Team

Sumalfka Liu
Fehin Awobodu
Cohen Peters
Sophia Zhu

Why?

Let me ask you a question:

When’s the last time that you interacted with your grandparents?

For our team, the average answer to that question was “one month ago”. For the average person, I’m willing to bet that it’s been more than 2 weeks since you’ve last talked to them.

However, none of us intended to drift away. In our team, most of us were raised by our grandparents, as they took care of us while our parents were at work. We also recognize that our time with them is limited and we won’t always have opportunities to connect with them. Despite this, as we grew older, we became busy, forgetful, and often lacked a natural reason to reach out.

Furthermore, there’s no convenient way to talk to our grandparents. They often live far away, speak a different language, and are unfamiliar with technology. Therefore, we have to go out of our way to use the apps that our grandparents are familiar with --- and even then, grandparents frequently miss our messages!

Grandparents also felt this growing distance. Many of them experience loneliness and a sense of disconnection from grandchildren, despite an overwhelming desire to be involved in their lives. These relationships were central to their identity, but they don’t want to burden their grandchildren with another responsibility in their ever-busy lives

As a result, meaningful moments that could strengthen relationships fade away.

Problem Statement

How might we make it easy for families to create meaningful moments of connection, even when time, distance, or technology get in the way.

Final Result: Canvas

Design Philosophy:

Simplicity: Make connection effortless so it’s a habit, not a chore
Accessibility: Design for everybody (especially seniors)
Connection: Evoke warmth, closeness, and interaction

With Canvas:

Grandparents have an easy way to be included in their grandchildren’s moments, fostering stronger familial relationships with minimal technology.
Grandchildren have a casual way to connect with grandparents by sharing moments through photos, mitigating feelings of guilt and without sacrificing their time.

Future State

If we had more time, we’d love to expand Canvas by:

Phone widget
- Reminder to send photos
- Shows current streaks of photos sent
Translations and transcriptions
- Reduce impact of language barrier
Onboarding flow
- Scan and share the QR code located on the physical Canvas frame
- Join a Canvas
- Set up notifications and reminders
- Share/take your first photo