Understanding Practices Surrounding Childhood Mementos to Inform the Design of Interactive Technology and Sentimental Record-Keeping

Abstract

The saving of childhood mementos is a common practice that has existed for many generations across different cultures. Parents often save physical objects such as baby blankets, toys, or clothing. Designers of interactive technology have the opportunity to learn from and augment the practices surrounding the selecting, saving, sharing, and savoring of these physical objects. To understand the design opportunities for this space, we conducted artifact-based interviews and surveys with parents about the mementos they have saved from their own childhood and are currently saving for their young children. Themes emerged surrounding preserving and using mementos, qualities that imbue value to mementos, meanings associated with sharing mementos, and tensions around saving, clutter, and discarding. The themes highlight qualities of ambivalence and ambiguity surrounding sentimental behavior. We discuss these themes and apply the findings to the design of a new feature of an interactive system for tracking children’s data.