An Overview

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Collage: an artistic composition made of various materials glued together and laid on a surface.

As we continue to grow in what some may call a "technical takeover," adults worldwide are increasingly experiencing difficulty cultivating and maintaining friendships. General morale is visibly lower than before; we are more anxious and more lonely.

Collage was designed to address this problem head-on. Intended to ensure that friendships remain vibrant, lively, and meaningful, Collage seeks to help adults around the world foster authentic connections. Free of ulterior motives, unwanted romantic advances, monetization, and disingenuous individuals, Collage, like its namesake artwork, brings people together to create an unapologetically authentic, unified whole.

This project was completed during the Rice University '25 designation.

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The Challenge

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The prompt for the designathon was "staying human in the age of AI". With our world becoming increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, humans must find ways to maintain their uniqueness by capitalizing on what AI can never replicate.

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The Solution

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Staying human in the age of AI means that genuine bonds, friendships, and visionary-minds are more important than ever before. With that in mind, Collage was create. To encourage adults to maintain and explore new friendships through shared interests and pure intentions, I created a friendship-making app.

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Research Process & Findings

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In order to create the most informed design decisions possible, I decided to use a combination of research processes. These included three 1:1 interviews, a detailed survey form, secondary research, and deriving from my personal experiences.

The Interviews

With the intention of unraveling my interviewees' thoughts and opinions on human connectedness in the age of AI, I asked them the following questions:

1. Has human connection changed since the development of AI?
2. Do you human connectedness is necessary?
3. Some people utilize AI devices as mentors, friends, or even romantic partners. Thoughts?
4. Please express your feelings on the following "Staying human in the age of AI means that genuine friendships are more important than ever before. Remember, AI cannot replace human connection and creativity."

In response to the first question, all three interviewees agreed that human connection has changed since due to AI. At times, friendships can feel disingenuous, transactional, and unfulfilling. Interviewee two stated, "I have even seen some people use ChatGPT to respond to text messages from friends; it's getting out of hand."‍

After the third question, their responses shifted from more laid-back to passionate. One interviewee expressed that while they see the benefits in people using AI during times of crisis (mental health, health remedies, etc.) due to convenience, people mustn't build a dependency on AI.

Substituting people for AI can tarnish one's vision of expectations vs. reality. The others shared that the idea of companionship from AI seemed almost insane to them. One responded, "It's depressing; people are craving human connection but are turning towards robots. It's devoid of passion," while the other explained how chatbots only seek to please, nothing is processed uniquely.

‍The Survey

Results Google Form Survey Results
‍Purpose: Dive deeper into people's experiences with making friends, the need for a friendship-making app, and opinions on what separates a good friendship-making app from a negative one. I received 18 responses, 4 of which have utilized a similar app in the past.

‍My Findings

• 88.9% of those surveyed stated they have close friends, 44.9% of whom had an average-to-significant level of difficulty cultivating new friendships or maintaining pre-existing ones.
• 75% of the 4 users who have used these apps say their experience on them has been odd due to uncalled-for romantic advances. They did not enjoy monetization features or the idea of "paying to make friends."

Secondary Research (The GIST)

• 60% of Americans consider having close friends crucial for a fulfilling life, however, 8% of adults report having no close friends.
• Media appeals to vanity, not vulnerability. The same could be said for AI.
• People are lonely and companies are capitalizing off of it!

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Key Features

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Design Decisions

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During the "How to Design at Industry Level: Visual and Interaction Design" workshop at the desigathon, speaker Naheel beautifully described how the art of intentionality is one the most important concepts in interaction design. Intentional and well-informed design decisions, show that you care for your user, no matter how big or small. The session inspired me so I decided to put my best foot forward in establishing the following.

1. Discretion Matters Coming onto an app and immediately blurting out all your information just to meet new people can be intimidating, especially when it involves personal details like gender, religion, or education. That's why I made it my mission to ensure that users always have the option to disclose only what they choose.
2. The Art of Gratification Humans naturally appreciate praise! A little recognition can go a long way. Therefore, I incorporated small messages of praise and compliments throughout the design. Whether it's a simple "Hooray!" or a playful "Lookin' good!", I wanted users to feel seen and appreciated at every step.
3. Positive vs. Negative Icons & Language A trend I noticed in some friendship-making apps is the use of potentially harmful language, such as "skip" or "nope," and even belittling icons like "x" buttons over user profiles. While individual reactions may vary, I believe many would feel a sting of overly brutal rejection when a simple "pass" would suffice. To address this, I chose gentle language like "cycle" and icons such as rotating "refresh" arrows to generate new profiles. A cycled profile might reappear, but ideally, as the user interacts with Collage and their preferences are learned, that profile would eventually be filtered out of their fee