SURVEYS COMPARING PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCES OF SMARTWATCHES AND WRISTWATCHES
2019-2020
In the early stage of my PhD research, I conducted two surveys to compare the pleasurable experiences of using smartwatches and traditional wristwatches. As pilot studies, their aim was to explore differences in pleasurable experiences between a representative IoT product and its analogue counterpart through quantitative analysis, providing a foundation for subsequent research-through-design practices. Jordan’s four types of pleasure (2010) and Hassenzahl’s six psychological needs (2010, 2015) were adopted as the theoretical frameworks for the questionnaire design. In Survey 1, two separate questionnaires were distributed to smartwatch users and wristwatch users, respectively. In Survey 2, a single questionnaire was distributed to participants who had experience with both types of watches.
SURVEY 1
Survey 1 explores how users experience pleasure when interacting with Internet of Things (IoT) products, focusing specifically on smartwatches compared to traditional wristwatches. Drawing on two established frameworks in pleasure-driven design - Jordan’s four types of pleasure (2002) and Hassenzahl’s six psychological needs (2010, 2015), I designed this comparative study to better understand how different watch types satisfy emotional and psychological user needs.
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To carry out the research, I developed two online questionnaires—one for smartwatch users and one for wristwatch users. They were distributed via Reddit forums and the Royal College of Art (RCA) student network. The surveys collected both quantitative and qualitative data to assess how each type of watch contributes to user satisfaction and personal meaning.
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The surveys resulted in a total of 171 responses (87 wristwatch users and 84 smartwatch users). From these, 80 complete and valid responses from each group were used for final analysis.​ This study forms part of a broader investigation into how pleasure, emotional engagement and psychological needs influence connected technology use and user attachment to IoT products.
PUBLICATION
Lin, Z., Sommer, B., Ahmed-Kristensen, S. (2021). IoT Product Pleasurability - Investigating the Pleasurable User Experiences Between Conventional Products and IoT Products Through Watches. In: Brooks, A., Brooks, E.I., Jonathan, D. (eds) Interactivity and Game Creation. ArtsIT 2020. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 367. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73426-8_24
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This study has been published and presented as a peer-reviewed paper at the EAI ArtsIT 2020 conference. EAI ArtsIT is an interdisciplinary conference that unites researchers, practitioners and innovators from the fields of art, design and technology to explore and facilitate the integration of these disciplines. Please see the abstract of this paper here.
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DATA CORRECTION
After publishing the paper, I realised that I had omitted the Bonferroni correction in the t-test during data analysis. I have since revised the analysis and present the updated results below, which lead to a different conclusion from the one reported in the published paper.​
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When comparing the four types of pleasure reported by smartwatch and wristwatch users (see Table 1 and Figure 1), physio-pleasure (related to physical sensations) emerged as the most prominent across both groups, while ideo-pleasure (related to personal values or meaning) was the least. On average, participants rated their experiences as slightly pleasurable regardless of the watch type. Statistical analysis using a Bonferroni-corrected threshold showed no significant difference between the two groups, suggesting that both smartwatches and traditional watches provide similar levels of pleasure across all categories.​​
Table 1: The four kinds of pleasure compared between smartwatch users (n=80) and wristwatch users (n=80).
Figure 1: The comparison of experiences between smartwatch and traditional wristwatch users across four types of pleasure.
The comparison of six psychological needs (Table 2 and Figure 2) revealed that smartwatch users felt more fulfilled in areas such as relatedness, stimulation, competence, and meaning, while wristwatch users reported a higher sense of popularity. However, when applying a stricter Bonferroni-corrected threshold for statistical testing, no significant differences were found between the two groups—suggesting that both types of watches support users' psychological needs in broadly similar ways.​​
Table 2: The six psychological needs compared between smartwatch users (n=80) and wristwatch users (n=80).
Figure 2: The comparison of experiences between smartwatch and traditional wristwatch users across six psychological needs.
CONCLUSION
The comparison between smartwatch and wristwatch users did not show any significant statistical differences in how each type of product contributes to pleasurable experiences. Smartwatches, as IoT devices, did not demonstrate a clear advantage over traditional watches in delivering enjoyment or satisfaction. Users of both types reported similarly positive experiences. One possible reason is that individuals may rely on their familiarity with non-IoT products and do not perceive strong benefits or meaningful differences when using IoT alternatives.
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In this survey, participants responded based on their experience with either a smartwatch or a wristwatch, but not both. This made direct, side-by-side comparisons impossible. For the next study, a more refined method should be developed to compare the pleasurable experiences of smartwatches and traditional watches within the same group of users who have used both types.
SURVEY 2
Survey 2 represents a revised and improved version of Survey 1. To refine the findings, I included users who used both types of watches to directly compare their experiences, ensuring a more accurate reflection of their differences.
Recruitment for Survey 2 was conducted similarly to Survey 1, involving postings on Reddit under the “smartwatch” topic and sending emails to RCA students. The questionnaire received 192 responses, with 130 participants deemed valid for the final sample analysis as they had completed all the questions in the questionnaire and their response time exceeded 3 minutes, which indicates thoughtful engagement. This sample includes an equal number of Western (American, Australian, Austrian, Belgian, Bosnian, British, Canadian, Danish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Mexican, New Zealander, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, South African, Spanish and Turkish) and Eastern (Chinese, Malaysian, Singapore and South Korean) participants (65 each) to minimise cultural bias in the results. The categorisation of Eastern and Western countries was based on Huntington's theory (1998).
PUBLICATION
Lin, Z., Sommer, B., Ahmed-Kristensen, S. (2021). IoT Product Pleasurability - Investigating the Pleasurable User Experiences Between Conventional Products and IoT Products Through Watches. In: Brooks, A., Brooks, E.I., Jonathan, D. (eds) Interactivity and Game Creation. ArtsIT 2020. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 367. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73426-8_24
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This study has been published and presented as a peer-reviewed paper at ICED23: The 24th International Conference on Engineering Design (The Design Society, 2023). ICED is a prestigious conference in the field of engineering design that gathers researchers, academics and practitioners to discuss advancements in design theory, methodology and application while fostering collaboration within the global engineering design community. Please see the abstract of this paper here.​
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DATA ANALYSIS
After gathering the data, the results were analysed using statistical tests with a Bonferroni-corrected threshold (0.013).
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When comparing the four types of pleasure among parallel users of smartwatches and wristwatches (see Table 1 and Figure 1), the results showed that smartwatches provided higher levels of all four types of pleasure compared to traditional wristwatches. As in Survey 1, physio-pleasure received the highest average ratings, while ideo-pleasure ranked lowest for both types of watches. Statistical analysis using t-tests revealed significant differences in physio-, socio- and ideo-pleasure between smartwatch and wristwatch users.​​
Table 3: The four kinds of pleasure compared between smartwatches (n=130) and wristwatches (n=130).
Figure 3: The comparison of experiences between smartwatch and traditional wristwatch users across six psychological needs.
The comparison of mean scores for the six psychological needs (Table 4 and Figure 4) indicated that smartwatches generally fulfilled these needs better than wristwatches, with the exception of popularity. Most psychological needs were rated as moderately fulfilled by wristwatches, hovering just above the neutral point (0), while smartwatches reached or exceeded the “slightly fulfilled” level (1). Wristwatches were notably less effective in satisfying the needs for relatedness and stimulation. T-tests confirmed significant differences for all needs except popularity.
Table 4: The six psychological needs compared between smartwatches (n=130) and wristwatches (n=130).
Figure 4: The comparison of experiences between smartwatch and traditional wristwatch users across six psychological needs.
Overall, 72.31% of participants (n=94) reported that smartwatches offered a better experience than traditional wristwatches. Interestingly, about 15.38% (n=20) continued to use both types, even though they found smartwatches more pleasurable. In the open-ended responses, 10.77% (n=14) mentioned that they used smartwatches and wristwatches on different occasions, depending on context or purpose. Additionally, 6.92% (n=9) highlighted that the pleasurability of smartwatches stemmed from their IoT features such as connectivity, sensing, and data uploading.
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CONCLUSION
Unlike Survey 1, which compared separate groups of smartwatch and wristwatch users, Survey 2 explored these differences within a single group of participants who had experience with both products. This approach revealed clear contrasts between the pleasurable experiences associated with smartwatches and traditional wristwatches. The results showed that smartwatches, representing IoT products, elicited three types of pleasure (physio-, socio- and ideo-pleasure) and fulfilled six psychological needs (relatedness, stimulation, popularity, competence, meaning and security) differently from wristwatches. Overall, smartwatches outperformed wristwatches in generating pleasurable experiences and satisfying psychological needs. Participants often noted that smartwatches offered more engaging features beyond simply telling the time, supporting Hassenzahl et al. (2015), who found that psychological needs are more closely linked to hedonic than pragmatic qualities. Interestingly, popularity was the only dimension where wristwatches scored higher, possibly due to their long-standing association with identity and social status (Martin, 2002).
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM SURVEYS 1 AND 2
These findings confirm the continued relevance of pleasure-driven design theories in the context of emerging IoT products. They also highlight the potential of IoT transformations to inspire new approaches to designing for pleasurable experiences. This insight guided the next stage of my PhD research, focusing on how these identified pleasures and psychological needs can inform a new method for pleasure-driven design. Finally, the challenges of explaining certain patterns using quantitative data alone highlighted the importance of adopting a mixed methods approach. Integrating qualitative insights alongside quantitative analysis became essential for deepening the understanding of how IoT products shape user pleasure and experience.
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REFERENCE LIST
Jordan, P.W. (2002) Designing Pleasurable Products: An Introduction to the New Human Factors. 1st edition. Boca Raton London New York Singapore, Routledge.
Hassenzahl, M. (2010) Experience Design: Technology for All the Right Reasons. Morgan and Claypool Publishers.
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Hassenzahl, M., Wiklund-Engblom, A., Bengs, A., Hägglund, S. & Diefenbach, S. (2015) Experience-Oriented and Product-Oriented Evaluation: Psychological Need Fulfillment, Positive Affect, and Product Perception. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact. doi:10.1080/10447318.2015.1064664.
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Martin, T.L. (2002) Time and time again: parallels in the development of the watch and the wearable computer. In: Proceedings. Sixth International Symposium on Wearable Computers,. 2002 pp. 5–11. doi:10.1109/ISWC.2002.1167212.