With: designing for presence

I watched the WeChat film, and it left me with a question: how can we be so easy to reach, yet still miss the moments that matter to people close to us?

Other messaging apps can feel crowded. I wanted to explore a quieter space for a small Circle of close friends and family, where a detail from a conversation could return when it matters.

A separate messenger gives that idea its own space, but also asks people to use another app. I’m considering whether it could work as a plugin or add-on to the apps they already use.

The prototype includes several example conversations. In Maya’s chat, she mentions a Tuesday appointment and says she would appreciate some good energy. With offers to keep that detail in mind.

Chats hold the conversation. In Moments, the person keeps the detail privately. Today brings it back into view. The person can reach out, give space or leave it for later.

I separated two decisions. Everyone in a chat must agree before AI awareness can suggest Moments. A person must then review and approve a suggestion before it becomes their private Moment.

That adds a deliberate step. Review keeps the proposed detail, time, source and privacy together, with Keep and Dismiss available. Agreeing to awareness should not mean agreeing to save everything.

In the simulated Tuesday state, Today asks: “Maya had her appointment today. Thinking of her?” It offers a choice about what to do next.

Call, voice note, message, make a plan and offer help sit alongside Give space and Not now. I wanted those quieter choices to feel as legitimate as reaching out. A reminder should not turn care into an obligation.

The voice-note path opens a recorder and preview. With does not supply personal words or send a reply automatically. Recording and sending are simulated in this prototype.

I used the same Moment component across the prototype. Its person, detail, time, source and action stay together; personal and work Moments use amber and purple to distinguish their context.

In the AI-assisted build, a shared Upcoming Moment component supplies both the primary card and compact list rows. It also supplies the work card in the announcement below. That lets the same structure carry through different screens.

Work Moments keep context from a work conversation privately. A friend suggested that the What’s new announcement should show the full Moment card instead of the smaller preview I had used.

I reused the full card, so the announcement now shows Seyi, the work detail, reminder time, source and Open Moment action together.

The result is a connected prototype of the main journey, with a shared component system. The conversations and AI suggestions are examples; reminders, recording and communication are simulated.

I have not tested it with users. Next, I would explore it with people keeping up with close friends and family across busy lives or distance, focusing on three questions:

• Do people understand the difference between agreeing to awareness and keeping a private Moment?
• When does bringing a detail back feel helpful, and when does it feel intrusive?
• Do Give space and Not now feel like clear, useful choices?

I also need to resolve what withdrawing agreement to awareness should mean for information already kept. Those findings, alongside the effort of adopting another app, would shape whether I develop With further or explore the add-on direction.