Whose Wand in Whose World?
by KateLast fall, we did an activity called The Wand in the World aimed at opening up thinking about the potential of mobile devices and services. We had a set of 7 teams take a physical object (aka: a “wand”) on a walkabout in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. Armed with their wand, a diary, cameras, curious minds and intentional observation skills, the teams used the wand as a proxy device to brainstorm new interactions capture new thinking about how to engage with the physical world via a mobile digital device. 
The wand objects varied widely, from abstract to oddity: a wooden egg…an oversized plastic magnifying glass…a koosh ball…a paintbrush. The physical form factor made a difference in the assumed affordances of the device, so it turned out that having a wide variety of form factors worked extremely well.
The observations that resulted were rich with presence and context-based learnings, as well as new possibilities for physical interactions. The exercise allowed us to have conversations ‘way beyond the “feature set”; we were able to move the discussion to a larger framework about engaging with the world around us in new and interesting ways.
So whenever I hear about some new use for a digital device, I think about the experience of the wand in the world and how everyday life is on the fast-track to a complete mobile make-over. Which begs the question…how is all this going to really feel?
What will life be like when our mobile devices open our front doors, get us on the train and filled with fast food, let us into public restrooms and even remind us to pray?
Mobile manufacturers and developers have a vested economic interest in creating new ways for mobile devices to fit within our lives, but what are we, as individuals, consumers and participants in a mobile future, doing to prepare for it? What will a fully instrumented future feel like? What will be included in the feature set for a cell phone at the center of the universe? And how will we adapt to it? These are not technology issues, these are social and cultural questions.
I do know this…things that proactively try to engage me irritate me. The TV screens at the gas pump that provide “infotainment” when I gas up? Hate ‘em. The obnoxious PharmAssist kiosk in my local drugstore with the creepy cartoon doctor on it that verbally assails me with a booming “Can I help you!?!?” every time I trip its digital proximity alert? Hate it.
Neither of these are actually bad ideas…I’m sure some people love them or find them helpful. But when I imagine my mobile device doing this kind of thing, prickles run up my spine. How will I react to a device that nags at me or pings me with “great deal opportunities” when I’m strolling down the street? Gah.
How will it feel to find a parking spot with my device? To remember to get my shoes fixed by taking a snapshot for a visual to-do list? To use it to scan products on the shelf so that I don’t buy decaf coffee by mistake?
So I’m doing an experiment in mindful awareness for mobile. For the next week, whenever I’m doing something mundane…I’m going to ask “how can my digital device do this for me/ help me do this / enhance this?” and then to take a moment to think about how that would feel. Was it helpful? Invasive? Fun? Creepy?
You’re invited to join the experiment. Please post comments on your observations!
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on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Mobile, The Big Picture.
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