Verizon Gizmo Watch
A smartwatch worn by a six-year-old and bought, set up and trusted by a parent.
The problem
The watch is worn by a child but bought, configured and trusted by a parent. Every new feature had to be simple enough for a six-year-old's wrist and clear enough to earn a parent's confidence from the companion app.
Key decisions
- Design every feature as a pair. Each feature (Ask & Learn AI assistant, weather, alerts, video calling and texting, water lock, to-do lists) has an on-watch interaction and a GizmoHub counterpart for the parent, designed together.
- Keep the wrist simple and put control with the parent. The watch shows a child only what they need in the moment. Setup, rules and trusted contacts (up to 10–20 per watch, including multiple guardians) live in GizmoHub.
- Design for a child who grows. The feature set extends the watch's useful life as children age into it, instead of being outgrown in a year.
Outcome
Forbes Vetted named the Gizmo Watch 4 its Best Kids Smartwatch Overall in 2026 after hands-on family testing. The ecosystem serves 700K+ active parent accounts managing more than 2M connected family contacts. The GizmoWatch won a GOOD DESIGN Award in 2019, and Gizmo Watch 3 and Gizmo Watch 3 Adventure won a Red Dot Award in 2023 for child-oriented UX/UI design and integrated safety features.
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