Hey! IT's too smart for me! Customers cringe at too-complex tech thrown at them

06th January 2015
Hey! IT's too smart for me! Customers  cringe at  too-complex tech thrown at them

New York, January 6, 2015:As visitors drool over the smart goodies being unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas  this week, here is a dose of reality:   Hi-tech is great but it can be intimidating.
Most consumers experience challenges using several new types of smart high tech devices, finds a study by Accenture, the global IT services leader with a string India DNA.

Overall, 83 percent report various problems when they use new device types such as wearable fitness monitors, smart watches, smart home thermostats, in-vehicle entertainment systems, home connected surveillance cameras and security systems, and wearable health productssays the report entitled  Engaging the Digital Consumer in the New Connected World.
The biggest challenges consumers face are that the smart devices are “too complicated to use” (21 percent), “set-up did not proceed properly” (19 percent), and “did not work as advertised” (19 percent).Across all age groups and geographic regions surveyed, 33 percent cited “ease of use” as the most important criteria when deciding which of these products to buy. Twenty-nine percent said “product features and functionalities” are important. And 22 percent said the same about buying “a trusted brand.”
"High tech companies need to go back to the drawing board and rethink their product development approaches to focus on the entire customer experience,” says  Sami Luukkonen, managing director for Accenture’s Electronics and High Tech group.
Digital distrust
The survey found that trust is a big concern for consumers. More than half (54 percent) are not always confident about the security on the Internet of their personal data, such as email addresses, mobile phone numbers, and purchasing history. In addition, the percentage of people who are “not confident at all that the security of my personal data is protected on the Internet, so I never share information this way” rose from 7 percent last year to 10 percent this year.