Beatrice (or Bea) is 22 years old, a recent graduate, and just starting her career. She values her friendships but often finds that entire days go by without her realizing she hasn’t spoken to anyone outside of work. It’s not that she doesn’t care—it’s that time keeps slipping away, and her friends are also navigating similar post-graduation challenges.
In our research, we heard multiple times that new professionals don’t intentionally ignore their friends— instead, maintaining friendships becomes difficult when everyone is juggling work, life, and adjusting to new routines. Bea is one of those people, and her journey reveals key pain points in how people keep up with friendships in their busiest seasons.
To better understand how and when Bea thinks about reaching out to friends, I mapped out her daily journey:
Key Takeaways from Bea’s Journey
- It’s not about forgetting, it’s about time slipping away. Bea intends to text back but is constantly sidetracked by work, social media, and exhaustion.
- Low-effort social engagement fills the gap, but not completely. Bea likes posts, watches stories, and reacts to messages, but those interactions don’t replace real conversations.
- Friendships require effort, but the effort feels like another task. At the end of a long day, even sending a text can feel like work, making it easy to delay interactions.
