GCo Review – Nike Fuelband Review: Conclusion

The Nike Fuelband Review Conclusion

After one month with the Fuelband, I have achieved the following: earned 81,403 Fuel, walked 292,717 steps, burned 31,833 calories, traveled 143.22 miles. The whole month so far has been pretty interesting since I’ve incorporated the Fuelband into my lifestyle. I’ve used this little device as both the laziest person in the world and a fist-pumping monster so my interpretation of the Fuelband will have an interesting range of opinion. My last piece on the Fuelband detailed 5 tips to make the Fuelband work for you but after 30 days, there are definitely some more things to say.

 The simplest way for me to conclude my thoughts about the Fuelband will be to review and talk about some of the things I’ve really liked and disliked in my time with it:

What I Liked:

• Minimal impact on life and easy to use
• Excellent web-interface and online tracking
• Its the coolest watch I’ve owned:

It has never occurred to me that the Fuelband would actually replace my need for a watch. I’ve been wearing a G-Shock for the past five years everyday and I’ve simply stopped wearing it because I have this ultra-barebones but really cool watch to look at. There are no bells and whistles other than the fact that 100 white LEDs light up to tell time and then promptly disappear into the darkness.  The Fuelband is stylish and simple enough to surprise people around you and often results in a conversation about it.

What I Disliked:

• Worthless Metrics
• Does not promote/motivate new action.
• Forever alone on Nike+:

I had very few friends who used Nike+ and the one other person I knew with a Fuelband was impossible to find through Nike+. Due to this, I was really going through my Fuelband experience alone and missed out on some potential motivation. I wish I was able to see others’ profiles in Nike+ in my local zip code to compare my stats and see how I rank up against them. Even if they’re strangers, I’m sure constantly being reminded how a series of Nike+ users are reaching their goals when I’m not would help immensely.

Final Thoughts:

As an engagement product, good design and the right tools are all present in this device. The problem with this product for me is that I did not have a clear idea on how I would be using it. In hindsight, It was imperative that I associated the initial act of reaching my daily Fuel goal with more physical activity but I still have yet to figure out the ideal daily goal number for my lifestyle. Reaching my Fuel goals without any lifestyle changes during my search has made it hitting daily goals far less important to me than it could be. Good gamification design promotes users towards specific actions and motivates them to continue doing those set actions. The Fuelband provided a set of quantifiable metrics but this information did not point me towards any behavioral change – I needed direction, that which I am still searching for. The Fuelband wants to make life a sport but how do I win? This is why I believe the Fuelband is mostly suitable for those who already have clear goals and regiments in mind; the Fuelband can assist in achieving them but not in creating entirely new goals.

In conclusion, I still very much like the Fuelband. As I’ve said after my first week with the device, I’m much more willing to walk to destinations and perform more physical actions in an attempt to raise my Fuel count. Unfortunately, if I’m already at home after a long day and I haven’t met my goal, I do not feel any more motivated to meet my goal. Part of this is due to my ability to reach my goal without doing anything more and the other part is because the Fuelband’s counting is not that accurate or consistent. I have uploaded my performance from the past month and have a 50% “Goal Met” rate, which I do not feel particularly bad about. I believe the Fuelband can be a very effective tool to use but after a month or so – I’m mostly just humored by when I shatter my goal on dancing-filled weekends rather than feel pressure from low Fuel on those lazy Mondays.

So that’s all folks! Please, leave and questions and comments below and Stay tuned for more GCo Reviews in the future!

You can also read the first three parts of my month long review here.