Survey results

I am going to quickly note down a summary of my findings in bullet points with a few examples to back up my findings. Most people answered all the questions although some of the answers that required written input where missed out by certain individuals.

Most people had at least a basic understanding of what Smart TV is

Fig. 1

Fig. 1 shows a very small proportion of answers but as you can see most people understood the term, there where even some answers (see fig. 2) that entertained other concepts, for example TV-computer convergence.

Fig. 2

This is quite interesting as it displays that people are aware of TV-computer convergence and highlights the potential for a change in the way that we interact socially as a result. 

Although people are aware of what Smart TV is, many have not ever used one

Although 91% of the 44 people asked knew what smart TV was, only 16% of those actually had used one (see fig. 3). 

Fig. 3

This highlights how new this technology is in the consumer market. It also summons the question; is Smart TV really necessary? or are people happy to carry on using their normal TV sets? The technology isn't actually all that 'new' even in the consumer market. In technology terms a year of high street coverage is quite a lot, take the iPhone for example, after a year of being available in the consumer market most people either owned one or had experience in using one. This is not the case for Smart TV and you have to ask why. Its a great idea but are people really interested enough to invest their earnings- particularly with the current state of our economy? 

Social networking not really important for people on their TV

It was interesting to see that the majority of people (77%) said that they wouldn't benefit from having Facebook/twitter available on their TV (see fig. 4). 

Fig. 4

So why do people not want to view their social networking sites on their TV? People seem to be more interesting in using their current devices or companion devices for this and see their TV as just a TV.   Do people not want Smart TV or do the social networking features just not interest them? 

Little demand for inbuilt browser

Nearly a half of all the people asked (45%) said that they would rarely use an inbuilt Internet browser over their computer (1 times out of 10). Another 41% of the 44 people asked said that they would use an Internet browser sometimes (3/4 times out of 10). A mere 13% said that they would be regularly users of an TV Internet browser over their personal computer (7/8 times out of 10). (see fig. 5) 

Fig. 5 

The results point towards users preference of an app designed operating system, much like what is already available on smart mobile phones. Apples iOS is perhaps the most successful example for the smart phone market and operates around its 'app store'. It offers consumers a marketplace to buy/download/trail thousands of Smart phone applications. it looks that consumers are much more interested in apps than a computer-tv convergence. This is interesting and it seems that Smart TVs have started to follow this pattern, many of the TVs which have not gone for this approach may struggle. 

This point is backed up in another question which I asked; 

" In relation to TVs, do you think that having downloadable apps, much like what is available on phones, is more beneficial than a full Internet browser? " 

People seemed to be very keen on the idea of apps (73%) and only 27% of people asked said that they thought that apps where too basic and that they wanted to be able to do what they wanted on their TV (see fig. 6) 

Fig. 6

As long as I can watch TV I am happy

63% of people said that they weren't fussed about buying a smart TV wouldn't have a preference when shopping as long as they can watch TV on it (see fig. 7). This again highlights the lack of desire for Smart TV and begs the question; do we really want to do all the things that smart TV is advertising? Perhaps a simplified Smart TV with useful features would be more suited to the consumer market as apposed to a overcomplicated attempt at computer-TV convergence? 

Fig. 7

Companion device integration appealing 

When asked the majority of people (80%) said that they would be interesting in the idea of interactive companion devices that connect via a TV (see fig. 8) 

Fig. 8

Its interesting to see the response from people, particularly given the feedback regarding buying trends (see fig. 7). It is clear that people do want more from their TV but the ideas being posed by Smart TV promotions just don't appeal. Most of the advertising campaigns highlight the sociability of new models, with many including in-built social networking apps, however it seems that people aren't all that interested. Perhaps this is the reason for the impartial responses regarding buying trends. In reality I think it is clear from these results that people do not want to simply have their smart phone's capabilities redesigned, instead they are keen for a brand new experience in which they can interact. This is where the idea of companion devices comes in, it is a new & innovative idea in which TVs could become 'smart' but not in a conventional sense, the idea of having to be like a smart phone is perhaps not the right direction.