UX / UI, Brand Design, Product Strategy
UX / UI, Brand Design, Product Strategy
UX / UI, Brand Design, Product Strategy
Band.with
Band.with
Rethinking Digital Connection: Designing for Community Care
Rethinking Digital Connection: Designing for Community Care
Overview
In 2022, I navigated a period of profound personal transition—caretaking, the passing of my father, divorce, selling a home, and a layoff—all of which underscored my need for support. Despite having a strong community, accessing the right help at the right time required significant effort. This led me to a critical design question:
How might we shift from algorithm-driven highlight reels to intentional, care-based communities that foster vulnerability and resource-sharing?
Problem to solve
Through qualitative research—facilitating community coffee chats with neighbors, care providers and drawing from lived experience—I uncovered a key tension: while digital networks have made us more connected than ever, they have simultaneously eroded our ability to seek and receive meaningful support. Social media platforms, designed for engagement rather than care, often exacerbate loneliness rather than alleviate it.
This aligns with findings from the 2023 Surgeon General’s Advisory, which identified loneliness and social isolation as a public health epidemic. With mental health, privacy, and attention at stake, a new model for connection is urgently needed.
The solution
Band.with: A Platform for Mutual Aid
Band.with reimagines how we engage with our communities by facilitating structured, intentional support. The app enables users to:
Check in with themselves and their community.
Make requests for care based on real-time needs.
Discover opportunities to provide support that aligns with their skills, resources, and availability.
Users configure their private, trust-based communities, set preferences for available resources and time, and let Band.with intelligently match them with the right people—making mutual aid more accessible and seamless.By prioritizing privacy, psychological safety, and intentional engagement, Band.with shifts digital connection away from passive consumption and toward meaningful, reciprocal support networks.
Overview
In 2022, I navigated a period of profound personal transition—caretaking, the passing of my father, divorce, selling a home, and a layoff—all of which underscored my need for support. Despite having a strong community, accessing the right help at the right time required significant effort. This led me to a critical design question:
How might we shift from algorithm-driven highlight reels to intentional, care-based communities that foster vulnerability and resource-sharing?
Problem to solve
Through qualitative research—facilitating community coffee chats with neighbors, care providers and drawing from lived experience—I uncovered a key tension: while digital networks have made us more connected than ever, they have simultaneously eroded our ability to seek and receive meaningful support. Social media platforms, designed for engagement rather than care, often exacerbate loneliness rather than alleviate it.
This aligns with findings from the 2023 Surgeon General’s Advisory, which identified loneliness and social isolation as a public health epidemic. With mental health, privacy, and attention at stake, a new model for connection is urgently needed.
The solution
Band.with: A Platform for Mutual Aid
Band.with reimagines how we engage with our communities by facilitating structured, intentional support. The app enables users to:
Check in with themselves and their community.
Make requests for care based on real-time needs.
Discover opportunities to provide support that aligns with their skills, resources, and availability.
Users configure their private, trust-based communities, set preferences for available resources and time, and let Band.with intelligently match them with the right people—making mutual aid more accessible and seamless.By prioritizing privacy, psychological safety, and intentional engagement, Band.with shifts digital connection away from passive consumption and toward meaningful, reciprocal support networks.
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