There Are Things She Wants to Say: Designing for Legacy, Loss, and Presence

There are things she wants to say.

A mother facing a terminal diagnosis thinks about the moments she won’t be there for.

When I think about who Solace is really for, I keep coming back to someone like Ava.

Ava is a research persona drawn from conversations, research, and real scenarios that shape the work we are doing.
Personas are commonly used in CX and product design to help teams design responsibly for the people they aim to support.

Ava is in her late thirties.

She has received a terminal diagnosis.

And she has a ten-year-old daughter.

There are things she wants to say.

Words of comfort for the hard days.

Advice for the moments she won’t be there to witness.

A voice her daughter can turn to when she needs to feel less alone.

Not a letter.
Not a photograph.
Something more present than that.

This is the problem Solace is designed to respond to.

Not death itself, but the silence it leaves behind.

The absence of a voice.
The missed milestones.

The questions that arrive years later with nowhere to go.

Ava is not a rare scenario. Many families face the reality of a life-limiting illness with no meaningful way to leave behind more than objects and memories that slowly fade.

Traditional legacy tools were not built for this.

A photograph cannot answer a question.
A letter cannot respond to a moment it never anticipated.

Solace is being built for people like Ava.

To give them a way to capture their voice, their face, and their stories, preserving a sense of presence that loved ones can return to in moments when they need it most.

To help them remember, especially as faces and voices fade with time.
This is not about simulating life.

It is about preserving what is most human about a person before it is lost.
We are still in the early stages.

The technology is being built carefully. As it develops, working closely with mental health professionals will be essential, because this only works if it genuinely supports healing rather than complicating it.

Personas like Ava help us stay grounded.

They remind us that behind every design decision is a family, a relationship, and a deeply human experience of loss.

First published on Linkedin 15 MARCH 2026