The most anticipated product launch of the year is upon us. Come 24 April, Apple evangelists will be queuing through the night to be the first to transmit iPhone notifications to their wrists and pay for Starbucks with a swipe of Apple Pay’s contactless payment technology. But while brands like Facebook, eBay, Twitter, Uber and BMW are clamoring to be amongst the first available apps, it raises the question, are brands ready for the 42mm challenge?
We know that whether Apple’s wearables will succeed where Google Glass failed will depend on customer uptake. Which, in turn, will depend on the usefulness of its apps. And for brands looking to capitalise on this next phase in human connectivity, there will be three hallmarks for wearable watch success.
The first hallmark of success will be simplicity. Space is at a premium and functionality is still relatively basic compared to the smartphone, so design will be necessarily sparse. Equally, getting people to trial a new behavior amongst the plethora of devices on offer means there will need to be a strong payback to incentivise uptake – whether that’s saving time or making daily tasks easier. Health and wellbeing apps are already leading the wearables charge here — making it easier for fitness fiends to monitor their activity and heart-rate, while serving basic but useful notifications on goals achieved. Other likely winners will be those apps that require minimal data input from the user — like tapping your screen to order a taxi, as Uber has done, cutting away some of the structure of its phone app but leaving the essential actions. To be effective, content and response mechanisms will need to reach new levels of simplicity.
The second hallmark of success will be targeting and timing. Intrusive and poorly targeted notifications will instantly provoke frustration when they’re buzzing on your skin. Content updates will need to be carefully planned so as to present information and communication updates at times that make sense for the user, with ample options to personalise their preferences. Brands that have taken this to heart include the Guardian, which is basing its Apple Watch app around a concept called ‘Moments’. Rather than bombarding the user with every new breaking story, the app will work to deliver notifications of key stories at certain times of the day. The aim is that users begin to anticipate when content will arrive, driving loyalty and attachment to the brand. Similarly, TripAdvisor’s app, among its usual reviews and ratings of attractions, will include a ‘glances’ feature that provides a concise roundup of hotel and restaurant reviews near the wearer, using the Watch’s GPS function.
And finally, the third hallmark of success will be real-world integration. Apple’s painstaking design isn’t just about producing a mini-smartphone. Rather, their watch is pointing towards a far more revolutionary vision — removing the human/digital interface altogether. Built-in NFC technology will enable people to open car doors, pass through tube ticket barriers and unlock the hotel rooms, just by standing near them. Philips is even working on a way in which Apple Watch customers can turn its Hue smart light bulb on and off, while Dexcom is working on an app specifically designed for diabetics that can monitor glucose levels through sensors under the skin. With a range of vibration types designed to train your brain to recognise different type of notifications and act based on the information gleaned, this could even be the first mass-market bionic enhancement to human design, as well as reducing the now compulsive need to constantly check the smartphone screen.
Brands need to think about those longer term possibilities — how can this device that is attached to us at all times make our interactions with the real world even smoother and more seamless, without our even having to look at it. From fitness and phone calls to contactless payment, that could be the game-changer. It might not happen right away, but in years to come, we could well be asking ourselves how we ever got by without them.
By Clare Broadbent, CEO at Cedar.
How well do you think the Apple Watch will be received? Let us know below!
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