During the summer, I had a quiet realization: I would probably have to change my topic. The company I originally wanted to collaborate with decided not to work with students, and for a moment, I felt a bit lost. But instead of seeing it as a setback, I treated it as a reset.
I sat down with a blank sheet of paper and started writing. First, I listed problems I would genuinely like to solve, things that felt meaningful to me. Then I wrote down directions and skills I was curious about and wanted to grow in. To make it more visual (and a bit more fun), I rated everything with stars. I marked the most interesting problems and the most inspiring directions.
When I looked at the results, a pattern appeared. Social problems clearly mattered most to me. And when it came to interests, I couldn’t choose just one: UX/UI, 3D printing, and video editing all felt equally exciting.
For the next few weeks, I kept searching for the right problem. Something that felt personal, but also universal. Eventually, I realized I kept coming back to one idea: preserving relationships. No matter if it’s family, friends, or partners, relationships shape our lives. And that became the problem I wanted to explore and solve.
That’s how my Master’s thesis topic was born: connecting and preserving memories by linking the digital and physical worlds in a fun, playful way.
During the semester, I started exploring what would actually keep people engaged in the digital space – the website. Some ideas felt obvious: creating shared albums, playing small games, sending video notes, or voice messages. But “obvious” wasn’t enough. I kept asking myself: How can this feel special? How can it feel memorable?
That’s when I remembered how powerful animations can be. Usually, animations are just the cherry on top of UX nice, but not essential. But what if animation became the main engagement driver?
I thought about interactions like the weather slider, burning negative stories in How We Feel, or the cracking opening animation in Opal. Those moments stick with people. The only realistic way to build something like that was coding. So, with help from ChatGPT, Claude, and a lot of tutorials, I started learning.
At the same time, another part of the project started forming: the physical object. I want it to feel meaningful, emotionally warm, and easy to carry around, something that feels personal, not just functional. I still don’t know exactly what it will look like, and that’s okay for now. What I do know is that I’ll need to experiment with materials to see which ones work best with NFC tags, maybe 3D prints, air clay, or ceramics.
The connection between the digital and physical worlds will happen through NFC. That part, at least, feels solved
Technically, the project feels challenging but doable. The harder part right now is defining the target group. Because, realistically, everyone has relationships. Everyone has memories.
A meeting with my supervisor, Anika Kronnberger, helped me zoom in. Instead of trying to design for “everyone,” she suggested thinking about specific sectors, like tourism, or focusing on age groups that might find this kind of product especially meaningful and fun.
How to vibe-code: https://youtu.be/fUN2TZoohk8?si=Lfg-rQ7X3cj9Cxi6
Techniques for the web-animation: https://youtu.be/9eHEOAn2FOA?si=FgiUA8sFC0QHerU2
Testing NFC placement materials: https://ragman.net/musings/nfc_sculptures/
I used ChatGPT to check the spelling and grammar of this text
