Spire Health Tag
Available in Stores
My Role
Industrial Design
Market Research
User Testing
Material Selection
Sensor Design
Who I worked with
Electrical Engineer
Mechanical Engineer
Data Scientist
Project Manager
Head of Operations
Factory Managers
Tooling Suppliers
What is Spire?
Clipped on the waist or bra, Spire has the only wearable on the market that can accurately measure breathing patterns, giving the ability to track levels of stress throughout the day and offer real-time actions toward improving health.
Improving on the current product
With no real precedent, this project was really exciting and demanded equal amounts of creativity and logic. These are my favorite types of projects. We had to approach it from all angles: sensors, comfort, engineering constraints, attachment; and narrow down to a single solution for them all.
Divergent Thinking
I created a big map of every potential attachment solution. We did tear-downs of products such as Tile, Fitbit, Lumo, and Xiaomi to understand them in and out.
Lifecycle Planning
Considering early on every concern a new user may have was crucial to creating a wearable with no precedent. We conducted Sprints for each part of the design process so everyone would be on the same page. We quickly realized a difficult challenge came with how to make on-boarding easy when having to apply so many devices.
Refinement
Exploring several clip, magnet, and pin designs led us to adhesive as having the ideal relationship between removability and permanence. Our solution needed to address concerns for damaging clothing, be easy as pie to put on, but not too easy for users would be tempted to remove them.
Form and Size
Sticking devices on coworkers and their friends helped to converge on thickness, form variations, and manufacturing methods so we could set dimensional restrictions for the Electrical Engineering team.
Conforming to the body
Allowing a bend between the battery and PCB was key in maximizing volume for internal components and in being comfortable along the curvature of the body.
The Stack-up
Several sensors had to work in harmony together, most importantly the PPG and Force Sensor. We implemented several testing procedures on our assembly line in Shenzhen to assure the readings were coming out reliably.
Human-Device Interface
Printing many iterations of the top curve, we narrowed on a configuration that balanced comfort with aesthetics. Fabric proved an ideal match for our requirements since it is successfully used for extended skin contact. Microfiber allowed easy die-cutting without concern for fraying on the edge and could withstand our durability requirements.
Final Internals
The Spire Health Tag
Apple Store Packaging
I developed the envelope insert and contributed to initial concepts and photography.