Tag Archives: smartwatches

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Does wearable tech make you more productive?

For years now the idea of wearable technology, be it watch, ring, glasses, or some other combination has been touted as not only the road to better health but improved productivity as well. I’ve been a wearable tech guy for as long as I’ve been able to get ahold of said tech and want to share some observations if you’re planning to make the leap. This week on Cross Platform we’ll discuss the benefits and challenges of wearable tech so let’s start exploring some of the facets here.

What is the right form factor?

Form factor is a key part of wearable tech because if you won’t wear it consistently, it won’t do any good for you. Smartwatches are the most common design we’ll find today, but among them there is a wide variety in design.  I’m including fitness trackers in this mix as well since many provide productivity features beyond step and heart rate tracking.

When it comes to finding the right form factor, make sure whatever device you’re investigating comes with a good return policy.  There’s nothing worse than investing in a device for hundreds of dollars to find it doesn’t quite fit right under your favorite shirt or feels uncomfortable on your wrist. Take a couple of days to get used to the device as part of your life before you decide if you’re going to give it a longer trial.

Battery life can be a showstopper.

If you invest in a piece of wearable tech and it can’t make it through a full day of your activity, as I’ve encountered with devices in the past, it’s not worth the money.  Even the latest versions will often struggle with running for a full day with all their features enabled (and you paid for those so why wouldn’t you want them turned on) decreasing their value eventually.  Currently I wear a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and need to charge it daily.  Fortunately charging only takes about 30-45 minutes and I can do it during idle activity times (such as writing this post.)

I’ve been asked why I don’t charge the watch overnight and it’s a simple answer…that’s one of the main times I use the watch.  I use the sleep tracking feature every day (I’ll talk about that more later) so having it sitting on the charger while I sleep defeats the purpose.  Purchasing multiple chargers or charging my watch off my phone (thank you Samsung) has made the times I’ve been unable to deliberately charge more manageable, but every watch face I use has a power indicator just to be safe.

What do you need the device to do?

Over at ProductivityCast we’re in the thick of recording a series about productivity terminology and the importance of definition.  Reaping the benefits of wearable tech is equally dependent on you defining your objectives for the device, especially what you don’t expect from it as much as what you do. Many devices now support apps like a smartphone, and this turns out to be asking wearable tech to do things it’s just not good at and ruining the experience.

The most common things for wearables are health tracking, which can have a significant impact on your quality of work, scheduling (reminders and such), and notifications for messaging and events.  If these fit your needs, then you’re right in the wearable sweet spot.  When you start asking wearables to manage your task lists, track your hours, or manage your email, you’re pushing the outer limits of what wearables can do well.  It’s possible, but you do need to keep your expectations reasonable.

It’s better to feel good than to look good

Health tracking is one of the core feature sets of all wearables and I find this has the greatest impact on my quality of work. While I may be able to respond to a text message from my watch, or see the next thing on my calendar, tracking things such as sleep quality, activity levels, and body composition help me make decisions that have a long-term impact. Only through this frequent monitoring and review have I come to terms with what my health choices make when it comes to my mindset and energy levels.

The tip of the iceberg

These features are only the beginning of what you can do with a wearable.  Electronic payments, music controls, navigation, and even phone calls are just a sample of what I’ve used my watch for in the past week.  What it all comes down to is this…a wearable is an extension of your existing productivity platform, not the center of it.  A wearable should be effective and efficient when you need it and invisible when you don’t. After all, if you were ok with something being omni-present in everything you do, you’d just use your phone, wouldn’t you?

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Smartwatches are dead, long live smartwatches

There’s been a rash of articles out as of late proclaiming the death of smartwatches as a technology without a future. Delays in the Android Wear operating system, pushing back of hardware releases by major manufacturers, and protests by Tim Cook as to the volume of Apple Watch sales all lend to the “where there’s smoke there’s fire” argument when it comes to the demise of smartwatches. Yet, there are signs the news of their death may be premature.

The recent news from Google they will be releasing two Nexus branded smartwatches combined with the scheduled release of Android Wear 2.0 makes one think perhaps the manufacturers are not backing away from the platform but rather biding their time to see what moves are made by the major players to cement their interest in producing new models of devices. When this argument is made the pundits often devolve their positions into two main points: wearables are only good for fitness and there is no real reason for smartwatches to be compelling.

I for one wear a smartwatch daily. Yes, there are issues.  Yes, I wish it had better battery life. Yes it’s much larger than a standard watch. But when I look at the purposes it serves for me, I can’t help but wonder if people are really missing the point of the wearable.  Let’s lay down some guidelines to evaluate wearables:

  1. Wearables are not phone replacements.  Due to limited screen size, storage, and battery life a wearable is not a realistic replacement to a smartphone. Some companies have been trying through the addition of LTE technologies to position the wearable as a replacement for the phone, but I’d pose it’s unrealistic with current tech. A few years from now maybe, but even then I don’t see any clear solution to the screen size issue which is a linchpin to the device usability. With that in mind I’ll stipulate that a smartwatch is an accessory and enhancement to a smartphone, not a replacement to said device.
  2. Wearables should be able to do everything your smartphone can do. Again, another false equivalency positioned around the technology. Smartwatches are very good at things such as notifications, reminders, and prompts for action. Their ability to capture and process information is much more questionable. Here’s a practical example. As an American Football fan I follow our local team on Twitter. During games, when I frequently have conflicts preventing me from watching right then, the team tweets out updates and score changes.  Without a smartwatch I’d be pulling my phone out every time an update came in…a rude action when in polite company. However, with my smartwatch, I’m able to glance at my wrist, see the update, and immediately continue what I’m doing or the conversation I’m having. Would I expect my smartwatch to provide all the play by play and in depth analysis I can get from my phone? Not in the least. By leveraging what the smartwatch is best at I can be more efficient in my consumption of the information and remain more engaged in the activities around me.
  3. A smartwatch works best by voice. We’ve seen the ads of people “talking” to their smartwatch, giving commands and getting information, all with a slightly smug / happy face as part of the process.  Let’s be realistic.  Even in today’s technology wonderland, holding your watch up to your mouth and talking to it still looks funny. For those old enough to remember the Dick Tracy comics it is the epitome of “the future” but in daily use it becomes rather impractical. A better perspective is the ability of the smartwatch to pass commands to your smartphone without having to interact with the phone directly. This not only makes the interactions more convenient, sometimes even safer, but also improves the battery life on your phone (and we all know how critical that is.) An example of this is my predilection for podcast listening while working. If I’m at task in the outdoors, such as my annual battle with the leaf deluge in my yard, being able to adjust the volume and podcast choice on apps such as Pocket Casts from my smartwatch makes the process far more convenient than having to take out my phone each time to make an adjustment.

Are smartwatches the logical next evolution to smartphones?  No more so than the mouse was to the keyboard. It’s an extension, an improvement, but not a replacement. You may be thinking to get the most from a smartwatch you need the latest and greatest (as is so often the perception with tech) but that is far from the case.  My smartwatch is the original Android Wear device…the LG G Watch. It’s not receiving the Android Wear 2.0 update, it’s like an old Volvo (boxy but good), and it does the jobs I ask of it. Smartwatches have a much longer cycle of use, requiring far less frequent updates from a hardware perspective to reap the benefits of the feature set.

So to the smartwatch manufacturers of the world I say, stop trying to make them into Swiss Army knives and focus on solid tech, good displays, and excellent battery life.  Let the application developers produce the breadth of functional variety for people to tune their devices to their needs and those of us who find benefit from a digital assistant on their wrist will be the loyal fans we are want to be.

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This article was originally posted on LinkedIn