Glimpse explores how portable tech can help young adults navigate major life decisions with greater confidence and emotional clarity. In collaboration with two fellow students, I led a thesis project that aimed to turn decision-making from a daunting, purely rational process into an intuitive and tangible experience.
Facing major life decisions is often overwhelming: the stakes are high, the options are many, and certainty feels almost impossible. In an attempt to reduce this uncertainty, people often turn to increasingly rational forms of analysis, gathering information and comparing alternatives. Yet more information does not necessarily bring clarity. Instead, over-reliance on rational comparison can create cognitive overload, delay action, and leave individuals unsatisfied even when the final outcome is objectively positive.
The goal of Glimpse was not to disregard established rational decision-making frameworks, but to place itself within them. It acknowledges the value of structured approaches: defining the dilemma, articulating values, and evaluating options - as essential to informed decision-making. Yet the project introduces a shift in perspective. While traditional models often frame decision difficulty as a problem of information or evaluation, Glimpse proposes that the challenge frequently stems from a disconnect between rational analysis and emotional attunement. Overthinking, relentless comparison, and the fear of choosing wrongly obscure emotional signals, resulting in hesitation and paralysis despite a possible underlying inclination towards one outcome. The opportunity, then, lies in treating intuition as a valuable form of knowledge and providing tangible, experiential ways to access it.
Rather than producing decisions or giving definitive answers, Glimpse aims to provide conditions in which users can sense what already feels aligned.
All of these principles led to the idea of a glimpse - catching brief, fleeting moments of possible futures. These moments are not permanent or absolute; they appear, shift, and disappear. A glimpse is intended to provoke an emotional response - does a certain future, a certain outcome, feel aligned or not?
This experience unfolds within Glimpse across two interconnected forms: a physical device and a companion application.
I led the form development and enclosure design, balancing component arrangement with the goals of portability and personalization. The device was designed to integrate into everyday life, with attachment methods such as carabiners, knots, and paracord straps becoming key drivers of the form. This flexibility enables multiple ways of carrying and adapting the object, reinforcing its role as a constant companion rather than a static tool.
Assembly and form tests were done using 3D printing in PETG and PLA.
Glimpse explores decision-making as an evolving process rather than a single point of resolution. A choice is not revealed all at once, but gradually, through repeated engagement and reflection. Glimpse supports this process by offering small, partial insights, or glimpses, that accumulate over time, allowing users to build confidence in what they feel rather than forcing immediate conclusions.