Digital Legacy Systems for Young Adults: Emphasizing Relationship-Oriented Perspectives and Physical Artifacts in Death Preparation

The death of a young person is particularly tragic, leaving a profound emotional impact on the bereaved. Moreover, their legacies often diverge from traditional ones, incorporating a range of digital artifacts. This design study investigates age-specific approaches to death-related technologies by envisioning digital legacy curation systems tailored for young adults (age 19–34). Using cultural probes, design workbooks, and prototype testing, we examine the values and preferences of young adults in preparing for an untimely death. Our findings highlight relationship-oriented legacies that focus on minimizing the emotional burden of the bereaved and the potential benefits of physical artifacts. Through this study, we: (1) underscore recognizing specific user groups in death-related technologies, (2) explore death as an existential and disorienting grounds within HCI, (3) extend post-userist concepts to consider the notion of “use” after death, and (4) identify the liminal space between physical and digital legacies as a meaningful realm to explore.