This academic project focused on “history preservation,” and my teammate and I quickly aligned on the topic of family history.
Over the past 20+ years, I’ve visited my grandparents mostly during Chinese New Year holidays. I realized I barely know my grandparents and wish I had gotten to know them better—but I’m not sure where to begin.
My teammate, a mother of two, was looking for ways to pass down her family stories. She’s proud of her parents’ achievements as first-generation immigrants, but her teenage son is more interested in TikTok.
This project started from a personal place—it came from our own challenges and frustrations. But as we began asking others two simple questions:
“When was the last time you talked with your grandparents?”
“Do you wish you had talked to them more?”
The number of people nodding in agreement showed us that there’s real value in this idea: a product that bridges generations and strengthens bonds among family members.
We began with a broad problem statement aligned with the course assignment: How might we enable users to better preserve their family history?
As we progressed, we realized that preserving family history is more of a means to an end, rather than the end goal itself. This led us to refine our problem statement to:
Mobile App
Projection Screen
