There Is No Spoon...Lessons for Today's UX Designer of the Future

So I'm an Ironman triathlete. Which really doesn't mean much except I am surrounded at all times by data-gathering gadgets.

Even though I just graduated from DePaul's HCI program last Sunday, I can say there's no better training ground for a UXer than being an athlete. Like many folks of the world I am a quantified-self member. I chart all kinds of data  on myself from my sleep, to my heart rate, to my miles logged each day. And in churning up all that data I used a variety of devices and play with a host of interfaces to unlock my digital data makers. 

Take my five-mile run this morning. I used more than five devices to do self quantification of that experience. Here's just a short list of the gadgets I used today:

• Suunto Armbit2 Lime Multisport Watch...allows me to track my run miles, pace, speed, GPS, weather etc.
• Matching Suunto HR monitor...keeps me from working too hard Ironman is a long freakin' day :)
• Waterproof iPod Shuffle...I sweat like a crazy person and I can listen to music without fear of being electrocuted and I use it to swim with as well. 
• iPhone 6 s...to take pics on my journey...I like to take a pic every day I run to be reminded that I actually do run. I also like to track my run with my Strava.com app because I still haven't figured out how to read the results on Suunto's version called Moves.com.
• My Macbook Pro...so I can upload all the data and share it with all my friends! 

So what does this all look like? 

Gadget Frustrations Leads to Bad User Experience

Do you see why I am frustrated? Not one gadget does all the things I need it to do. And really is what I need and desire so complicated? 

• Track my multisport training indoors, outdoors and in open water.
• Take photos and listen to music, indoors, outdoors and in open water
• Share photos, training data and in media res training updates with my friends.

The iPhone 6 is way too big and bulky to take on the road. I hate my Garmin 910xt because its interface isn't as easy as the iPhone and I can't listen to music with it or take pictures. I use the iPod Waterproof Shuffle which is small and indiscreet but I can't use an app with it like Strava.com to long my pace, speed and mileage. The Apple watch is great but it's not connected to the Internet so I can't use Strava to log my training and it's waterproof but you have to have the phone to make it work. 

Garmin made a good attempt with the 920xt but again, no in media res picture taking and social sharing or music listening (no apps).

This vexes me. I am extremely vexed. So I've been playing around designing  all-around sport device that does the multi-sport tracking that I love and combines that with the picture taking and music listening abilities I crave and desire. Really it's just my phone turned into an arm band that's waterproof. :) 

To do this I had to think beyond the device. And this is the point of this post.

In this video from Lenovo they literally shock people with their new "smartphone design." The shocking thing is it isn't a phone at all, it's whatever it needs to be at the time. And I love it.

This is probably a great first step. But this is what I mean when I say as UXers we're no longer designing experiences for a "smart phone."

We've been stuck in what I call "designing for device," mode for too long. The "phone," or the "watch," are not what we're designing for...we're designing for people. People want something that's mobile, wearable and able to do all the above without having to adapt to the platform.
I love this concept of adaptable device. Like the little boy told Neo..."There is no spoon...", we need to keep saying, "There is no device...only its use." How innovative could we be if we didn't think about designing for a phone? 

What designs could we create? I can't wait to develop them. :)