Improving Watch Face Readability for Users with Visual Impairments
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I would like to raise a topic regarding watch face readability and accessibility, especially for users with impaired vision.
I have been using Suunto watches for about 7 years, and overall I really appreciate the reliability, design philosophy, and sports features. However, one area where I think there is room for improvement is the readability of watch faces, particularly for users with weaker eyesight.
Currently, many of the watch faces prioritize a very large time display, while real-time activity metrics (such as heart rate, steps, altitude, battery status, etc.) are displayed in relatively small fields. For users with visual impairments, these metrics can be difficult to read at a glance.
In practice, this often means that during normal daily use or activities, checking important metrics requires stopping and focusing closely on the screen. From a UX and usability perspective, this reduces the usefulness of the watch face, especially during sports or outdoor activities where information should be quickly accessible.
From both a UX and accessibility standpoint, I would like to suggest a few potential improvements:
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Adjustable information hierarchy
Allow users to decide which element should be visually dominant on the watch face. For some users the time is the priority, but for others it might be heart rate, steps, training metrics, or battery status. -
Larger and clearer real-time metrics
The current metric fields are often too small for comfortable reading by users with weaker eyesight. Providing layouts with larger metric fields or scalable text sizes would significantly improve usability. -
Accessibility-focused watch faces
It could be very helpful to introduce watch faces designed specifically with readability in mind, for example:
high-contrast layouts
bold fonts
fewer but larger data fields
clearer spacing between elements
- More flexible customization
Allow users to control not only which metrics are displayed, but also their relative size and priority on the screen.
Accessibility improvements like these would not only benefit users with diagnosed vision impairments, but also anyone using the watch in real-world conditions — while running, cycling, moving quickly, or checking the watch in bright sunlight.
I would like to kindly suggest that the Suunto product team consider readability and accessibility improvements for watch faces in future updates. Even a small increase in customization or the introduction of accessibility-focused layouts could make a big difference for many users.
I’m also curious if other users here have experienced similar readability challenges with the current watch faces.
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