A faster horse

Samsung’s smartwatch is going to be part of a superb case study in a few years. Whatever inputs Samsung used to design the product, it’s hard to imagine that they thought about it through the Jobs-to-be-Done lens.

What job is a customer hiring the Samsung watch to do? I can’t think of a compelling one. From my understanding, Samsung’s smartwatch is an expensive way to extend your existing smartphone’s features. It offers an unfocused set of experiences, some which may offer value (displaying your phone’s notifications) but some which are downright bizarre (enabling you to make calls through your watch).

It appears that Samsung’s thinking behind the consumer’s experience is simplistic and shallow. This failure will become startling clear when we experience the first wrist-based wearable that gains market acceptance.