman.”
~ Diane Von Furstenberg
“Alexander McQueen’s
aesthetic trademarks -
headgear, magnificent
detailing and dark, surreal
femininity – expressed a
uniquely British flavor of
fearlessness.”
~ Vogue, Sept. 2012
Step One:
Who is your Girl/Guy?

43. Embrace display as the
interaction model
Most UX designers are familiar with creating
digital experiences inside the world of a
device. Instead of consuming information,
wearables will be about displaying
information.
Step Two:
What is the story they want to tell?
Honor aesthetics
as a Function
Aesthetics matter when it
comes to what we put on
our bodies. They are a tool
that can be used help users
convey their identity and
the story they want to tell. "Absolutely, they're buying the car for the statement it makes more than anything.” !
~Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing

44. Step Three:
How might wearable technology
amplify their story?
“Lycra didn’t exist when the superheroes
were first created. It was invented after. Lycra
is a perfect example of ‘if we can dream it,
we can create it.’ I’m interested in creating
wearable technology that helps people be
the heroes of their own stories..”
~ Juan Hinestroza
Associate Professor of Fiber Science and Director
of Textiles Nanotechnology Lab,
Cornell University
If we can dream it, we can create it!
Allow your imagination to fuel innovations in
material science. Technical constraints exist for
wearables, but remain a moving target. Stories
and movies have long been inspiration for
technological advances.

45. “I’m not really into fashion.”

47. Do you wear clothes?

48. !
TAM
Total Available Market
is the total market demand
for a product or service.

50. $16 Billion
Estimated Global Wearable
Technology Market 2015*
*PR Newswire: Wearable Technology Market Forecast 2015-2020. Sara Peerun

51. $16 Billion
Estimated Global Wearable
Technology Market 2015
$1.2 Trillion
Estimated Global Apparel
and Accessories Market 2015*
*The Statistics Portal: Apparel market size projections from 2012 to 2025

52. Make friends with the
fashion industry…

53. Q:
Q:
“The most profound
technologies are those that
disappear.
They weave themselves into the
fabric of everyday life until they
are indistinguishable from it.”
!
~ Mark Weiser
The Computer for the 21st Century

55. Thank you!
!
Email:
rachelhinman@gmail.com!
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