In a world where we are increasingly isolated in our shrinking homes, remote work arrangements, and digital spaces, the pressure on our long-term romantic relationships to be our primary source of connection, support, and inspiration is unprecedented. At the same time, we are investing less time into these relationships than we have in the past. The frustration that results from this gap takes a tangible toll on our health and wellbeing, and presents an opportunity for design-driven innovation.

This MRP asserts that we can benefit from being more intentional in our relationships. It proposes that leveraging a designer’s toolkit - which includes empathy, ideation, experimentation, integrative thinking, and systems thinking - can help us create the conditions for such intentional experiences. It embarks on a design process that includes looking at the history of marriage, consulting experts that work on the frontlines of relationships, engaging individuals in long-term romantic relationships, mining insights gained through auto-ethnography, prototyping three relationship design experiences, and testing one of these prototypes for participant feedback.

Taken together, these engagements validate the innovation opportunity that exists at the intersection of relationships and design and provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that relationships may be evolving into a vehicle for spiritual fulfillment and self-transcendence. This research concludes that not only can relationships be designed, but it is crucial that they be designed and re-designed to thrive within the dynamic contexts in which they exist.