Digital Systems and the Experience of Legacy

As people generate large quantities of heterogeneous data across their lifetimes, there is an opportunity to consider how we might build digital systems that leverage this information to help people communicate aspects of their life for which they would like to be remembered without the need to directly assign or pass on this information to another person. We present a study that leverages existing research and the use of an online design probe to explore how people think about how they'll be remembered, and how digital systems and information might help shape how people look back on and interpret people's lives after they've passed away. Findings from this work articulate specific challenges and opportunities for building systems to support people's ability to engage with experiences and memories through their digital materials.