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Understanding Long-Distance Friendships

and Digital Communication

Understanding Long-Distance Friendships

and Digital Communication

Understanding Long-Distance Friendships

and Digital Communication

WHat

Design Research | Field Studies | Zine Design

ROLE

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TIMELINE

Fall 2025 | 10 Weeks

Full Process

skip to outcomes

skip to outcomes

skip to outcomes

The Problem Space.

Technology is supposed to keep us connected… so why do long-distance friendships still feel so difficult to maintain?

Technology is supposed to keep us connected… so why do long-distance friendships still feel so difficult to maintain?

Technology is supposed to keep us connected… so why do long-distance friendships still feel so difficult to maintain?

Adult friendships are already challenging amid growing responsibilities, and the transition from co-located to long-distance often disrupts the sense of mutual care people once shared. Even with constant access to digital communication, many adults struggle to feel genuinely connected after a move.

The Question.

When formerly co-located adult friendships become long-distance, how does technology facilitate this transition and help/complicate authentic connections?

THE TEAM.

Leslie Kwok

HAYDEN KIM-DERNBACH

DANELLA LEI

Leslie Kwok

HAYDEN KIM-DERNBACH

DANELLA LEI

SECONDARY RESEARCH.

view research report

view research report

view research report

To ground our problem space, we reviewed academic studies, news articles, and design research on adult friendships and technology. Our synthesis revealed three key dynamics shaping long-distance friendships today:

To ground our problem space, we reviewed academic studies, news articles, and design research on adult friendships and technology. Our synthesis revealed three key dynamics shaping long-distance friendships today:

To ground our problem space, we reviewed academic studies, news articles, and design research on adult friendships and technology. Our synthesis revealed three key dynamics shaping long-distance friendships today:

  1. Technology can strengthen adult friendships, but it also introduces new complications, such as constant availability expectations and managing emotional capacity.

  1. The types of maintenance behaviors digital tools encourage don’t always align with what adults actually value.

  1. Changing adult circumstances, like less time and more responsibilities, transform how people maintain relationships and redefine what being a good friend looks like.

Together, these insights clarified our problem space: long-distance friends are navigating evolving relational needs with tools that often don’t support the forms of care they find most meaningful.

Together, these insights clarified our problem space: long-distance friends are navigating evolving relational needs with tools that often don’t support the forms of care they find most meaningful.

Our Participants.

For our primary research sessions, we recruited working adults who had previously experienced a move and were attempting to maintain long-distance friendships.

For our primary research sessions, we recruited working adults who had previously experienced a move and were attempting to maintain long-distance friendships.

We excluded romantic and familial relationships to keep the study centered on friendship-based care, and we did not limit participants by age beyond ensuring they were in the working stage of life.

We excluded romantic and familial relationships to keep the study centered on friendship-based care, and we did not limit participants by age beyond ensuring they were in the working stage of life.

Chuck

| Age 55

Last Move: 20 yrs ago

Eduarda

| Age 60

Last Move: 29 yrs ago

Eren

| Age 23

Last Move: 4 mo ago

Helen

| Age 33

Last Move: 9 yrs ago

Java

| Age 32

Last Move: 4 yrs ago

Kendra

| Age 59

Last Move: 3 yrs ago

Mike

| Age 41

Last Move: 18 yrs ago

Nathan

| Age 33

Last Move: 3 yrs ago

Valerie

| Age 54

Last Move: 8 yrs ago

Kaleb

| Age 29

Last Move: 4 mo ago

*Participants anonymized for privacy & protection

*Participants anonymized for privacy & protection

As a significant life change like this comes with adapting to new routines, spaces, and communities, we did not want to further burden those who were actively undergoing a move. This focus allowed us to examine the impacts of the move without the added instability and with the deeper reflection from the participants.

In total, we conducted 10 individual research sessions, with team members alternating rotating between interviewer and note-taker roles.

RESEARCH methods.

view cultural probe

view cultural probe

view cultural probe

00. Screening Survey | 10 min

A screening survey was used to confirm that potential participants fit our target population and to gather baseline context about their recent moves, current friendships, and availability.

The next methods were sent out as a cultural probe to be completed before the interview.

01. Personal Inventory | 05 min

We asked participants to conduct a personal inventory of their digital communication tools. This exercise helped introduce them to our topic and prompted reflection on how they use technology to stay connected with their existing friends.

02. Circle of Trust | 05 min

Participants were asked to place their long-distance friends on a circle of trust to rank them by closeness. This helped us understand how they perceived the strength of their friendships and, through interview probing. why certain relationships felt especially strong.

03. Communication Card Sort | 05 min

We had participants match their personal inventory to their circle of trust, allowing us to see whether participants use different communication methods depending on who they are talking to and how close that friend is.

04. Letter to a Friend | 15 min

To wrap up the async exercise, participants were asked to write a letter to a friend they had fallen out of touch with, expressing what they wish they could say now. This activity encouraged deeper reflection on the relationship and how distance has shaped their lives.

05. Interview | 60 min

Following the async activities, we conducted semi-structured interviews to deepen our understanding of participants’ experiences.


The session began by reviewing their completed cultural probe activities, grounding the conversation in their own reflections and communication habits.


In the second half of the interview, we explored friendship values, moments of connection and tension, and how authenticity shows up across distance. Participants also completed a short talk-aloud exercise using both familiar and less familiar communication tools to reveal real-time behaviors, instincts, and emotional responses.

SYNTHESIS.

After completing our interviews, we moved into a collaborative synthesis process to transform raw stories, quotes, and observations into meaningful insights.


We coded every transcript, tagging quotes across themes such as communication habits, friendship dynamics, emotional boundaries, digital challenges, and contextual circumstances. These tags were then grouped, sorted, and re-sorted as we looked for patterns, tensions, and emerging principles.

This stage was unexpectedly challenging: our entire group was sick for much of the synthesis period, which meant coordinating across constant Zoom calls and asynchronous check-ins. We rotated roles, supported each other through low-energy days, and adapted our workflow so that everyone could still participate meaningfully.

Synthesis became a space for deep conversation: interrogating nuance, clarifying language, and making sure we represented participants’ experiences with intention and care. Through repeated clustering, reframing, and sensemaking, we established a clearer narrative of what long-distance friendship actually feels like for adults using digital technologies.

Synthesis became a space for deep conversation: interrogating nuance, clarifying language, and making sure we represented participants’ experiences with intention and care. Through repeated clustering, reframing, and sensemaking, we established a clearer narrative of what long-distance friendship actually feels like for adults using digital technologies.

Synthesis became a space for deep conversation: interrogating nuance, clarifying language, and making sure we represented participants’ experiences with intention and care. Through repeated clustering, reframing, and sensemaking, we established a clearer narrative of what long-distance friendship actually feels like for adults using digital technologies.

insights & principles.

Through our synthesis process, we transformed hundreds of quotes, stories, and observations into four core insights that describe what long-distance friendship actually feels like for adults using digital communication tools.

01.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous

Convenience drives default communication, but meaningful moments require the coordination burden of real-time connection.

Convenience drives default communication, but meaningful moments require the coordination burden of real-time connection.

Convenience drives default communication, but meaningful moments require the coordination burden of real-time connection.

Java

| Age 32

Last Move: 4 yrs ago

“The text based ones that are on your phone are just the simplest and easiest tools that you can use. No reason to overly complicate things when you're just trying to send a friend a meme or check in.”

“The text based ones that are on your phone are just the simplest and easiest tools that you can use. No reason to overly complicate things when you're just trying to send a friend a meme or check in.”

Eduarda

| Age 60

Last Move: 29 yrs ago

“I think, to me, my preference is text messaging. It's the flexibility I think I enjoy. Because when you have the [synchronous] interaction, you need to set aside a time slot.”

“I think, to me, my preference is text messaging. It's the flexibility I think I enjoy. Because when you have the [synchronous] interaction, you need to set aside a time slot.”

Valerie

| Age 54

Last Move: 8 yrs ago

“Maybe there is just something different about conveying something, you know, kind of through voice than through text.”

“Maybe there is just something different about conveying something, you know, kind of through voice than through text.”

02.

Boundaries & Emotional Status

Friends want to maintain boundaries, but emotional ambiguity can make reaching out feel like a guess.

Friends want to maintain boundaries, but emotional ambiguity can make reaching out feel like a guess.

Friends want to maintain boundaries, but emotional ambiguity can make reaching out feel like a guess.

Mike

| Age 41

Last Move: 18 yrs ago

“If it's an emotional conversation or time, they might not have the energy to engage and they'll brush you off... Sometimes you can tell when that's happening, sometimes you can't.”

“If it's an emotional conversation or time, they might not have the energy to engage and they'll brush you off... Sometimes you can tell when that's happening, sometimes you can't.”

Helen

| Age 33

Last Move: 9 yrs ago

“We leave it up to the other person's discretion of how much emotional space we each have and whether or not we actually have the capacity for a phone call.”

“We leave it up to the other person's discretion of how much emotional space we each have and whether or not we actually have the capacity for a phone call.”

03.

Silent Trust

Silent trust is better than constant communication; a lack of conversation doesn’t mean an empty friendship.

Silent trust is better than constant communication; a lack of conversation doesn’t mean an empty friendship.

Silent trust is better than constant communication; a lack of conversation doesn’t mean an empty friendship.

Nathan

| Age 33

Last Move: 3 yrs ago

“It's one of those things where, like, we don't have the best like instant messaging relationship or like texting relationship, but when we're together it's like the easiest thing in the world. So it feels this like kind of question of like closeness is not necessarily linked to how I message them.”

“It's one of those things where, like, we don't have the best like instant messaging relationship or like texting relationship, but when we're together it's like the easiest thing in the world. So it feels this like kind of question of like closeness is not necessarily linked to how I message them.”

Eren

| Age 23

Last Move: 4 mo ago

“I think sort of finding an acceptance of you probably won't talk to these people as frequently as you used to, and that's okay. And it doesn't mean that your friendship is any less strong. It just means that it's different now.”

“I think sort of finding an acceptance of you probably won't talk to these people as frequently as you used to, and that's okay. And it doesn't mean that your friendship is any less strong. It just means that it's different now.”

04.

Mutual Understanding

Mutual recognition of collective & individual change allows friendships to grow through active engagement in shared experiences.

Mutual recognition of collective & individual change allows friendships to grow through active engagement in shared experiences.

Mutual recognition of collective & individual change allows friendships to grow through active engagement in shared experiences.

Helen

| Age 33

Last Move: 9 yrs ago

“I care a lot about shared experiences with people because within those shared experiences I can then show who I am to that person and that's most important to me, like, sharing that experience of being authentic with that person.”

“I care a lot about shared experiences with people because within those shared experiences I can then show who I am to that person and that's most important to me, like, sharing that experience of being authentic with that person.”

Nathan

| Age 33

Last Move: 3 yrs ago

“We have chats specifically in our friend server about sharing things that all of us can interact with. It's the spaces that you're in that can change the value of those friendships and those relationships.”

“We have chats specifically in our friend server about sharing things that all of us can interact with. It's the spaces that you're in that can change the value of those friendships and those relationships.”

Based on each insight, we crafted a design principle to guide our future sketches.

Nimble & Natural

Reduce coordination burden while maintaining clarity.

Reduce coordination burden while maintaining clarity.

Intentional Expression

Easily share emotional status and availability, and genuinely connect during conversation

Easily share emotional status and availability, and genuinely connect during conversation

Unwavering Authenticity

Don’t let relationships falter during times of imperfect communication

Don’t let relationships falter during times of imperfect communication

Seamless Collaboration

Create shared digital spaces that reward gestures, adding meaning to a relationship without needing to talk about it constantly

Create shared digital spaces that reward gestures, adding meaning to a relationship without needing to talk about it constantly

IDEATION.

Building from our four key insights, we generated a wide range of speculative concepts exploring how technology might support (or complicate) care in long-distance friendships.


Our brainstorm intentionally spanned affirmative ideas (grounded in the present) as well as critical ideas (purposefully provocative to reveal assumptions).


Building from our four key insights, we generated a wide range of speculative concepts exploring how technology might support (or complicate) care in long-distance friendships.


Our brainstorm intentionally spanned affirmative ideas (grounded in the present) as well as critical ideas (purposefully provocative to reveal assumptions).


Building from our four key insights, we generated a wide range of speculative concepts exploring how technology might support (or complicate) care in long-distance friendships.


Our brainstorm intentionally spanned affirmative ideas (grounded in the present) as well as critical ideas (purposefully provocative to reveal assumptions).


We sorted each idea by the insight it aligned with and selected 15 concepts we felt were the most promising, challenging, or conversation-sparking. These became our first round of sketches, visualizing how future communication tools could respond to the emotional and relational realities we uncovered in research.

From the initial set of 15, we narrowed the collection down to 7 concepts to bring into participant feedback sessions. These seven represented the strongest spread across our insights and included both gently optimistic ideas and more critical provocations.

From the initial set of 15, we narrowed the collection down to 7 concepts to bring into participant feedback sessions. These seven represented the strongest spread across our insights and included both gently optimistic ideas and more critical provocations.

Feedback.

final story.

design workbook.

Alongside our final presentation, we created a comprehensive workbook that documented our methods, insights, and speculative concepts.


The workbook became both a communication tool and a reflection tool: capturing our process, showcasing our sketches, and integrating participant feedback into a clear, visual story of how our ideas evolved.

Alongside our final presentation, we created a comprehensive workbook that documented our methods, insights, and speculative concepts.


The workbook became both a communication tool and a reflection tool: capturing our process, showcasing our sketches, and integrating participant feedback into a clear, visual story of how our ideas evolved.

Alongside our final presentation, we created a comprehensive workbook that documented our methods, insights, and speculative concepts.


The workbook became both a communication tool and a reflection tool: capturing our process, showcasing our sketches, and integrating participant feedback into a clear, visual story of how our ideas evolved.