Like many people, my mobile phone has become an integral piece of equipment in my daily life. From those first moments when I wake up each day until those last moments when I am attempting to fall asleep, my phone is rarely further than arm’s reach away from me.
For a number of years, after I had moved my mother back to Toronto from California, my phone just COULD NOT be out of sight, out of battery or out of service. I used to say that was necessary “in case the bad thing happened”. As her primary carer, I got the call when ANYTHING, big or small, happened (and the big things happened more often than my heart could take).
But after she passed, my reliance on the phone only slightly decreased.
Upon waking each morning, I check my phone. What time is it? Do I have any text messages? Did I sleep through any calls? Do I have an emails?
Depending on my immediate needs/schedule, I might have to fire up my desktop or laptop to attend a class (How many times over the last few months have I reminded you, dear reader, that I am a 51 year old college freshman?) or I may end up lounging in bed, reading the news on CBC/CTV/CNN, watching new videos that have been posted to YouTube channels I subscribe to (some news, some not) and doom-scrolling social media.
During the day, my phone remains handy. Phone calls to and from my father and brother are nearly daily occurrences. Text messages and emails to and from co-workers from the club (yes, I’m doing two days a week again while I’m in school), comic book collaborators, and just friends in general.
I think that, like a lot of people these days, I have at least one group chat that gets input on a daily basis from one or more of the folks involved. Facebook Messenger gets heavy use whenever something happens in the pro wrestling world or there’s some nerd news to share and discuss.
iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Phone. These are the most heavily used apps/functions on my phone. I may have a Ben Kenobi lifestyle sometimes… you know… that “crazy old wizard who lives out beyond the Dune Sea” type thing… but connecting with the other humans is still important. Still vital. And over the last couple of years in particular, the ability to live, laugh and love the people in my life relied even more heavily on various internet-enabled devices.
But, of course, every aspect of my life is affected. In the kitchen, following along with a recipe on YouTube. In my living room, trying to figure the name of that one guy in that weird movie I saw one time on IMDb. On the move, trying to find out which how far away the bus is or how close I am to my destination. In a store, looking for that one thing I decided to buy and double-checking the price or not wanting to get the size wrong, so I’m double-checking on their website. At work, quality-checking the lyrics to some terrible song a dancer has asked me to play on AZlyrics or previewing it in the iTunes Store to know whether its a fast or slow song. Double checking that that thing I just said, trying to sound smart, is actually true via Wikipedia or filling in the blanks during a conversation via Google.
And at the end of the day, settling into bed, playing my round of word games on World and Quordle and the New York Times Spelling Bee before turning on a podcast to help myself fall asleep.
My mobile day feels largely engaged with “I want to know” moments. I want to know how to do something. I want to know how you’re doing. I want to know what’s going on in the world.
But it’s also a supplement to my memory. Like an external hard drive filled with the information I can’t always keep onboard. Names and numbers and facts and images.
My only friction comes when answers aren’t precise, either due to a lack of information I myself am able to input about my query or a lack of information to be found online to answer my precise question. Or, of course, the dreaded slow response of a website. The virtual equivalent of asking someone a question and getting a dull-eyed, slack-jawed “Duhhhhh…” as a response.
The more information a retailer or any information provider can insure is online, indexed and accessible, the better. The faster their website loads and displays that information, the better. Speed and accuracy are the goals in my UX journey.
But, of course, there’s always the dream of “unplugging” from the device all together.
I mentioned caring for my mother and the acceleration of my phone becoming an extension of myself. One day, not too long after she had passed, I found myself out my door and walking to the corner store when I realized I did not have my phone with me. I stopped in my tracks, almost in panic, when I realized… “the bad thing” had already happened. She was gone. Being without my phone for 15 minutes was not going to result in disaster. Disaster had already struck.
And I stood there…
And I took a deep breath…
And continued on my way to the store.
And when I got home, a few minutes later, I immediately checked my phone for missed calls.