What’s the value of a smartwatch? What do consumers expect from these multitasking wearable devices? And how can brands take advantage of this tiny addition to the device ecosystem? To uncover the answers to these questions, we partnered with our friends at the user experience research and testing firm AnswerLab. We’re thrilled to share the findings of our research in a FREE report: Smartwatch Apps That Work: 5 Value Drivers To Make Your App Indispensable. During our comprehensive study, we spoke with both smartwatch owners and prospective buyers—and found they had sky-high expectations for smartwatches. Our participants described themselves as early adopters who wanted these gadgets to make their lives more productive and convenient. Unfortunately, while owners and prospective buyers alike found today’s smartwatches to be both fun and flashy…they also consider them expendable. The culprit? Disappointing smartwatch apps. Many users in our study opened their apps once, failed to find value in them, and then forgot about them altogether. And some of our participants didn’t even know that watch apps existed! In short, a dearth of killer smartwatch apps is lowering the value proposition of the smartwatch as a whole. But there’s hope for brands ready to fill this void: we isolated five key components of smartwatch apps that will move them out of consumers’ periphery and make them truly indispensable.

1. © Copyright 2015. All Rights Reserved.
SMARTWATCH
APPS THAT WORK
5 Value Drivers To Make
Your App Indispensable
July 2015

2. WHAT’S THE VALUE
OF A SMARTWATCH?
For more than decade, the wearables industry has produced an
increasingly steady stream of unitasking devices. Fitness
trackers have enjoyed recent widespread adoption—while
gadgets like pet activity monitors and gesture-controlled
presentation remotes fill more obscure niches.
Now, multitasking smartwatches have the potential to upend
the wearables market.
How can brands take advantage of this tiny
addition to the device ecosystem?
To investigate, AnswerLab and Kerry Bodine & Co. partnered
on a research study. We examined the expectations, needs,
and behaviors of smartwatch owners and prospective buyers.

3. SMARTWATCHES ARE FUN, FLASHY…
AND EXPENDABLE
THE LETDOWN
10

4. LETDOWN #1
Hardware limitations
curb smartwatch
usefulness.
• Short battery life
• Steep learning curve
• Still tethered to
phones

5. LETDOWN #2
Smartwatch apps
don’t provide
anticipated value.
• Big shoes to fill
• Back-to-phone syndrome
• …Why bother?
I was surprised by how few
functions there are. The idea
is that you do most stuff on
your iPhone.
– Pebble owner
“
”

6. App apathy
Many users in our study didn’t use apps
on their watches. Most opened new
apps once, failed to find value, then
forgot about them altogether. Others
didn’t know where to find apps—
or didn’t realize they existed at all!
BAD NEWS FOR BRANDS
Nuance
Participants made allowances for the watch’s
failure to live up to expected features and
functionality. But they had zero patience with
apps that fell short.
Smartwatch app is
forgettable
Smartwatch app is
desirable
Smartwatch app is
indispensible
Many of today’s
smartwatch apps
are here

7. Smartwatch stagnation
A dearth of killer apps lowers
the value proposition of the
smartwatch as a whole.
BAD NEWS FOR MANUFACTURERS
I would want the watch to
do more. Something needs
to be added before I would buy.
– Prospective Samsung buyer
“
”
It’s a fun thing to have
and to talk about. But it’s not
a necessity like your phone.
– Prospective Apple buyer
“
”
Smartwatch is
abandoned
Smartwatch is
a luxury
Smartwatch is
an appendage
Today’s
smartwatches
are here

8. HOW CAN YOU CREATE APPS
THAT MAKE SMARTWATCHES—
AND YOUR BRAND—INDISPENSABLE?
VALUE DRIVERS

9. 5 VALUE DRIVERS TO CREATE
KILLER SMARTWATCH APPS:
1. Get intimate with your users.
Tap into preferences, past behaviors, and current context.
2. Curate ruthlessly.
Strip content and design elements to the bare minimum.
3. Enable bite-size interactions.
Empower users to complete meaningful tasks in a flash.
4. Leverage the device ecosystem.
Provide value while utilizing the strengths of other devices.
5. Show utility now.
Provide immediate evidence of your app’s benefits.

10. I’m pretty sure I know
what to expect from this app…
Expectation
5. SHOW UTILITY NOW
“
Reality:
”
WTF is this?!? What does this even do?
”“

11. Don’t do this
JetBlue’s app provides no guidance
on what makes it useful. Can users
book a flight? Check flight status?
Make onboard purchases? There’s
no way to tell, and the countdown
clock feels…ominous.
Or this
The Fandango app shows movie
info, but only if a user has already
purchased a ticket. Without an
upcoming reservation, the app
only shows screenshots of
unrelated movie quotes.
Try this
OpenTable makes a very specific
promise: users can expect a
reminder of existing reservations
on their wrist — presumably,
at the appropriate time.
SHOW UTILITY NOW.

12. High Hopes
Our study participants had very specific mental models
that shaped their expectations for smartwatch apps—
models that had little to do with descriptions in the app
store, which they were unlikely to read. If functionality
didn’t match up, users’ interest in the app cratered.
No second chances
Once disappointed, users were unlikely to open an app
in the future to check for additional functionality.
Watch this
As users gained more smartwatch experience, most
admitted that perfect phone app replicas wouldn’t be
useful on the watch interface. Instead, they advocated
for transparency as soon as they opened an app.
What does it do and when?
Why it matters
SHOW UTILITY NOW.
I imagine the watch does the same thing
as a cell phone.
– Prospective Apple buyer
“ ”
To an app whose function
she didn’t understand:
Go away!
– Moto360 owner
“ ”

13. What it might look like
SHOW UTILITY NOW.
Too soon
Julia’s flight is later in the
week, so when she opens
her airline app she’s
reminded: “check back here
for your boarding pass.”
Ready to go
After parking
at the airport,
Julia looks again:
she can see both
her boarding pass
and her flight status
on her watch.
Cruising altitude
Once Julia is connected to
the onboard wifi, her airline
app gives her a quick nudge
to show it has switched
functions: she can use it to
make onboard purchases.
Touchdown
Julia checks her hotel app
from the tarmac to get the
hotel address. The app also
tells her “your room key will
appear here after you check
in at the front desk.”
Around town
After she stops to pick up her
rental car, an app buzzes to
life. She sees she can use it
for two things: Remotely
unlocking her car, and calling
emergency services in case
of an accident.
Home again
After her trip, Julia’s travel
apps switch function again,
this time showing that
her she can use them to
request her recent receipts.
Julia is a 60-year
old business
traveler.

14. To learn more about what drives
smartwatch app value and how to get
started, download the full report now!
Download FREE Report

15. AnswerLab Kerry Bodine & Co.
Kerry Bodine & Co. is a customer experience
consultancy with a passion for human-
centered design. We believe that remarkable
customer experiences can’t be outsourced. They
must be built from within. And that requires new
ways of working and thinking. That’s why we
approach our journey mapping engagements as
coaches—not as traditional business consultants.
Happy customers lead to happy shareholders.
LET’S MAKE HAPPY HAPPEN.
AnswerLab.com
@AnswerLab
KerryBodine.com
@kerrybodine
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