"So long as we are being remembered we remain alive"
UX/UI design for Neshama.net

A Social Platform for Commemoration

“Neshama” (“Soul” in Hebrew) is an avant-garde platform that touched us on a personal level, becoming an instant passion project for our team.

In 2013, entrepreneur Shelly Frumson felt that current social networks and platforms aren’t suitable to commemorate and honor loved friends and relatives.

Social media is filled with news, fake news, random shares and endless benign pictures and updates. And while grief is occasionally mentioned, the setting never feels quite appropriate or welcoming.

A New Way to Remember

Neshama presented us with the opportunity to design what will potentially be the future of how people are remembered and honored. This meant that both UX and design would be instrumental to people’s willingness to share private feelings, documents and memories in such a public setting.

Together with Shelly, we established the following guidelines:

Neshama is meant to serve friends and families as a personal space that should always feel safe and welcoming. People should be able to write stories, upload pictures and videos, place (virtual) flowers, create/invite to gatherings etc.

Neshama has the potential to become a historical database for the greater public, where people can learn more about former politicians, cultural/religious icons and more. In that sense, Neshama has an educational element that calls for easy indexing, advanced search functionality and easy tracking.

Neshama should be a space that’s welcoming even to those who’ve never visited before, with an emphasis on older people as our main target audience.

WRITE BIOGRAPHY
LIGHT THE CANDLE
INVITE TO MEMORIAL
SHARE FEELINGS
SEND FLOWERS

Remember the Future

Death is almost always a dark topic. But life is, and people are, inherently vibrant. Therefore, while Neshama is tailored to grief, the experience should be colorful and help spread happiness – just as our loved ones would have wanted it to be.

Memories. Love. Closure.

These insights allowed us to design an intuitive social platform with advanced search features, easy setup, and a simple process of uploading content to celebrate those who are no longer with us. It is one of our favorite projects to date, and a sure way to deliver some light during darker times.