The Problem

Friendships in college are short and often need based. For example, two people may only be close for a semester because they are in the same class together. How can we identify real friends, and how can we sustain these friendships?

Deep Dive into the Problem

A friendship is only long lasting if it is of pure intentions and if both parties invest in that relationship. However, people tend to forget one of those two elements. How can we help people remember these pure memories and to continue to invest in these relationships?

The Solution

Create a desktop token to give the user a place to store happy memories with friends.

Design Process

As a large theme in failing friendships is that people tend to forget to sustain these friendships, I needed to create something that would constantly remind people to interact with. Hence, it needed to be something someone could easily place in their room, preferably on a high-traffic surface such as a study desk. Furthermore, it needed to work for any and all types of friendships. Therefore, it needed to be customizable: each person’s desktop token would be different.

Final Product

The Friendship Mailbox gives users a place to store their happy memories with friends. The user should write down any happy memories made with a friend on the paper provided and put it in the mailbox, and that person can open the mailbox whenever to read the mail. It is like a dairy, but specifically for happy memories the user has made with their friends.