Object stories for social connectivity: a digital service that improves social interactions through object’s storytelling

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OBJECT STORIES FOR SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY:
A DIGITAL SERVICE THAT IMPROVES SOCIAL INTERACTIONS
THROUGH OBJECT’S STORYTELLING

by

Soyoung Lee

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSKI SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
DESIGN

May 2021

Copyright 2021 Soyoung Lee
ii

Acknowledgements

I want to thank USC faculty and thesis committee members Ewa Wojciak, Alice Fung,
Laurie Burruss and April Greiman for all their instruction and guidance throughout this thesis
process.

iii

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ii
List of Figures v
Abstract vii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
1.1 Motivation 1
1.2 Goals 2
1.2.1 Problem Areas to Solve 2
1.2.2 Desired Outcomes 3
1.3 Target Audience: Millennials and Social Media 3

Chapter 2: Research 6
2.1 Research Questions 6
2.2 Generative Research 6
2.2.1 Purpose 6
2.2.2 Research Questionnaires 6
2.2.3 Research Findings 7
2.2.4 Workshop: What is Empathy? 9
2.2.5 Explore: Classify Objects in Five Emotional Criteria 9

Chapter 3: Ideation 12
3.1 Hypothesis 12
3.2 Idea Variation: Empathy and Fabricated Objects 12
3.3 Proof of Concept: Sharing tangible objects and stories in order to know 14
each other better
3.4 Concept Development 14

Chapter 4: Designing a Platform 15
4.1 Brand Identity 15
4.2 Application Features 16
4.3 Use Cases 16
4.4 Experience Map 17
4.5 Prototype 18

Chapter 5 Results 27
5.1 Research Questionnaires 27
5.2 Usability Testing 27
5.3 Quotations from Participants 28
iv

5.4 Critical Ideas from Users 29
5.5 Reflection and Limitations based on User’s Feedback 29
5.6 Conclusion 30

References 32

v

List of Figures

Figure 1: My Personal Social Relations MAP 5

Figure 2: Google Survey 7

Figure 3: Grouping Objects 10

Figure 4: How to classify objects 11

Figure 5: The itinerary of 3D Printing 13

Figure 6: Concept for Mysa 14

Figure 7: Design System for Mysa 15

Figure 8: Core Features for Mysa 16

Figure 9: Use Cases for Mysa 17

Figure 10: Flow Diagram for Mysa 17

Figure 11: Mysa_Onboarding Screen 1. 18

Figure 12: Mysa_Onboarding Screen 2. 19

Figure 13: Mysa_Onboarding Screen 3 20

Figure 14: Mysa_Onboarding Screen 4 20
vi

Figure 15: Mysa_Home Screen 1. 21

Figure 16: Mysa_Home Screen 2. 22

Figure 17: Mysa_My Networks Page 1. 22

Figure 18: Mysa_My Networks Page 2. 23

Figure 19: Mysa_My Networks Page 3. 23

Figure 20: Mysa_My Networks Page 4 24

Figure 21: Mysa_Community 1. 25

Figure 22: Mysa_Community 2. 25

Figure 23: Mysa_Community 3 26

vii

Abstract

Developing better ways of understanding our emotions and social interactions has become
more critical in today’s digital culture. As communication in digital platforms become a part of
our daily life, indirect communication in the digital world has led to miscommunication, cyber
isolation, and the development of new kinds of mental health problems. There are few guidelines
for understanding emotions and non-verbal cues in digital communication.

This thesis explores where design intervenes to effectively address the emotional
challenges at hand, as well as better ways of forming and nurturing users’ social relationships.
The goal of my project is to foster opportunities for social interactions that are more human-
centered. I have built a digital platform to help young adults have fulfilling relationships through
shared emotive experiences through the understanding and sharing stories of tangible and tactile
objects. Building on the idea that objects accrue meaning through shared personal narratives, my
project seeks to develop a sharing ecology in digital and real space to promote meaningful
connections. In the moment of exchanging the object’s story, the giver and receiver can build
friendships, support systems, and heal their sense of loneliness by experiencing empathy towards
each other.

This project fosters connected communities on a small scale, and also on a deeper level
by helping people create meaningful and connected communities that maintain healthy
interpersonal connections through shared moments.

1

1 Introduction
1.1 Motivation
There is a paradox in digital culture. Even as the extensive amount of mobile technology
enables us to communicate anywhere in the world with a wi-fi connection, people suffer from a
lack of social connection with each other. Although we are now expected to always be available
to interact with one another, we feel more and more socially disconnected during recent years.
As a millennial, I have thousands of friends on social media and love to network with people
who I have met on internet platforms. However, I realize that general digital interactions are
more ephemeral than our face-to-face interactions. There are the instant feelings of “easy come,
easy go” meaning that I might lose this connection easily.
In 2020, the world experienced a crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 80 percent of the
global population was under stay-home orders, lockdowns, and quarantines, which inflicted an
increasingly severe direct and indirect economic impact. The pandemic also changed the way
people spend time socializing with others, and this situation has made a big impact on social
behavior as well. For Gen Z, social media and digital communication have become the lifeline.
1

It has become the only method to maintain and build relationships in this era.
These resulting new communication in our new media landscape motivated me to look for
solutions that enable deeper connection and understanding of our relationships. This project
represents continuous questioning of the negative psychological impacts of digital
communication and social isolation in digital culture in order to create better social interactions
in the digital world.

1
Eli Pacheco. “COVID-19’s Impact on Social Media Usage, September, 2020.
https://www.thebrandonagency.com/blog/covid-19s-impact-on-social-media-usage/

2

1.2 Goals
1.2.1 Problem Areas to Solve
Millennials live in an era of light and shallow relationships. The technologies that support
social meet-ups are more abundant. While for the most part, the services of social media in the
digital world provide us with tremendous value. People have become accustomed to short and
light networks, rather than building deep and true relationships.
2
Gen Z now spends so much
energy on the number of likes and followers on our social media, but fails to form deeper
connections.
3
Even as we feel more disconnected and unsatisfied by these cyber relationships, we
invest further into social media use. This indirect interaction also has led to miscommunication,
emotional isolation, mental health problems, and negative impacts on social relationships.
4
In
such existing scenarios, it is critical to building human empathy towards social connection in
digital platforms to better understand each other to achieve meaningful communication in
exchange for a higher volume of interactions. Sharing personal information and stories can
promote one on one interactions to exchange similar emotions, feelings, and lead to greater
understanding and support of another person.
5
Currently, people need a digital place where they
can feel emotional support, comfort, and practice empathy toward each other.

2
Does Social Media Create Isolation?, 2019.
https://online.regiscollege.edu/blog/does-social-media-create-isolation/
3
Social Media Effects, View Point Center.
https://www.viewpointcenter.com/blog/social-media-effects-social-isolation/
4
The Social Dilemma: Social Media and Your Mental Health, 2021.
https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health
5
The Psychology of Social Media, King University, 2020.
https://online.king.edu/news/psychology-of-social-media/
3

1.2.2 Desired Outcomes
This project aims to improve digital community communication and connectedness. I am
building a social platform that helps millennials have fulfilling relationships by sharing tangible
objects and stories. The users gain value from this service by building empathy towards other
people, support systems, and combating their loneliness. Sharing an object’s story and building
the object story together results in the growth of connected communities on a small scale and on
a deeper level. The users are connected and discovered through electronic platforms and physical
interventions.

1.3 Target Audience: Millennials and Social Media
Social media is the main channel for the Millennial generation to interact with their friends
and family. For millennials, who tend to dominate some spheres of social media consumption,
the digital world of social sharing poses relationship benefits.
6
In contrast to traditional media
such as newspapers, television, and magazines, it provides a means for online users to create,
share, and exchange personal information and contents in virtual communities and extend their
networks in unexpected ways.
The ways millennials interact with their friends are different from how previous
generations interact with each other.
7
There are generational differences between old and young
adult’s acceptance of social media and the use of technology.
8
Older generations, born 1946-

6
7 Ways Social Media Can Benefit Mental Health, Painted Brain, 2020. https://paintedbrain.org/editorial/7-ways-
social-media-can-benefit-mental-health-2/
7
Intergenerational Effects on the Impacts of Technology Use in Later Life: Insights from an International, Multi-
Site study by Shannon Freeman.
file:///Users/soyounglee/Downloads/ijerph-17-05711-v2.pdf
8
Millennials stand out for their technology use, but older generations also embrace digital life by Emily A.
Vogels,2019.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/09/us-generations-technology-use/
4

1964, see less value and benefit in social media compared with those in the Millennial generation
group, born 1981-1996. A primary motivation for older adults to use social media is as a “digital
gathering place” to communicate with family, especially children and grandchildren, and friends.
Whereas for millennials, online social platforms allow the creation of relationships with people
who are outside the user’s already existing social networks and have social integration with
similar interest groups.
9
Since the very nature of social media centers on communication, it
makes sense that the primary motivation for social media comes from a psychological point to
connect with broad people. Although social media provides a lot of opportunities to network,
exposure to social media can lead to major psychological problems for some. New data reports
that the social media generation is the one that feels the most alone in this era.
10
They report
feeling lonely much more often than their Gen X and Baby Boomer counterparts and say that
they have fewer close friends more than other generations. Further, a scholarly article published
in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology stated that prolonged use of social networking
sites related to symptoms of depression.
11
From a psychological standpoint, a potential link exists
between excessive social media use and decreased psychological well-being.
12

The field of social media psychology has only existed for the past 10 to 15 years, which
coincides directly with the rise of social media. The relationship between social media and
psychological well-being in the digital age remains controversial and faced with numerous

9
The Psychology of Social Media, King University, 2019.
https://online.king.edu/news/psychology-of-social-media/
10
Millennials are the loneliest generation, Jamie Ballard, 2019. https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-
reports/2019/07/30/loneliness-friendship-new-friends-poll-survey
11
Online Social Networking and Mental Health, Igor Pantic, 2014.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4183915/
12
Social Media and Mental Health, Teen Issues. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/social-media-
and-mental-health.htm

5

challenges. Since social networks are a relatively new phenomenon, many questions regarding
their potential impact on mental well-being remain unanswered.

Fig 1. “My Personal Social Relations MAP” by Soyoung Lee

6

2 Research
2.1 Research Questions
To achieve this aim, I have explored the following research questions:
1. How can people better connect with others and improve emotional well-being?
2. How does UX design foster users’ empathy in digital communication?
3. What ways exist to facilitate healthy communication and social relations?
4. How to build healthy social wellness; meaning the ability to foster and maintain healthy
interpersonal connections?

2.2 Generative Research
2.2.1 Purpose
The purpose of this generative research is to examine people’s attitudes and beliefs in
regards to building social relationships. Therefore this project combines desk research, user
interviews, and observations through UX design methodologies to tackle the research questions.

2.2.2 Research Questionnaires
I began by conducting preliminary user interviews mainly with millennial generations—
those ages 22 to 33 in 2021. Through the process, I examined the network size of millennial
generations, friendship satisfaction, and how friendships are prioritized. Interviews provided
insights from 31 participants and demonstrated useful information about millennials’ social
interactions and the problems that they are facing. (Each research session took about 15 to 20
minute to complete)

The main questions in the user interviews as follows:
Q1) How many close friends do you have?
7

Q2) What do you value most in a friendship?
Q3) What do you prefer doing when you hang out with your friends?
Q4) What do you think is the most important aspect of friendship?
Q5) Are you satisfied with your current social relations status?
Q6) Do you prefer to chat with your friends online or in-person?

Fig 2. “Google Survey” by Soyoung Lee
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MaTyY891JT7Mjt8_zAslMettzd1kk_dyAvv44vxtMOE/edit

2.2.3 Research Findings
Based on the interview findings, I identified the millennial generation as struggling to
make true friends on digital platforms. This phenomenon is due to a lack of emotional
connections, empathy, and shared moments. The interviewees empathized the psychological
8

importance of networks in their friendships where they can express their personal thoughts and
feelings openly and honestly. This research indicated that the exchange of emotional support is
key to sustain social connections and emotional well-being. Below are the primary findings of
my research:
• The limitations of human connection.
There is a cognitive limit to the number of stable social relationships an individual can
hold, which is called ‘Magic number 150’(Dunbar’s number, 1992).
13
Around 80% of the
participants with whom I talked responded they have no more than 3-5 close friends.
• What people value the most in friendships.
My research showed that Millenials value intimacy highly in their friendships. They
thought expressing personal thoughts and feelings openly and honestly is the most
important factor to evaluate their relationships.
14
Also, they responded that having
emotional security, and feeling comfortable in a novel or threatening situations is
important in their ability to build relationships.
• Social interaction with friends.
More than half of the participants said they value having strong communication with
others rather than engaging in activities such as shopping, entertainment, or hanging out
with friends.
• What Millennials think about social interaction online and offline?
Almost 80% of people with whom I talked prefer to have a physical connection whereas
only 16% people prefer to meet their friends online.

13
Dunbar’s number, 1992.
14
McGill’s Friendship Questionnaire
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Instrument-Title-%3A-McGill-Friendship-Questionnaire-Mendelson-
Aboud/fcb214d58e5c1f13f0636a12583e455ffab6d513
9

2.2.4 Workshop: What is Empathy?
Empathy is knowing what another person is feeling, feeling the same emotions that the
other person experiences, and responding to a person in a compassionate way. It is more than just
an exchange of information; it is the mutual progress of understanding and socializing together.
15

I participated in a class workshop where everyone brought one meaningful object that evokes
strong feelings. Every object had a different meaning based on an individual's personal
memories, history, and culture. When I saw other people’s objects and heard the personal stories
that accompanied them, I was inspired by the idea that the story of one’s object is a key to
feeling empathy toward others. In this experiment, I realized that empathy motivates us to
connect, share and even help others. Learning about how objects help humans to connect with
others and communicate sparked my curiosity.

Personal objects that the participants in workshop picked:
Objects: Mask, Lipstick, Teddy Bear, Necklace, Haro(toy), Contact lens, Bracelet, Polaroid,
Clue(game), Book, Key, Walkie Talkie, Book, Bunny, Stone, Movie Ticket, Ring, Tablet,
Robot(toy), Wine, Mug, Tennis bats, Cactus, Glass, Racoon toy, Suitcase, Healing Crystal,
Broken phone, Lotte tower miniature, Tea-cup, Bracelet, Photo, Projector, Toy, Mirror, iPhone

2.2.5 Explore: Classify Objects in Five Emotional Criteria
Based on this class activity, I classified objects and put them into groups with similar
characteristics or properties. At first, I grouped the objects that have similar appearances such as

15
The Relationship between Social Media and Empathy, Franklin M. Collins, 2014.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2189&context=etd
10

shape, color, materials(softness/hardness), and smell. I realized that the sensory properties are
very much related to our personal feelings, mood, and emotions.

Fig 3. “Grouping Objects” by Soyoung Lee

Moreover, the stories associated with each object signify universal themes that satisfy different
emotional needs. In my next attempt, I tried to classify those themes as objects in 5 different
emotional criteria, which are 1) Nostalgia 2) Knowledge 3) Identity 4) Wellness & Care, and 5)
Empowerment. I proceed to further explore the relationships between sense and emotions.
Before moving on, I want to clarify a few things. First, the 5 categories are not perfectly discrete,
which means they can overlap. For instance, books are generally grouped in knowledge but also
show personal identity to certain people. Similarly, a Key can be a necessity but also evoke
nostalgia for a certain person. Every person will have somewhat different object categories
resonate for them based on their past experience and personal narrative. For example, lipstick is
a necessity for Person A, but Person B who collects lipsticks as a hobby can classify the lipstick
into the identity category. Our emotional states are combinations of physiological arousal,
11

psychological appraisal, and subjective experiences.
16
Lastly, emotion is a spectrum.
17
Emotional
feelings can not be accurately and perfectly classified as one definite feeling, whereas they can
be classified by the degree of the emotion.

Fig 4. “How to classify objects” by Soyoung Lee

16
Emotion, Introduction to Psychology- Lumen Learning.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/intropsychmaster/chapter/emotion/
17
Emotion classification Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_classification

12

3 Ideation
3.1 Hypothesis
If Millenials explore meaningful objects that other people keep or carry and then exchange
that object’s story, they are able to better connect, share and understand with others. Objects
serve as a communication method between people and sharing personal stories results in acts of
empathy, engagement, and connection. Psychologist Abraham Maslow contends the reason why
people post and consume updates on Social Media. One reason people post on social media is
that social media sharing can link to psychological needs where users generally want to feel
some kind of social acceptance from a group or a particular individual so that they can feel love
and belonging.
18
In sum, sharing personal objects may increase social interactions and reactions
to exchange similar emotions, feelings, and stories. This synergy results in creating a more
connected supportive community environment in digital platforms where users are given comfort
and emotional support.

3.2 Idea Variation: Empathy and Fabricated Objects
To understand the emotional gap between original and fabricated objects as well as
learning more about empathy, I executed related works throughout this research. Empathy in the
broadest sense refers to the reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another. It
is also defined as a comprehension, understanding, and prediction of someone else’s mental
state.
19
I think empathy is the feeling that is associated with the strength of one’s relationship
with another. Therefore, I explored empathy to discover if people feel the same emotions

18
Why We Share?: A Study of Motivations for Mobile Media Sharing
19
The Relationship between Social Media and Empathy
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2189&context=etd
13

towards a copy of an object made of plastic materials. I chose the object: Gummy Bear, which
my mother gave me as a reward for when I accomplished tasks well. For me, gummy bears
create feelings of acceptance, of being valued, and provide momentary happiness. To replicate
the original Gummy Bear object, I used blender software to 3D print a copy of the object in the
same size. In this process, I experience positive emotions by touching the shape of the fabricated
objects. However, the plastic materials lacked the five senses that I could feel in the original
Gummy Bear artifact. Differences in texture, smell, color, and feel of the object gave me a
dissonant feeling and disrupted the nostalgic feeling I would normally have. This project
validated that absence of five senses in fabricated object affect original feelings that I felt in the
original objects.

Fig 5. “The itinerary of 3D Printing” by Soyoung Lee

14

3.3 Proof of Concept: Sharing tangible objects and stories in order to know each other better
In the Mysa application, users can establish the possibility of shared respect, empathy, and
understanding with other people by sharing personal stories based on tangible objects.

Fig 6. “Concept for Mysa” by Soyoung Lee

3.4 Concept Development
Every object represents a potential social connection. In his book, Glenn Adamson contends
that people can better understand our fellow humans by understanding the tangible things in our
lives. According to Adamson, our relationships with objects let other people know about the way
we see the world, past experience, and ultimately can be the methods to connect with other
people.

15

4 Designing a Platform
4.1 Brand Identity
During the design process, I established a brand design identity for ‘Mysa’ to ease the
implementation process. ‘Mysa’ is a Swedish word used when people engage in an activity that
is comfortable and pleasurable.
20
I wanted to bring a 'Mysa' lifestyle to digital platforms, where
users engage in a warm and connected community.
The design system features typography and a color system. The typography system built
on the Phoreus Cherokee font gives a sense of warm and friendly tone. For the color system, I
chose a bright orange palette as a primary color to convey the concept of warmth and
friendliness. I chose a green color as a secondary color to complement the color effect.

Fig 7. “Design System for Mysa” by Soyoung Lee

20
Mysa Origin and History
https://www.wordsense.eu/mysa/
16

4.2 Application Features
In ‘Mysa’, there is an opportunity to incentivize users through a fun and engaging way to
share personal objects and exchange personal stories. These are the key features of the
application:

Fig 8. “Core Features for Mysa” by Soyoung Lee

4.3 Use Cases
After defining the key features, I narrowed down the use cases that I wanted to focus on in
the ‘Mysa’ application and addressed the features for each step.
17

Fig 9. “Use Cases for Mysa” by Soyoung Lee

4.4 Experience Map
I designed an experience map to finalize the information architecture of the application
features. By designing the flow, I was able to understand how users would categorize and
prioritize the information.

Fig 10. “Flow Diagram for Mysa” by Soyoung Lee
18

4.5 Prototype
I designed the application contents based on the Use Cases, considering the whole user
journey as needed. By combining the core sharing experience with gamification and community
interaction I incentivized users to engage with ‘Mysa’ across multiple touchpoints. Sharing
objects, and personal stories would act as the centerpiece of the app, and the motivation through
community groups and games would provide the users to continue pursuing a healthy social
relations habit.

1. Onboard: Personalizing experience by choosing the objects
Installation of the mobile application. The introduction screen explains what the Mysa
application offers for users. Starts by tapping the bottom button Sign-up. Users will be able to
enter username and password to create an account and pick their interested objects they may
want to interact with.

Fig 11. “Mysa_Onboarding Screen 1” by Soyoung Lee

19

2. Interests
Users will be able to pick their interested objects they may want to feel empathy with.

Fig 12. “Mysa_Onboarding Screen 2” by Soyoung Lee

3. Write up the personal story based on tangible objects.
Before interacting with other users, users write personal stories based on a tangible object.
After writing the personal narrative, users choose one emotional criterion that represents their
personal feelings of the object. There are five emotions from which to choose: Nostalgia,
Knowledge, Identity, Wellness and Care, and Empowerment. Users can upload object’s photos
by allowing access to the camera and album. Posting the object story increases the likelihood of
the exchange of support and emotional comfort with other people.
20

Fig 13. “Mysa_Onboarding Screen 3” by Soyoung Lee

4. My Profile to archive user’s objects and object’s stories.
After waiting for uploading, Users can archive their personal objects and stories on the ‘My
Profile’ page.

Fig 14. “Mysa_Onboarding Screen 3” by Soyoung Lee

21

5. Explore Objects based on Emotional Criteria.
The home screen features a list of personal objects and stories. Users should pick an emotion that
they are interested in. There are five emotions which to choose from Nostalgia, Knowledge,
Identity, Wellness and Care, and Empowerment. Users are able to see objects based on the user's
choice of emotional criteria. Users discover objects’ stories that bring empathy for them.

Fig 15. “Mysa_Home Screen 1” by Soyoung Lee

6. Communicate
Users can get an opportunity to communicate with the object’s owner by clicking the ‘Connect’
button. Having a conversation in this application promotes expressions of empathy and
emotional connection.
22

Fig 16. “Mysa_Home Screen 2” by Soyoung Lee

7. Connecting with other users through sharing of playing activity.
Playing a 20 Questions Object Guessing game with other users allows users to start a
conversation by having an “ice-breaking” moment and to reflect on who the opponent is. On the
‘My Network’ page, users can select a playing activity that they want to join. By Clicking the‘
Join’ button, users can participate in a game.

Fig 17. “Mysa_My Networks Page 1” by Soyoung Lee
23

8. Play 20 Questions Game
User A receives 20 opportunities to ask about the object and guess what the object is. User B,
who is the owner of the object responds Yes or No to User A. After guessing what the object is,
User A sees the answer and is able to view the object's story.

Fig 18. “Mysa_My Networks Page 2” by Soyoung Lee

9. Ask questions and guess the Object.

Fig 19. “Mysa_My Networks Page 3” by Soyoung Lee
24

10. Guess the object and submit an answer to User B.
After guessing what the object is, User A sees the answer and is able to view the object's story by
tapping the ‘View Object Story’ button.

Fig 20. “Mysa_My Networks Page 4” by Soyoung Lee

11. Joining the community.
Users can discover communities that they want to join based on their objects of interest. Users
should select objects that they are interested in and discover communities that they want to join
based on their choice of objects.
25

Fig 21. “Mysa_Community 1” by Soyoung Lee

12. Building object stories together.
Mysa supplements face-to-face interactions by offering features that allow users to actively
engage in interpersonal communication. Based on this, users build trust and empathy towards
each other on online platforms and have an opportunity to have face-to-face interactions.

Fig 22. “Mysa_Community 2” by Soyoung Lee

26

13. Pick a date to have face-to-face interactions with your community.
Based on the User’s current location, they can have face-to-face interactions with their
community and build stronger relationships. By clicking the ‘Calendar’ button, users can pick a
date they want to meet.

Fig 23. “Mysa_Community 3” by Soyoung Lee

27

5 Results
This part represents the findings of a Mysa application Usability Testing conducted by
Soyoung Lee for a sample of 15 people, aging from twenty-four to twenty-eight years old. The
Usability testing observed individuals’ interactions with a prototype of Mysa. Respondents for
this User Testing were selected from the target audience who have volunteered to participate in
interacting with the Mysa prototype and share personal thoughts. All cases of User Testing are
subject to a variety of personal opinions and thoughts.

5.1 Research Questionnaires
Q1. Can you tell me what you think about the visual elements such as color, icons, text, and
overall layout of the content?
Q2. What was your overall impression and thoughts of this application?
Q3. Do you have any difficulties using the prototype to complete your task in your journey?
Q4. How was your general experience of using the prototype?
Q5. Who do you think the intended target audience and why?
Q6. How would you like to improve the application?
Q7. Did you see an opportunity to use the Mysa application?

5.2 Usability Testing
By gathering feedback from the intended target audience, I gathered insights in order to
understand the user's opinions. Based on this research, I created intuitive digital prototypes for
users to explore their personal challenges and pain points using this application.

28

5.3 Quotations from Participants
“This is such a cool idea! I think it makes sense and I love that you are using ‘Mysa’ as the
title since my whole family is in Sweden.” —Emma, 25, Visual designer, Los Angeles

“It is such an interesting and creative way to get people to connect. Even now, it’s
important and needed that we grow a community and feel connected in that way. By sharing
objects and stories with others, it can be a unique way to connect with others.” —Kyle, 25, USC
Cinematic Arts Student

“This app would be useful for people who are not great at making deep relationships with
people and need emotional support. For someone who is not great at socializing and not
confident to make friends can practice how to communicate with other people by using this
application.” —Jamie, 25, London Business School Master Student, London

“I like your color combination very much. It is warm, healing colors that remind me of
winter’s sunshine. I think it might be a new type of social network platforms.” —Jingyao, 25,
University of Southern California Master Student, Los Angeles

“I think this app would be a medium for people who have depression issues in this COVID
era.” —Yoora, 32, Sales Expert

“I’m not really a technology person, but the wording on the onboarding section makes it
easy for me to understand this social app. I also love the font and color pallet. It feels modern
and playful, but still professional and sophisticated” —Makeba, 24, Film Maker, New York City

29

5.4 Critical Ideas from Users

“What do you think about the privacy aspect of people’s information? And the possibility of
others wanting to connect as friends outside of your app?”

““Why do I want to read the stories of people I don’t know? I would first select people with who
I want to build friends. I think it would be better if users show the minimum background of
themselves.”

“I think it would be better if you can utilize illustration that evokes nostalgia, and use a fun
layout.”

5.5 Reflection and Limitation based on User Feedback
1. Emotion is a spectrum.
Classifying emotion into five groups taught me that emotion is complex. Since emotion
exists in a spectrum, it was hard to differentiate one emotion from another. In other
words, users might have difficulty choosing one emotion in the list if they feel diverse
feelings from the objects.

2. It is hard to check correlations between social media usage and empathy.
There are a variety of ways to interact with others in the social network system. In digital
platforms, users can be distinguished by how they actively interact with the platform. It
can simply be calculated by time online, chatting, social media usage. That is to say, it is
complicated to know whether social media influences a user's empathic behavior. Passive
30

users can just look at posts and simply scroll down the page even if they feel empathy for
it. Active users may involve more in online engagement and interaction with other users
by sharing and posting their status and photos. Possibly, increased activity online and
view other people’s objects and stories creates more opportunities to feel empathic and
engage with others. However, it was difficult to check if the user actually feels empathy
towards another. For future iterations, exploring how passive users can better connect to
others in digital platforms to give and receive emotional support is an important next step
in my research.

3. Communications are positively associated with empathy.

Interviewing the target audience taught me how communication is parallel to building
trust and friendship. Millennials demonstrated that they value communication highly in
their friendships. They felt expressing personal thoughts and feelings openly and honestly
is the most important factor to evaluate their relationships. I realized that sharing objects
offers users an opportunity to communicate and express empathy.

5.6 Conclusion
The research in this thesis project explores how designers can deliver empathetic
experiences to users on digital platforms. Throughout the background research, user interviews,
and design experiments, I attempted to create opportunities to empathy with the user. I tested the
Mysa prototype on a sample of the millennial generation in order to observe how sharing objects
can generate conversation, empathy, and social interaction.
My findings from the Mysa prototype suggest that millennials generally respond positively
to the application concept. The majority of the participants understand it to be a new type of
31

social media platform where people can interact and build communities in a more friendly way.
They liked the visual system of this application and experienced playful and positive feelings
from the color and typeface. In conclusion, millennials perceived object sharing through an
online platform as an innovative idea to interact with people.
This research project explored the need for user experience designers to build empathy and
sharing experiences into digital platforms and the array of opportunities for UX Design in
building humanistic applications.

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References
[1] Eli Pacheco. “COVID-19’s Impact on Social Media Usage, September, 2020.
https://www.thebrandonagency.com/blog/covid-19s-impact-on-social-media-usage/

[2] Does Social Media Create Isolation?, 2019.
https://online.regiscollege.edu/blog/does-social-media-create-isolation/

[3] Social Media Effects, View Point Center.
https://www.viewpointcenter.com/blog/social-media-effects-social-isolation/

[4] The Social Dilemma: Social Media and Your Mental Health, 2021.
https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health

[5] The Psychology of Social Media, King University, 2020.
https://online.king.edu/news/psychology-of-social-media/

[6] 7 Ways Social Media Can Benefit Mental Health, Painted Brain, 2020.
https://paintedbrain.org/editorial/7-ways-social-media-can-benefit-mental-health-2/

[7] Intergenerational Effects on the Impacts of Technology Use in Later Life: Insights from an
International, Multi-Site study by Shannon Freeman, 2020
file:///Users/soyounglee/Downloads/ijerph-17-05711-v2.pdf

[8] Millennials stand out for their technology use, but older generations also embrace digital life
by Emily A. Vogels, 2019.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/09/us-generations-technology-use/

[9] The Psychology of Social Media, King University, 2019.
https://online.king.edu/news/psychology-of-social-media/

[10] Millennials are the loneliest generation, Jamie Ballard, 2019.
https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2019/07/30/loneliness-friendship-new-
friends-poll-survey

[11] Online Social Networking and Mental Health, Igor Pantic, 2014.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4183915/

[12] Social Media and Mental Health, Teen Issues, 2020
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/social-media-and-mental-health.htm

[13] Dunbar’s number, 1992.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191001-dunbars-number-why-we-can-only-maintain-150-
relationships#:~:text=According%20to%20British%20anthropologist%20Robin,studies%20of%
20non%2Dhuman%20primates.

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[14] McGill’s Friendship Questionnaire, 2014
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Instrument-Title-%3A-McGill-Friendship-
Questionnaire-Mendelson-Aboud/fcb214d58e5c1f13f0636a12583e455ffab6d513

[15] The Relationship between Social Media and Empathy, Franklin M. Collins, 2014.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2189&context=etd

[16] Emotion, Introduction to Psychology- Lumen Learning.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/intropsychmaster/chapter/emotion/

[17] Emotion classification Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_classification

[18] Why We Share?: A Study of Motivations for Mobile Media Sharing

[19] The Relationship between Social Media and Empathy, 2014
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2189&context=etd

[20] Mysa Origin and History
https://www.wordsense.eu/mysa/

[21] MIllennials are the loneliest generation, 2019
https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2019/07/30/loneliness-friendship-new-
friends-poll-survey

[22] 19 Photos that evoke nostalgia and warmth
https://brightside.me/wonder-curiosities/20-photos-that-evoke-nostalgia-and-warmth-in-our-
hearts-775110/

[23] Glenn Adamson. Fewer, better things: The Hidden Wisdom of Objects, 2018

[24] Helen Keller. The Story of My Life, 1902

[25] Giorgia Lupi & Stefanie Posavec. Dear Data Project
http://giorgialupi.com/dear-data

[26] What’s in my bag?
https://www.usmagazine.com/stylish/pictures/celebs-tell-us-whats-in-my-bag-2013910/33315/
https://www.usmagazine.com/tag/whats-in-my-bag/

[27] The Hegehog’s Dilema, Psychology Today, 2020
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-and-philosophy/202003/the-hedgehog-s-
dilemma

[28] The object ethnography project
https://objectethnography.wordpress.com/bibliography/

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Developing better ways of understanding our emotions and social interactions has become more critical in today’s digital culture. As communication in digital platforms become a part of our daily life, indirect communication in the digital world has led to miscommunication, cyber isolation, and the development of new kinds of mental health problems. There are few guidelines for understanding emotions and non-verbal cues in digital communication. This thesis explores where design intervenes to effectively address the emotional challenges at hand, as well as better ways of forming and nurturing users’ social relationships. The goal of my project is to foster opportunities for social interactions that are more human-centered. I have built a digital platform to help young adults have fulfilling relationships through shared emotive experiences through the understanding and sharing stories of tangible and tactile objects. Building on the idea that objects accrue meaning through shared personal narratives, my project seeks to develop a sharing ecology in digital and real space to promote meaningful connections. In the moment of exchanging the object’s story, the giver and receiver can build friendships, support systems, and heal their sense of loneliness by experiencing empathy towards each other. This project fosters connected communities on a small scale, and also on a deeper level by helping people create meaningful and connected communities that maintain healthy interpersonal connections through shared moments.

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