Between Us

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  Branding Guide

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  You've Got Mail!

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  Send and Receive Letters

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  Write Letters to Friends

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  Between Us Thumbnail

Inspiration

As college students studying in Boston, away from homes in California, New York, and abroad, we’ve all felt the quiet ache of distance. Between classes, jobs, and life moving fast, it’s hard to find time to keep up with the people who matter most.

Texts get buried, calls get postponed, and suddenly it’s been weeks since we last caught up with loved ones. "Between Us" was born from that feeling. We wanted to create something that helped us stay close to our people in a way that felt meaningful, creative, and intentional, even when time zones or schedules pull us apart.

We were inspired by the intimacy of handwritten letters and the way time capsules preserve moments of reflection, care, and emotional depth. In contrast, digital platforms today prioritize speed, curation, and polish. Between Us invites users to slow down and be intentional, with their words, with their memories, and with each other.

What it does

“Between Us” is a digital letter writing experience for friends. A space to write, receive, and unlock heartfelt letters over time. Even when life gets busy, “Between Us” lets you stay emotionally close through thoughtful words, gentle surprises, and intentional connection.

How we built it

We designed and prototyped “Between Us” entirely in Figma, moving from low-fidelity wireframes to polished high-fidelity screens. To create a warm, and tactile experience, we incorporated visual assets from Adobe Stock, including envelope vectors and sticker frames.

We used AI-generated content to help explore sample letter copy and reflective prompts. As a team, we collaborated across three main flows: writing, receiving, and archiving, to ensure a consistent and emotionally resonant user experience. Throughout the process, we focused on building a visual identity that felt soft, nostalgic, and intentional.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was creating a digital space that truly emulates the intimacy and tactile nature of letter writing, while keeping the experience intuitive and easy to navigate. With a strict timeline and conflicting schedules, coordinating design decisions and feedback was tough. We also had to make difficult choices about which features to prioritize for our MVP, balancing emotional impact with feasibility.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of designing a soft, nostalgic brand identity that brings our concept to life, using realistic visual assets, handwriting-inspired typography, and a calming pastel color palette. We fully prototyped all of our core flows, from writing and sending letters to receiving and archiving them! Most of all, we’re proud to have created a concept that feels personal to us, and deeply relevant to the challenges of staying emotionally connected in today’s fast-paced, attention-driven digital world.

What we learned

We learned that sometimes less is more. While we started with a wide range of feature ideas, we realized the importance of being more convergent in our thinking to thoughtfully narrow down what belonged in a meaningful MVP. We also discovered that time, space, and anticipation, when intentionally designed, can transform digital interactions into moments that feel personal, sacred, and emotionally resonant.

What's next for Between Us

Looking ahead, we’re excited to explore shared “memory capsules” for small groups like roommates or long-distance friends, creating a more collaborative space for reflection. In addition, adding more writing-like animations and sounds (e.g. voice memos, pen scribbles, page turns) to further emulate the sensory experience of opening physical letters. We’d also love to integrate AI-generated prompts based on tone or intent, such as “Write something calming” or “Gratitude mode.” Another future direction includes offering real print/export options, so users can turn their digital letters into physical keepsakes. Lastly, we’re interested in adding a feature to scan and archive existing handwritten letters, blending the digital and analog even further.

Built With

• figma