Pre iOS 8, barely ever looked at it; it was pretty much useless to me. Widgets in the NC has changed that; I use the NC on my iPad all the time. Still pretty much ignore it on the iphone 5, which is still running 7.1.2 and therefore can't use widgets.
That said--the best widgets aren't the always the ones that Apple included with stock apps. Calendar is an easy example; all day events don't even show. Calendars 5 not only shows them, but gives me a running tally of time I have left before my next calendar even each day. Way more useful. Likewise, I prefer apps like Wunderlist over Reminders, and Notebooks instead of Notes. But that's all personal preference.
(Spotlight, Shake to Undo, and Siri, on the other hand, are still completely pointless for me. All three are in the category of "Why can't I delete this crap from my iPhone?" Along, of course, with various stock apps I have to hide in a folder somewhere because I will never, ever find a use for them...)