Google Pixel Watch Fitbit App

Summary

In 2020, I led the UX design for Fitbit’s integration into the first-ever Google wearable, the Pixel Watch. Prior to the official merger, Google contracted Fitbit to build a second-party fitness experience for its unreleased smartwatch. As UX Lead, I managed a team of thirteen designers and worked closely with partners at Google, navigating legal boundaries, third-party development, and an unfinished design system to deliver Fitbit’s first non-Fitbit device experience.

Goals

Fitbit’s task was to bring its core health and fitness tracking capabilities, long trusted by millions, to a brand-new platform. This meant building two foundational apps: a robust exercise-tracking app, and a daily metrics dashboard, both optimized for the circular display and system architecture of Pixel Watch. The integration needed to feel true to Fitbit’s identity while aligning with Google’s early design language and unknown roadmap.

Process

I partnered with product management to define scope and timelines across complex constraints: a two-month design window, an external engineering team unfamiliar with Fitbit, and limited access to evolving Google systems. I forecasted a twelve-month timeline, later proven accurate, and began streamlining features to meet aggressive early deadlines.

Throughout the year, my team ran concurrent design sprints focused on Fitbit’s key value areas: simplicity, clarity, and user trust. We delivered the following. An exercise app supporting 32 workout types, with goals, splits, and lap tracking. A metrics app displaying heart rate, steps, calories, sleep, and more, synced with the Fitbit mobile app. A bespoke onboarding flow for Pixel Watch’s unique setup path. UX writing and research support throughout, including multiple prototype tests with real users.

We collaborated with Google’s teams across multiple touchpoints, adapting our work to shifting design patterns and steadily contributing influence back into their evolving design system.

Collaboration

To maintain legal separation while delivering high quality, we coordinated with an external development firm, creating detailed interaction specs and behavioral guides to reduce ambiguity. Simultaneously, we worked closely with Google’s leadership, who requested a stronger Fitbit presence in the final product. I negotiated additional design time, eventually tripling the original schedule, to ensure we could deliver the depth and quality expected on both sides.

Results

The Fitbit apps shipped alongside the first Google Pixel Watch, marking a historic first for both companies. While the product’s commercial performance was modest, our work laid the foundation for Google’s future wearable strategy. We also contributed several lasting design wins. These included a live heart rate graph widget, initially rejected, was approved after I partnered with UX research to demonstrate user value. At launch, it was named a standout feature by reviewers at The Verge and Ars Technica. Our design system integration work helped shape Google’s smartwatch UI, seeding new patterns that persist across devices today. Our team proved that Fitbit’s strengths could carry forward into a broader ecosystem, influencing the design of future Pixel Watch iterations.