That was the challenge with WearTechClub — a startup building futuristic smart clothing that tracks real-time vitals like heart rate and blood oxygen, all synced seamlessly to your phone. The shirt was ready. The question for us: How do you make something as dry as “device pairing” feel as futuristic as the shirt itself?
Turning Setup Into a Ritual
Pairing is usually the dullest part of any wearable. Scroll for Bluetooth, tap connect, wait. It’s not exactly the stuff of sci-fi. But it’s also the very first touchpoint, the moment when the “magic” of a product should begin.
So instead of a list of devices, we built a living model of the shirt’s sensor. It glowed, pulsed and responded as if waiting for you. When the user placed the device on their chest, the app mirrored the action with light and animation. Setup stopped feeling like setup. It became a ritual.
Designing With Material DNA
The product carried its identity in the physical: fabric, LEDs, textures, seams. Those details became the foundation of the design language.
We pulled in the glow of the LEDs, the texture of the fabric, the way the sensor lights up when active. We even studied how people instinctively touch and adjust the device, turning those gestures into UI cues. The interface felt less like an app bolted on top, and more like a natural extension of the product itself.
Sci-Fi Inspo
There was no avoiding the Iron Man parallel: a glowing device at the center of your chest, feeding you data. But rather than leaning into cosplay, we kept it subtle: soft shading, layered transparency, depth that suggested breath more than spectacle. A UI that felt organic, futuristic, but grounded in its role as a health tool.
Why the Details Matter
Was this just polish? Maybe. But polish is what makes tech feel human. By reimagining pairing, we turned friction into anticipation. Users didn’t feel like they were configuring a product — they felt like they were stepping into a new kind of relationship with it. That emotional hook is what brings people back.
What This Means for Wearable UX
Designing for wearables isn’t just about screens. It’s about bridging physical and digital: gestures, textures, cultural cues, even pop culture references used carefully. The most exciting questions often start from the driest prompts (like Bluetooth pairing).
Because when you design the future of wearables, the small stuff is never small.
This project was part of STRV Launchpad, our program for early-stage startups exploring bold ideas.
