Lil’ Gifts
Blue-sky exploration of an adaptive interaction model for accessing memories.
Empowering people to reflect on meaningful relationships by tagging “lil guy” avatars to gifts.
UX Designer
Kiana Gregorich + Leslie Kwon
Overseen by Professor Axel Roesler
3 Weeks
Figma + AfterEffects + Procreate
PROMPT
A New Model for Memory
Reimagine the future of memory-sharing:
develop an interface that adapts to the user and enables an exploration of shared memories
DESIGN PREVIEW
A Sneak Peek
A voice assistant you can see.
Unlike other voice assistants, lil guys (virtual droplet-shaped avatars) have a virtual body visible through smart glasses, allowing users to put a face to the voice.
Lil’ guys remain non-intrusive to the user’s day-to-day, as they are gaze-activated—meaning they only appear after the user looks at a gift for a while.
Entry points bridging the virtual and the physical.
Lil guys act as virtual notes to physical gifts you can leave for yourself or others, transforming every object into an opportunity for connection.
Embodied message sharing.
With the toss of a virtual paper airplane, users can send messages to loved ones in a fun, refreshing way. The recipients can receive the message through text, email, or their AR glasses.
USER RESEARCH
Investigating Memory
1. Negative episodic memories are easier to recall than positive ones.
When asked about key life events, interviewee’s chosen events were momentous, with both negative and positive effects, yet interviewee’s more easily identified the negative memories of these events over the positive ones.
2. Gratitude is a positive way to revisit the past.
Focusing on the past may lead to rumination, which can result in detrimental thinking patterns. Gratitude exercises are a way to recognize the past in a positive, healthy manner.
IDEATION
What could this look like?
Idea 1: Gift Archive
Inspired by my love for gift-giving, I considered creating an archive of gifts. Through accessing gifts, users could notice the love that lies in the objects they recieve.
Having gifts as the main “memory content” was the most compelling part of this idea.
Idea 2: Bubble Answering Machine
I also considered a speculative interaction to access generational memory. By asking a question then blowing a bubble, answers appear. Depending on which bubble you pop, the answer that bubble held is revealed.
The ephemeral nature of the idea felt the most compelling.
Idea 3: Annotated Perception
Lastly, I considered an AR mapping of another person’s memories onto your visual perception. The knowledge of another person would guide the user towards things they would have not otherwise discovered.
The element of organic discovery was the most compelling part of this idea.
ITERATIONS & EXPLORATIONS
Development
The Birth of “Lil Guys”
My teammate Kiana suggested we have “little guys”, or wisp-like creatures, guide users towards moments of appreciation. Moving forward with this idea, with the addition of Professor Axel’s suggestion of an AR interface, the foundations of Lil’ Gifts was born.
Staying on track
From there, we needed to hone in on how it all comes together. Initially, we thought that lil guys could utilize space to guide users in routine gratitude exercises, but realized we were deviating from the prompt. So, we redirected ourselves away from an individual approach towards one that highlights relationships.
We also explored expanding the definition of a gift to include non-physical gifts, but it overcomplicated the design and didn’t align with our intended goal.
As such, we focused squarely on connecting with people by sharing and receiving futures via paper airplanes—because paper airplanes are fun!
Visual markers of my thinking process as we fleshed out the interaction model. It’s never too late to return to the sketchbook!
THE DESIGN
Lil’ Gifts
SLIDEDECK
NEXT STEPS
With more time...
...we would further explore the following questions:
TAKEAWAYS
What I Learned
Design is heavy.
Beyond craft, designers need to consider the weight of the decisions they make.
Working on Lil’ Gifts had us juggling responsibilities we hadn’t anticipated. Concerns regarding sustainability and data handling proved heftier than expected, and tackling them was no easy feat.
Still, the multi-dimensional thinking necessary for responsible design isn’t meant to be easy. I’m glad to have exercised this skill through this project and am committed to refining it in the future.
Don’t Do be ridiculous!
One thing design has taught me is to never discredit any idea, regardless of how improbable is may seem.
Naturally, it’s important to sift through ideas, but you may never reach the idea you’re most excited about if you’re always self-editing.
When the idea of lil guys was first proposed, I was worried the idea may have been too cartoon-ish. However, by ultimately embracing it, we developed a fresh mixed-reality design I’m proud of.
A personal metric I have is that if a child delights in what I’ve made, I’ve succeeded at making it fun.
SHOUT-OUTS
It’s my turn (to be grateful)!
Now to acknowledge how abundantly I’ve been gifted! I can’t thank Kiana and Leslie enough for not only being excellent teammates but also supportive, fun-loving friends. Our long night spent in the art building is definitely a core memory for me now and truly, none of this could’ve been done without you two! Also, a huge shout-out to Professor Axel Roesler for your enthusiasm and faith in our project—it’s not often I feel so empowered and excited under the tutelage of someone as invested in my work as I am. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!