Like most people, my phone is the centre of my technical world but currently, it’s a passive tool; for it to support me, I have to initiate the interaction. i.e. check my calendar etc.
For my phone to work better as part of a distributed cognitive system, it needs to integrate into to my life. It must proactively support remembering people and places and use that information to create an intervention designed to support me being a better version of myself.
(Note: I say support rather than automate)
How could you envisage a solution that can know from my location and time that the train I wanted to get is delayed or that I’m going to miss it? What are my options to arrive at my destination at the right time? If I can’t, how can it support me in letting my friends/work colleagues know that I’ll be late for an appointment or that I’ll miss dinner?
How smart should it be? Could it know that I have awful reception for most of my 1-hour train journey and let people know I’m “unavailable” for the hour?
A system such as this is not a broadcast tool. It’s a support tool designed to allow me to manage my hectic world.
I want it to understand and act like me but not to be me.
I want it to support me in being the best version of myself: aware, thoughtful and conscious of the space, time and contexts I operate in.
Matthew Goddard 