Client: North Inc. (acquired by Google in 2020)


Role
: UX Designer, Visual Designer, Motion Designer


Goal
: Design a clear information architecture, a cohesive visual language and determine product market fit through various iterative design processes.

Focals were the first pair of prescription smart glasses to look like real glasses, one of Time’s best inventions of 2019. The research and development for North’s smart glasses was a technological moving target — it was a moonshot project with many unknowns and incredibly tight constraints.

This meant our design team had to be adaptable, designing each new/adjusted product with a solid foundation. We asked the questions: What would be consistent with each adaptation? What was true to the product no matter the adjustments in display size or input device? And what was the story that would hold it all together, make an amazing product, and make future design decisions easier?

We quickly defined new rules and patterns to bake into a constantly evolving style guide. I collaborated with the team to find and define those patterns in a shared guide that I created and maintained. It facilitated a strong design base while still allowing creative and flexible solutions.

visual design
ux/ui design
Showing the smartlgasses OS icons animating between selected and unselected states.An image demonstrating what it looks like to see the display through the smartglasses.A UI mockup of a turn-by-turn scenario using Focals smartglasses.