What people want from technology: simplicity

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When it comes to technology, what do you want most from your devices and gadgets? The answer may depend on where you’re from.

According to the new Ketchum Digital Living Index, most people want technology to be easy to use and to simplify their lives.

In a survey of 6,000 people in six different countries, 54 percent said they want technology that is easy to use and 46 percent said they want it to simplify their life, while only 35 percent said they wanted technology to entertain them and 11 percent said they want it to signal who they are to the world.

But technology companies seem to be falling down on the job when it comes to giving consumers what they want, the survey found.

Seventy-six percent of consumers said they are not very satisfied with technology’s ability to make their lives simpler.

“The most surprising finding in the study is the overwhelming desire for simplification. It seems counterintuitive when technology is always about being bigger or better or faster, but the data show that what people really want is to understand how all of these devices can get them to their desired experience easily,” said Esty Pujadas, partner and director of Ketchum’s Global Technology Practice.

“Manufacturers need to use less jargon and communicate more about the human experience, not just about the object.”

When asked to rate their overall feelings about personal technology, there are definitely some cultural differences. Forty-four percent of people in China said they love their smartphone — more than Germans (37 percent), Brits (36 percent) and Americans (36 percent) and nearly double the number of French (24 percent).

Tablets and computers get more love (42 percent) than other products like TVand video (38 percent) and smartphones (35 percent).

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