In our baseline study, the Amazon River Dolphins explored how people interacted with their long-distance friends. In our interviews, one of the personas that naturally surfaced across a few of our baseline study participants was the Busy Bestie, an introvert with a busy schedule and a desire to improve their long-distance connections. This persona is partially plagued by a struggle to find the time to respond. Still, a larger conflict arises because they cannot seem to have meaningful interactions after a busy schedule without being socially exhausted. Below is a summary of the Busy Beatie.
After creating this persona, the next step was to create a journey map that follows them through a typical workday. According to them, this is when their schedule directly conflicts with maintaining their long-distance friendships. Here is what that journey map looks like with key behaviors, emotions, and insights around their day.
One big takeaway from this journey map is how severe a phone call seems to drain the Busy Bestie compared to in-person, moderately draining conversations and text conversations, which do not deplete their energy levels significantly. Unfortunately, the Busy Bestie feels these conversations are important to maintaining a long-distance friendship, so they remain torn between their well-being or alienating their distant friends.
