What Role Does Gender Play in Mobile Hardware Use?

Will Apple products start to be designed to meet gender-specific needs? No, I'm not talking about something stupid like pink versions of pens or phones. But the response to both the iPhone 6 and Apple watch seem to be somewhat different, according to gender.

 

When the iPhone 6 and 6+ were first released, I remember many of my friends being awed by the screen of the 6+. It seemed perfect - easy to read and to scroll. Yet, within a few weeks, I noticed many of those same friends had become less enamored with the 6+. Specifically, several male friends were dissatisfied with their decision to buy the 6+. And when I asked them, I got the same answer from each - "it doesn't fit in my pocket". Meanwhile, the women I knew who'd bought a 6+ were still very happy with their decision. I realized that none of them kept their phone in their pocket.

 

Let's face it - most skirts, ladies' suit pants and other women's business attire simply don't have pockets. Hell, for some reason neither she nor I can figure out. many of my daughter's jeans have faux pockets. For many women, their phone sits in their bag or on their desk all day, not in their pants.

 

The other comment I heard from men was that the 6+ was a 2-handed device, while the iPhone 6 could be managed with one hand. And while some men have small hands, and some women larger hands, on the whole, men's hands tend to be larger. For many women, even the iPhone 6 might be a 2-handed device, so moving to the 6+ brings no added drawback.

 

Now, with the launch of the Apple Watch, I'm seeing some comments that make me think men and women are viewing the Watch differently.

In an article on wsj.com, Joanna Stern discusses how she "tamed the watch" by turning off excess notifications, and now it meets her needs, notifying her of important matters. And that's great. Except, that's what my phone already does. I turned off most notifications and now get notified with a gentle vibration for meetings or critical messages. 

 

I think the key difference here is that for many women, their phone sits in a bag where they can't feel the vibrating notifications. For most men, the phone sits in their pocket most of the day. Sure, having it on my wrist might save me from occasionally having to pull the phone out, but for the most part, that slight vibration tells me what I need to know. If I'm in my 2pm meeting, the vibration tells me that my 2:30 will be starting in ten minutes. I don't need to pull the phone out to figure that out. But if the phone lived in my bag, I'd never know that.

 

While for many men, on-body notifications from the phone are nothing new, but for those women who don't keep their phone in their pocket, the Apple Watch brings a totally new experience.

 

Wth the Apple Watch and with the larger iPhones, we're starting to see a gender-based split on use cases. I wonder where this will take us next.