Gamification stuff we love: Smart watch
with the Internet of Things being a bit of buzz, the next step in the future of our quantified self is probably the smart watch to help along with your smart phone, potentially down the line your smart home, car, etc. Years ago when I had to write my thesis for my degree in marketing, I chose to write about interactivity design that will automated or enable us to be more empowered when it comes to the things we use every day. I didn’t get great marks because it was a bit futuristic that was in the early 90’s, which has meant I have often said I wrote about that in my thesis.
Let’s just say I was an early adopter of visionary things 🙂
The smart watch is definitely in my view a gamification enabler that will give you instant access to a number of things you may want to be tracking. In my previous business stressed executives looking for work life balance, I would always give a time and activity tracking exercise for the initial 2 weeks, which worked fine when people worked in an office and the 15 minute prompts to enter activities, I reckon a smart watch would make this easier. We then used the data collected to analyse time eaters and things they just needed to plan more time for. The tracking in itself was used as an awareness creator but the activity would run a whole lot smoother if a smart watch had given the prompt as well as the drop down menu for activities to select.
All the clients that used the tool found their biggest time wasters and habits and I did have a few that kept a regular track on their time going forward, so for these guys the smart watch would be ideal.
With Apple announcing it’s iWatch for some time soon and the announcement of Swatch that they are also creating a smart watch but with their usual personalisation options, your watch your way was mooted and apps specifically written for you on your request, it will be an interesting space to watch.
For me it will allow me to wear a simple watch with my running apps on as opposed to strapping on a very annoying arm or waistband to carry the phone in, which will also allow for the uninterrupted day time run to return without phone calls. I like tracking lot’s of stuff, I think I grew up that way hence I am a fan of the quantified self approach and probably naturally attracted to this side of gamification. Trends and habit awareness for me are enablers for change.
As long as I have control over how public my signals are shared, I am quite in favour of smart watches and if the likes of Swatch can also make them look good for my taste and fashion then we found a happy medium.
What would you use your smart watch for?
