Designing the Afterlife
◼ A Master's thesis on the design of the digital afterlife
◼ 2025
Challenge
Designing the Afterlife is the result of 4 months of design research that I completed as part of a Master’s thesis. As the title indicates, this project investigates the growing challenges surrounding “digital immortality,” or the digital traces of ourselves that we now leave behind when we pass away. Through an historical and philosophical exploration of the notion of immortality, followed by an analysis of the technical and ethical issues of its digital manifestation, I trace the contemporary problems surrounding death in our digital spaces and propose more “thanatosensitive” solutions.
Research
I started with broad research on digital immortality and the emerging industry around it to gain a understanding of the field. I then mapped out my sources, categorizing them to highlight key themes and trends. This work enabled me to carry out a focused competitive analysis of the industry. Through that analysis, I identified typical design issues, such as poor onboarding, feature creep, and cluttered interfaces. More critically, many platforms are saturated with euphemisms for death: sunsets, flowers, vague slogans like “eternal remembering.” These morbid reminders make for a particularly uncomfortable user experience. On an ethical level, my research showed me that these services can easily end up on the wrong side of issues like privacy, consent, and the commercialization of grief.
Ideation
Despite these issues, I argue that digital immortality has the unrealized potential to be a net positive for the people who use them and for the society in which they live. During my research, I came across multiple clinical studies of the psychology behind legacy motivations. They demonstrated that thinking about death tends to make us more selfish and ideological, but the reflecting on our legacy makes us more generous and altruistic. These studies demonstrate the tightrope that the designer must cross: how to create a service that incentivises people to reflect on their lives and their impact on future generations without reminding them of death? Digital afterlife services have incredible potential to transmit knowledge and help inspire the multigenerational thinking needed to resolve many of humanity's most pressing problems, but this outcome can only be achieved through very carefully considered design.
Creation
I decided to create two versions of the project for technical and non-technical readers. The first was a website with detalied explanations and a competitive analysis for a more tech-savvy audience. The second was a book that explored the philosophical, historical, and ethical questions tied to the digital afterlife and our more general desire for immortality and legacy. I wanted to include the many compelling references and stories I had come across during my research, so I structured these formats with “primary text” that carried the central narrative and “secondary text” that offered supporting anecdotes and additional data. I used Figma to experiment with layout ideas and map out the structures of the website and book.
Result
The website is available in English and French at https://d-u-b-s.github.io/The-Design-of-the-Digital-Afterlife/index.html. It contains a presentation of the technical and ethical problems associated with digital immortality, as well as my proposal for design solutions that address these problems. I readapted these ideas into an approximately 150-page book— no tech expertise required.
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