Creating a personalized NYT Mini Crossword to bring parents closer to their young adult children
GAMIFIED STORYTELLING
CONTEXT
A 4-Day Design Competition
How can we bring parents and their young adult children (18-26) closer together?
Transitioning from caretakers to mentors
Redistributing time across personal interests and broader relationships
Gaining independence as they move out and start a career
Building empathy for what their parents experienced at the same age
Parents are
Birth
(0%)
Age 18 (~90%)
Time spent
Have already spent ~90% of the time they will ever spend together by
the child's 18th birthday
Children +
Parents
Children are
At 18-26, the parent-child relationship is changing
UNDERSTANDING
There are people that don't see each other for ages but are the best of friends, and their are people that see each other daily but can't stand one another. Our solution couldn't center around increasing time together.
Closeness isn't just measured by time spent together
Profound discussions don't come up naturally, and even if it's an appropriate time, it's sometimes hard or
awkward to prompt this kind of storytelling.
…And good stories require the right time and place
Being close with someone means understanding their journey to becoming who they are. We see fragments
of our parent's lives, but often are unaware of the
The closest distance between two people is a story
KEY INSIGHTS
Invest less time, as they're more drawn to new people and experiences
Maintain a lot of digital relationships via social media
Invest more time in guiding children through complex adult topics
Are familiar but less normalized to digital connection
Children
Parents
The NYT
Crosswords
Mother's and
Father's Day
A Custom NYT Mini Crossword for Mother's and Father's Day
SOLUTION
Is grounded in storytelling, acting as a catalyst for intimate conversations
Are relatable across generations
Positioned for a time of reflection and connection
Creating awareness and fostering urgency
Prompting parents to remember poignant experiences and make sharing feel like telling the actual story.
Replicating the feeling of listening to a story by your parents
Not an end, but a starting point for more questions and stories
Parents and young adult children approach connection differently
PROBLEM
Discovery
A Catalyst for Discussion
Crossword setup
Solution experience
CONCEPT
Discovery
Exposition
Rising Action
Crossword Setup
Climax
Solving the Crossword
Resolution
A Catalyst for Discussion
Mimicking a Narrative Storyline
If AI worked perfectly
MECHANICS
A hybrid solution for a more realistic outcome
EXPERIENCE ARC
We wanted solving the crossword to feel as close to reading or watching a good story, so we designed the solution experience to reflect how someone would go through a narrative.