The Haptic Endorphin Addiction — Why Apple Watch Will Be a Hit!
While typing this article, I’m lucky if I can go for a minute without switching to facebook or looking up the email count on one of the dozen opened tabs— I’m an endorphin junky!
I wasn’t always a junky. It all started in 2000 when my boss, CEO of our startup handed me a pager looking device, half keyboard and half green screen. He hinted on the privilege of getting a Blackberry as it was only reserved for directors and VPs. Till then, I would check my email every hour at most.
The vibration buzz attached to my belt-clip was probably designed by Pavlov himself. In a short time I was so well conditioned, that when our blackberry service was out for a week, I continued to reach out for the device and took glances periodically at week old messages. My life was never the same again!
I experienced that visceral buzz again couple of weeks ago when visiting the Apple Watch lab to test out our watch extension.
Everytime there was a notification, the “ding” came with subtle haptic sensation.
Except Apple has managed to craft the vibration into something else. Like a dessert from a master chef. Not cloyingly strong yet with enough flavors to light up all the pleasure neurons of your taste buds making you want more and more.
A day later I realized how addictive that was.
It’s obvious Apple must have spent days refining their haptic note. And they deserve some type of IP protection — if there was one. In fact the entire experience is designed around building an addiction. From animating the one of the many time-lapsed blossoms on each glance to the haptic reaction of notification. Apple wants to make sure you will be taking constant glances at your watch, more than you ever imagined possible.
While everyone is complaining about the battery life (yes it’s important) or this or that sensor not working or not getting included, they are missing the point. They are viewing the Apple Watch with the incorrect frame of mind.
Apple Watch is an iPhone accessory. A wearable accessory to complement the iphone that just happens to go around the wrist. Think of it as the second-screen for your iPhone in a similar way an iPad or iPhone could be a second-screen for home entertainment. The only difference is this accessory will touch you in a way you haven’t been touched before. It will gently nudge you every time you have a Instagram or a Facebook “like”. Creating a truly physical sensation to your visual endorphin of the red “like” counter.
The sensors and other functionalities of the Apple Watch are just to get buyers overcome their shoppers remorse. Apple is providing enough justifications (improving your health, convenience, luxury) to get you in, but they’ll get you hooked with their haptic buzz.
Some predictions
The next WhatsApp or Snapchat will be a watch app.
At the Watch lab, the team next to my station was feverishly busy testing all possible user flow variations. I later learnt they were with YO. I told them half-jokingly, YO will be the “killer app” of Apple Watch. Thinking about it more now, I’ve become more convinced. It may not be YO, but some simplified messaging app designed around Apple Watch will be the “killer app”.
Gestures will finally replace navigation buttons.
We all saw the power of gesture navigation when Sailfish OS running on Jolla Phones first came out. It became clear swiping left, right was the navigation of the future over the back buttons and every app should use gestures instead of the navigation buttons that came from the PC interfaces.
However, it has taken a long time for many UX designers, app developers or even Apple and Google to fully embrace gestures. Part of the reason is getting users to adopt gestures over the button-based interface they are so use to.
With Apple Watch’s small screen, navigation buttons are gone and gesture are forced on to the users. This will inherently make gestures more accepted (even if it’s initially forced) and it’ll make gestures trickle up to become more available on mobile apps.
However, not every gesture is intuitive. Apple’s own weather app (one of my favorite app UIs on the Watch) switches mode by tapping. This interaction is not very clear at first and will have some learning curve for many users. So it would require a unified approach to the language of gestures for gestures to become universally accpeted. I’m guessing Apple will be strictly enforcing that aspect of app Watch approval process to ensure a corss-app cohesive gesture experience.
Emojis will be the language of Apple Watch
The Apple Watch will become a school nightmare. With everyone passing love messages and secretly glancing at their watches.
IM and SMS started their own lexicons: LMAO, BRB, 9, WYWH, etc. With the limited screen size and desire to respond back from the watch, Emoji might become the language of choice. Because of that, combining Emoji phrases in an Emojigrams might become more popular. If so, Any app owning the Emojigram language can become a big winner.
A cheaper Apple Watch will come in a year
Apple will probably make a stripped-down version by next year to cater to the teenagers wanting to chat secretly. It probably lack the sensors to differentiate the cost.
Stop glancing at your wrist all the time!
Phantom vibration will be the next nervous tick. Keep your eyes on impulsive glances on watch-less wrists or the constant viewing of the watch. Eventually in time, users will become adept at subtle glances to appear less rude.
Which also means we’ll be losing an important non-verbal hint. The tell-all signal the person is in a rush, disinterested or has to cut the meeting short is the not-so-subtle look at the watch. With the Apple Watch, we’ll lose that cue and need to find a different hint now.
Apple Watch needs a critical mass
For Apple Watch to become the new messaging screen, it’ll need to reach some critical mass. Apple’s strategy with the luxury path makes a lot of sense. Exclusivity is a luxury appeal that gives Apple Watch its beachhead before moving to becoming the messaging platform.
Final words
I walked into Apple’s testing lab thinking this was a waste of time for us. Being convinced the watch will be a failure and not ever wanting to buy one myself. It took me a day or so to recount the haptic sensation and realizing I had been wrong.
I’ll be ordering the Sports model (the cheapest) so I can better master the UX challenges of this new platform whose success will take most people by surprise.
