Cloud9

Introduction

The widespread adoption of technologies and social media brings to question, what will happen to these digital assets (digital photos, videos, documents, etc.) after an individual passes away? In this project, we explored user needs for a technology addressing this problem that considers the wishes of the deceased person. We conducted scenario-based observations, interviews, and a survey.

Observation

We began our exploration by observing how participants would share their loved one's digital artifacts in preparation for their loved one's passing. We recruited eight participants through social media. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, we conducted our observations through Zoom.

We then sent each participant a document with written instructions and stock photos to for use in a solving a scenario-based problem:

After presenting the scenario, we gave them two tasks: (1) Using the photos we sent earlier, please demonstrate, while sharing your screen, how you would store and share these sentimental digital files, the photos of your aunt's 50th birthday with your aunt's close family members once she is gone; (2) Show how you would help your aunt organize her social media presence.

From there, we organized our observations into the AEIOU (activities, environment, interactions, objects, and users) framework to categorize our findings using Stormboard, an online affinity diagramming tool. We then summarized common steps into a flow diagram.

Interviews

Next, we interviewed eight new participants to gain a deeper insight into how users currently store their digital artifacts and what they will do with either their own or their loved one's digital assets in the event of death. We also asked for their experience, if any, of viewing or creating a memorial page or an obituary. The interviews were conducted through Zoom.

Surveys

We conducted surveys for our next step. To participate in the study, users had to be at least 18 years old, and must use at least one of the following social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, Reddit, or Pinterest. Forty-five participants completed the survey (28 female-identifying, 16 male-identifying, and 1 who identifies as other). The ages ranged from 19 to 55.

We wanted to explore more into how prepared people are for their passing, regarding their digital artifacts. We also measured the level of comfort people had about other individuals being able to access their digital artifacts or accounts and if they had items they wish to have deleted when they die. We also explored receptiveness of creating a memorial page to display their digital artifacts.

Top Level Findings and Implications for Design

Cloud-Based

There was a prevalence of the use of cloud services in our study. Participants in our observations, stored their digital assets in the cloud using Google Drive, Dropbox, or other services and they shared these assets by generating a link to send to others. This was supported in our interviews as half of the participants mentioned using the cloud to store their digital artifacts. Survey results also showed that respondent’s loved ones store their digital artifacts on the cloud. All the services listed are web-based and do not require a program to be downloaded. This implies that a product geared towards storing and sharing digital assets will be cloud-based and accessible from a web browser.

How-to Guide

We found participants encountered difficulties finding information on how to organize social media presence. Participants remarked that they would like a checklist of what they should do and of files that they should prepare in case of death. These comments implied that users would benefit from a product that has clear instructions and recommendations on how users can prepare their digital artifacts before death.

Consolidation

Any solution should also consolidate and access all of a user’s accounts from one place. One of our participantsin our observations mentioned how it would be difficult to manage all his accounts. Four participants during the interviews mentioned that their vision for a product would include a way to input their various accounts such as social media or banking information. This would also include the feature to consolidate passwords.

Dead Man's Switch

Many of our interview participants mentioned that they have files they would want to be deleted once they passed. Gunther mentioned a dead man’s switch or some type of private key that a designated individual could use to send out notifications of their death and to delete files. More than half of our participants (n=25) in our interviews said that they have digital artifacts they would want to be deleted after they pass. This indicated that our design should include a feature to allow users to select which of their files should be kept and shared and which files should be deleted.

Memorial Page Creation

From our observations, and interviews we determined that participants had a favorable view towards online memorial pages and many would like one created for them in the event of their passing. The survey results showed less than half of the respondents (n=17) wanted a memorial page for themselves. This indicated that apart from creating a digital artifact package to be distributed, users would also benefit from having a choice to display chosen artifacts with friends and family. Based on the findings from the surveys the memorial should have features such as guest posting, signing book, and ways to add photos and videos.

Retrospective

• Developed skills in conducting observations and interviews
• Learned how to conduct remote observations and recordings
• Survey could have used more revision and inclusion of different questions that addressed points brought up through the observations and interviews