Qualitative study of Apple Watch users shows enthusiasm is cooling

Apple Watch usage is dropping off as the novelty factors fades away, according to a qualitative study by MBLM, a “brand intimacy agency”, reports Luke Dormehl in Cult of Mac. While Apple’s wearable has found a place in many owners’ gadget ecosystems, the device is still viewed as distinctly nonessential.

The MBLM ethnography study is a year-long examination of 11 Apple Watch users aged 13 to 65 years. Overall, findings comprise approximately 1,500 open-ended responses and 45 hours of video footage.

Takeaways:

• The watch is one of several devices in our panel members’ daily lives.
• Compared to other Apple devices, the watch is nonessential.
• Unsure of when it will improve, users default to the obvious: it’s a watch.
• A major limitation is the watch is an appendage to the iPhone.
• It is constantly compared to the iPhone and generally fares poorly.
• There are doubts about the watch’s usefulness and significance as a game-changing wearable.
• Participants feel constrained with the watch until significant updates; users are withdrawing.
• This appears more situational than a long-term statement about the watch.
• Core functions must work better or more easily.
• Siri is the biggest of many issues around responsiveness that frustrate users and create unnecessary friction.