Mirror behavior. Create self-awareness.
Connection can sometimes feel draining.
52%
of young adults report feeling emotionally exhausted after social interactions, even ones they chose to have.
Gen Z
is the loneliest generation despite being the most digitally connected. The tools meant to bring us together often make it worse.
Mo is a social energy companion: a physical desk device paired with a mobile app, built around one simple philosophy. To mirror behavior and create self-awareness, not to manage or impact decisions.
There's something endearing about having a pet around that you can talk to, one that listens without getting caught in the weeds of what you're saying, simply hearing you and understanding you. Mo works the same way. It stays quietly present throughout your day, and at the end of the week, offers gentle reflections that synthesize what happened, helping you recognize patterns in your social energy so you can see yourself a little more clearly.
Existing solutions miss the mark
We looked at what's already out there. Three consistent failure patterns emerged.
They interrupt real connection
They create uncanny relationships
They demand too much attention
Follow a day in Alex's life
Alex is 24. Gen Z. Neurodivergent. He has a job he likes and friends he loves. He is not depressed. He is just always, inexplicably, exhausted.
Hover the elevator scene to feel what Alex feels.
Good Morning
Alex wakes up. Before he's even out of bed, his phone is already full. Slack pings, a rescheduled meeting, three unread group chats. The calendar has already changed twice.
Enter...
The elevator. Just Alex and a coworker he half-knows. Twenty seconds of loaded silence. He smiles too early. Looks at his phone. Smiles again. The doors open.
Downtime?
Lunch break. Finally alone. But instead of recharging, Alex replays the morning. The elevator, the meeting, every micro-moment of social friction. The break costs more than it gives.
What Happened?
In bed. Staring at the ceiling. He didn't do anything particularly hard today. Just existed around people. And somehow that was enough to hollow him out completely. He doesn't know why. He just knows he's always this tired.
This is where Mo shows up.
Not after the crash. Not with a checklist. Just a quiet pulse on your wrist and a suggestion that actually fits your moment.
What people actually need
Interviews, diary studies, and behavioral observation revealed four core truths.
Passive awareness, not active logging
People don't want to track how they feel. They want something to notice for them.
Micro-recharges, not macro-escapes
A 3-minute walk beats a 30-minute meditation that requires willpower to start.
Patterns over moments
Understanding why Tuesdays are hard matters more than surviving any single Tuesday.
Non-judgmental companionship
They don't want advice. They want to feel like someone gets it, without a therapy co-pay.
Design Philosophy
mo-ments of intervention
Mo doesn't try to fix you. It finds the small seams in your day. The elevator ride, the two minutes before a meeting, the walk to lunch. Small interventions. Real relief.
What Mo does
Four core capabilities designed around how energy is actually lost and reclaimed.
Social Energy Tracking
Ambient. Invisible. Always on.
Mo passively monitors physiological signals and contextual cues like voice tone, schedule density, and movement patterns to build a real-time picture of your social battery. No logging. No journaling. It just knows.
Recharge Moments
The right nudge at the right time.
When Mo detects you're running low, it finds micro-windows in your day. A two-minute breathing anchor before the next meeting. A playlist that resets your nervous system. Small enough to actually do.
Long-Term Understanding
Patterns, not moments.
Over weeks, Mo builds a map of what drains you and what restores you. It surfaces insights gently, a weekly visual story of your energy rather than a lecture. Over time, you understand yourself better.
Conversational Companion
It gets it. No explanation needed.
On the hardest days, Mo is there to talk. Not with toxic positivity or canned advice, but with genuine contextual understanding of your specific day, your specific patterns, your specific self.
What this project taught me
Mo started as a wellness app and became something more interesting. A speculative device that asks what it would mean to be truly seen by your technology. Not tracked. Not optimized. Seen.
The hardest design decision was restraint. Every instinct said add features. But every research conversation said the same thing: the last thing I need is more to manage. Mo became powerful by doing less.
Alex's story was central to how we made decisions. When a feature felt clever but Alex wouldn't benefit from it at 10:47 PM, exhausted and confused, it didn't belong in Mo. The persona wasn't wallpaper. It was a filter.
I also learned that interactive storytelling is design research. Building the elevator scene as something you could feel, not just read, revealed empathy gaps that a static slide deck never would have caught.
"Emotions are infrastructure."
Mo was the project that made me believe it.
Explore More Projects
Check out some of my other work in UX design and product development.
HondaConnect
A Social Compass for Motorcycles. Links a Honda HMI to a companion app through mesh technology so riders can connect, plan rides, and stay safe together.
Chiron
Real Roads. Real Learning. Real Smart. An in-car AI system revolutionizing driver's education.
Everlane The App
Discover, Connect, and Shop on Your Terms with personalized in-store shopping.