NW’s Analysis

Hi! I’m a part of the Amazon River Dolphins, and we’re studying ways to help people maintain their long-distance connections. Among our participants, NW was notably fun to pick apart because of their unique relationship with their long-distance connections. NW is interesting because they stated a desire for more long-distance connection in our screener, but some of their actions seem to contradict that. They value them as some of their best friends and most fulfilling connections, but don’t necessarily always have the energy to communicate with them. While they do enjoy talking to them (phone calls, occasional texting) when they do get around to it, they feel that the current instability in their life lends them to enjoy low-effort communication more. We thought their insights would be interesting to look into for our study, as they have several notable pain points when getting them to contact their long-distance friends. In particular, I thought it would be interesting to chart their emotions over time and try to contextualize what their long-distance interactions were throughout this period.

Proto-Persona

Journey Map

Honorable Mention:

We also had another great participant, AM. While AM didn’t finish the study, they gave great insights in their pre-interview and would be down for more communication with their long-distance friends. They had a background of coming from a boarding school where a lot of their close friends were international, and in a lot of ways they feel closer to their friends now that they’re apart. While they don’t call much, save for a few times a year, they make an effort to maintain their relationships by sending articles, LinkedIn posts, and calling on special events like birthdays.