Here Together

Inspiration

Here together was created after my own personal experiences with loss and grief. After the loss of a friend, I realized that conversations around loss are really hard to come by, even when they would be helpful. For my final senior thesis project, I wanted to explore the grief experience and what could be done to help others with similar experiences.

What projects exist around grief & loss? How do people approach this topic?

Before I started interviewing people and developing ideas, I wanted to see what already existed in the realm of grief. Upon further research, I found that there aren’t a lot of project around grief, as it’s such a personalized experience. Most projects touched on preserving legacies - digitally or physically.

I did additional research on loss and how it affects individuals. Loss is a universal feeling, and even the loss of friendships or relationships have an equally detrimental effect on people.

Synthesis

What did I learn from my research?

After the interviews, I went on to synthesize the data to see any commonalities. I started grouping together similar ideas that came up during interviews. The topics include: preparation, culture, perspective, maturity, legacy, and friendship.

1. It’s difficult or close to impossible to be emotionally prepared for loss. Individuals focus on other aspects that are more controllable such as financial preparation or gathering the family together.

2. After one has had a chance to grieve, feelings of sadness and regret fade into the background while feelings of thankfulness and being grateful are more prominent.

3. Grief is strange and uncomfortable to talk about - even with friends and family. Despite this, they wish it was easier to talk about.

4. There is an emotional disconnection to those who haven’t directly experienced loss - leaving people feeling confused and detached.

5. Across cultures and beliefs, there are practices around helping loved ones pass to the other side. This is usually done by praying whether they are religious or not

These are the key insights that were synthesized from the interviews. The one that intrigued me the most was centered around the discomfort that comes up when talking about loss. Grief is normal, but why is it hard to talk about?

Problem Statement

After synthesizing my research and organizing key insights, I landed on this problem statement: How might we encourage conversations around grief and loss?

Ideation

I went on to do a brainstorm session with my peers. I asked them to brainstorm around the general sense on how to improve the grief experience. By doing so, I had a better sense of what form factor my project could have. Out of these ideas, I noticed a common theme: tangibility. These ideas were centered around face-to-face contact or working with a physical object. When it comes to loss, people lean towards analog mediums they can work with their hands.

With these ideas, I sketched the ones that connected with conversations the most.

• Meditative Healing Journal: A journal where people can answer prompts around healing and letting go of thoughts. Due to the discomfort of talking about certain topics, a journal would allow a personal space for people to process emotions.

• Conversation Cards: Cards that have questions centered around “difficult conversation topics”, and people take turns answering.

• Mailbox to Loved Ones: A mailbox where people could write letters to their loved ones; a one-sided conversation where people can let go of thoughts. Once a letter is sent, the letter can’t be taken back.

After sketching these ideas, I had a more spontaneous idea around a board game. A board game came into mind because it’s an effective platform to engage people in the same space. It creates a personalized space for people to talk, discuss, and be playful.

Prototype 1 | Conversation Cards

This paper prototype focused on conversation cards that simply state questions on cards for people to answer. I curated a few questions that I thought people would resonate with based on the secondary research I did earlier. This was also a good time to receive feedback on what types of questions people were interested in talking about.

• ✅ gives people a space to talk about more difficult topics

• ✅ allows people to be in a physical space together

• ❌ not engaging to continually answer questions

• ❌ conversations feel awkward when no one answers a question

• 🤔 how to better engage people in a conversation?

Prototype 2 | Mailbox to Loved Ones

Another initial prototype was to create a mailbox where people could send messages to their lost loved ones, and let go of any lingering thoughts.

• ✅ writing thoughts down is cathartic

• ❌ process can get boring and repetitive

• ❌ no incentive to keep writing

Ideation | Board Game

As mentioned earlier, a board game would be an effective way to engage people in one space. But how would I go about developing this? I tried ideating on what metaphors could be used to create a board game around loss.

I thought of a garden metaphor where people could tend their garden of grief. Grief is an ongoing process that never truly ends. Another metaphor was around the ocean, and letting the waves wash up was a way to accept grief.

There were too many variations to keep up with, so I prototyped a few to see how the game mechanics would work.

Prototype 3-5 | Board Game

I did a few prototypes for board game designs around different goals to reach. I struggled with this mechanic because loss or grief isn’t something to “win” or “reach.” This is why I started to think a board game wasn’t the most effective way to convey this metaphor.

But a mechanic that received good feedback was around prompting people to answer questions or tell personal stories.

• ✅ questions engage people to share personal stories

• ❌ people get focused on winning rather than working together

• ❌ rules are confusing

• 🤔 what other ways are there to convey the theme of loss?

Prototype 6-7 | Collaborative Adventure Card Game

I realized board game mechanics were too complex for the topic of loss because it skewed how people viewed it. A standard board game will always have a way to win, but there is no way to win at something as personal as loss.

I got rid of the board and tired making it into an interactive card game instead. I focused on an adventure type metaphor where the goal is to find acceptance on the island of grief. Players collect items and come across emotion monsters they need to get past.

Upon user testing this prototype, I realized it already felt better than having a board. It allowed players to think about how certain topics relate back to loss rather than trying to focus on a winning goal.

• ✅ relates back to personal stories and thoughts

• ✅ players are less focused on winning

• ❌ complicated gameplay

• ❌ gameplay doesn’t have a smooth flow

Prototype 8 | Conversational Card Game

After more playtest sessions, I realized that implementing metaphors were too complicated for this type of game. I reduced the complexity and made it more conversational.

This process took me in a full circle from where the project started. I realized the importance of user testing to truly understand why some concepts work and some do not. An interesting game mechanic isn’t always needed to make the game feel fun. Laughter and joyful moments came from people’s interactions and stories. By simplifying the game, it became more enjoyable and focused on what matters: the stories.

The primary feedback I received on this iteration was around the rules because the rules written were a bit too vague. After additional research on rules, and speaking with professionals, I got a better grasp on the most effective way to design rules.

• ✅ gameplay focused on story telling

• ✅ moments of joy

• ❌ rules still need refinement

Prototype 9 | Conversational Card Game

This prototype is closest to what the game is today. I got feedback from peers, professors, professionals, and game-enthusiasts. I continually refined, added, and reduced the types of questions in the game.

The rules included more visual elements to fully explain how the gameplay works. Additionally, new types of action cards were added to allow players to skip their turn or swap questions when they were not comfortable with the ones in their hand.

This is also close to the final visual identity for the game. There are a few minor changes with color to make it the most accessible.

• ✅ branding feels warm and comforting

• ✅ rule visuals are helpful

• ❌ color accessibility & branding refinement

Final Branding

I wanted Here Together to have a warm, inviting tonality. It’s comforting without feeling too overbearing. The logo and title can live on any of these 3 colors either as standalone or as 1 unit.

Logo

Inspired by my own experiences with loss, I included a floating island motif in the logo to represent the loneliness and alienation people feel when they go through a hardship. The overlapping layers are a metaphor for the shared safe space Here Together creates for different individuals.

After various sketches and iterations, I finalized on a stained glass looking logo that feels nostalgic and unifying.

Website

I designed a website where Here Together could live. This would be a place where people could learn about the game, why it was created, and how to play. I went through a few considerations on how to approach this website because I didn’t want the focus to be the site design, but more showcase what the experience feels like.

I was interested in creating a 1-scroll information site that showcased the main features of Here Together without detracting away from the experience. I tried experimenting with a click-through prototype on Figma where it went screen to screen instead of a scroll. However, I found that it was too distracting to go between screens.

Conclusion

In creating this project, I learned about game design, conversation design, and creating a brand identity. Game design isn’t a straight forward process created to be fun for everyone. Sometimes it’s meant to engage people in the same space. By allowing people to choose their own questions to answer, it created a non-confrontational environment where people discuss and talk. A holistic brand identity was the strongest factor in creating a cohesive project. Without it, Here Together would not feel complete.

If I could push this project even further in the future, I would conduct more user testing sessions to gain a better understanding of how people viewed the game. However, due to constraints during the COVID-19 pandemic, I received feedback through video calls and talks. I would also want to further push for the means of distributing this game. Right now, only a couple of copies exist, but one day I hope to share it with others.