I miss the Bouncy Yellow Guy
Can good design be personable?
I’m a sucker for all kinds of gadgets, especially anything to do with exercise and health. My first activity tracker was Jawbone Up and I loved it! I had several of them, including two warranty replacements. Clearly they had some manufacturing issues, but I liked them anyway. The design was very simple and cool. There was no display or unnecessary extras.
In 2016 fitness tracker market tanked, partly because Apple Watch and Android Wear, partly because smartphones have got better with health and fitness tracking. For Jawbone it was end of story, the company was liquidated in July 2017. Fitbit is still around, but the share price has lost more than third of its value since 2016.
When my last Jawbone gave up, I was forced to look for alternatives. I went for Fitbit Charge 2. It does the job, but I don’t love it. I don’t hate it either, it’s just boring. I don’t feel any attachment to it which is slightly ironic as it’s attached to my wrist pretty much 24/7.
Jawbone had figured out brilliantly that good design doesn’t have to be boring.
This also included the smartphone app and it made a big difference. Jawbone app had excellent charts to track your progress, nice tip-of-the-day advice that reacted if you read it and crucially, there was the Bouncy Yellow Guy.
You might say it’s gimmicky or even childish, but it was done well. The Bouncy Yellow Guy was never obtrusive or annoying. It was there, cheering, when you finished an epic ultra marathon or just walked around the block. I have done both.
Another thing where The Bouncy Yellow Guy excelled was cheering your friends. You could send little notes to recognize the achievements of other people in your team. You also got regular updates on your friends’ progress. Sadly Fitbit does very little compared to this — you can add friends but that’s about it. There is Friends tab where you can Cheer/Taunt/Message your connections, but unfortunately it’s lacking personality.
I don’t see the situation getting better for Fitbit anytime soon. The market is saturated and buyers are not that excited about wearables any more. Maybe it’s time to pay attention to User Experience to be able to stand out from the crowd?
Yes, good design can be personable, but you have to get the balance right. Jawbone wearables were beautifully designed, almost like jewellery and their app was playful yet informative. Fitbit is reliable, but it lacks personality. If I had the choice I know which one to choose. Every time.
