We think a lot about the way you work here at Livescribe. That’s why this month we commissioned a study conducted by independent research firm, Forrester Consulting, to dig a little deeper into the topic.
Forrester found that today’s device-centric information workers (that’s research speak for “ you”) rely heavily on handwritten notes – a staggering 87 percent of you use handwritten notes to complement the work you do on laptops, mobile phones and tablets. The study also showed that you believe the same as we do: that better integration of your notes and spoken information with your digital world would significantly improve professional productivity.
More specific findings from the study include:
- 87 percent of information workers make use of handwritten notes
- 38 percent of workers use handwritten notes to organize their priorities through to-do lists
- 67 percent felt that better note-taking would improve both their personal job performance and decision-making within their organizations
- 75 percent saw value in the ability to computerize, index and search, and share handwritten notes and associated audio
In short, the Forrester survey highlighted what we’ve known for some time – that there’s a tangible need for technology that brings handwritten and spoken communication into the digital domain. Furthermore, there is a need for a solution that takes this and integrates it with the information management capabilities of computers with the ease and convenience of note-taking. The Forrester research also reinforces the perspective that devices spanning home and office – such as smartpens – are helping people to develop “personal clouds” of disparate information stored online. For more, you can watch a video of Frank talking through the research here.
What do you think? Are you a daily note-taker? Would adding your notes and audio recordings to your digital life or personal cloud make you more productive? We look forward to hearing what you think in the comments below.
You can see our press release announcing the results of the study here.
Your post is excellent.
This actually isn’t really surprising at all. I use a fountain pen and Moleskine notebook for note-taking everywhere I go. I kinda wish someone would come up with some sort of system that attaches to a pen, rather than requiring me to replace my favorite pen with a crappy ballpoint.
I have tried laptops, tablet PCs, OneNote and even taping. I still go back to notepads/paper and pen for most of my work. You need that instant go capability most of the time. The Livescribe is the closest thing I have seen to meeting what I need. Still a few things I would like to see tweaked, but improvements from you guys seem to keep coming.
Keep up the good work overall.