Ivee: Interactive Family Tree App
Sania Siddiqui
See it On Campus: Level 1
Rennie Hall Room
Visitor InfoDESIS Radical Sustainability Award — Honourable Mention
Overview:
Ivee is an interactive family storytelling platform that helps bridge generational gaps through shared memory, voice, and emotion. In an age of digital disconnection, it empowers families to document their histories together, preserving culture, wisdom, and identity through an accessible, inclusive app interface.
In a world that often encourages separation and speed, I believe it’s vital to slow down and reconnect with our families, our pasts, and each other. Ivee was born from that desire: to create a space where families can share and preserve their memories, stories, and emotional truths across generations and reconnect around the world. It’s not just about recording the past it’s about honouring it, living it, and passing it on. Through reflection and storytelling, we can build stronger bonds in the present and shape a more connected future.
Finding a Solution:
In response to the growing need for emotional well-being, intergenerational connection, and cultural sustainability, I set out to design a solution rooted in health design principles. Ivee emerged as a digital health platform that offers families a meaningful way to preserve their stories, foster stronger relationships, and support the emotional resilience of both elders and younger generations.
Recognizing that memory and belonging are central to emotional health, Ivee bridges generations through storytelling and shared history. Beyond simply being a digital tool, Ivee introduces a vital intervention into the future of preventative and community-based health care, by focusing on emotional support, connection, and cultural preservation as essential components of long-term well-being. The project emphasizes digital accessibility, community service, and sustainable design, ensuring that health care can be reimagined through relationships and resilience, not just treatment and intervention.
Research, Co-Design, and the Design Process
Ivee’s journey began at CalHacks, a major hackathon hosted at UC Berkeley, where my teammates and I developed the initial concept and won second place with support from Intel. Building on that early success, I continued evolving Ivee through extensive research and co-design practices. I conducted interviews and participatory design sessions with diverse age groups, including close family friends and seniors homes across Vancouver
I documented and synthesized the research, identifying key patterns around memory loss, emotional disconnection, and the desire for accessible ways to preserve family legacies. Using this research foundation, I led the user experience design process, creating wireframes, service blueprints, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs. I facilitated workshops, co-designed with seniors using storytelling games and activities, and ensured accessibility and cultural sensitivity were at the forefront. The iterative design process allowed me to test, learn, and refine Ivee into a solution deeply informed by real user needs and community insight.
AI Integration:
Ivee uses AI-powered Speech-to-Text technology to make storytelling accessible to everyone, especially seniors who may prefer speaking over typing. This feature allows users to simply speak their memories, which are then automatically transcribed, making it easier to document and preserve stories across generations. By addressing different comfort levels with technology, Ivee ensures that family history can be shared by all ages, in the most natural and inclusive way.
Final Prototype:
The final prototype of Ivee brings together key features designed to strengthen family bonds and preserve memories. Users can build an interactive Family Tree, use Story Generation tools, receive Birthday and Anniversary Reminders, Upload and Store Photos and Documents, and chat in real-time through Chat Rooms. A World Map shows where family members are globally, while Family Member Profiles and a Prompt of the Day encourage regular storytelling. Ivee is designed to be intuitive, inclusive, and emotionally meaningful — helping families grow closer over time.
