Less than 10 days ago, you might recall that I was a proud owner. After wearing it for 6 days in a row and chatting with other owners, I stopped wearing it for 4 days. I did not miss it and it didn’t change my daily routine. Don’t get me wrong the Nike+ Fuelband is a great tech gadget. It works well. I enjoy it for what it does but it doesn’t do what I want. I returned it because it feels short of my expectation.
What I found out is that most happy owners like the Fuelband because it motivates them to walk more. I already walk a lot. I easily do 10,000 steps every day, often more.
I was led to believe differently when I saw pictures like the one at the top on the Fuelband Facebook page. After using it, I can tell you that the Fuelband will not reward you enough for doing your training sessions and other exercises. I didn’t like the fact that I won fuels while driving my car or that preparing a meal that requires a lot of cutting will earn me more fuels than my 20 minute yoga session. For these reasons, I returned it to the Apple store.
I bought it for the cool factor. As I used it, reason took over the emotional factor. Marketers and product managers, this is something to remember when you market a product.
+ photo credits: Nike+ Fuelband Facebook page
