Reimagining Life With a Smartphone: A Creative Inquiry Into Women in Emerging Adulthood in Germany and Norway

In contrast to states and industries promoting continuous innovation, discourse around digital disconnection suggests that individuals increasingly seek a reduced presence of technology. Recognizing that ordinary people have limited opportunities to create and articulate their own visions of life with digital media, this study employs a creative inquiry with 20 women in emerging adulthood (ages 18 to 29) from Germany ( n = 10) and Norway ( n = 10). Specifically, participants reflected on the role a smartphone would play in an ideal world, expressing themselves through drawings, text, and bullet points. Employing utopian thought as the guiding framework, the data reveal both formative desires and perceptions of responsibility across three themes: (1) ideal self, reflecting a wish for greater self-discipline in personal use; (2) ideal technology, involving critiques of technological design and industry interests; and (3) ideal society, envisioning collective change toward reduced device use.