Abstract
In the early 2010s, I spent countless hours playing The Sims 3 with my sister, bonding over building larger towns and visiting each other’s worlds. A few years later, when Pokémon Go was released in 2016, my friends and I explored our town with a new sense of independence, motivated by the shared goal of collecting Pokémon. As I moved into high school, Instagram helped me stay connected to expanding social networks through sports, clubs, and school communities. However, when I arrived at the University of Virginia, I noticed these platforms primarily reinforced existing relationships rather than helping form new ones. The difficulty of meeting new people in a large university environment often led to feelings of isolation. This experience motivated both my technical capstone project, HoosGo!, and my STS research, which together explore how digital technologies can better support meaningful, in-person social connection.
The technical portion of my thesis produced HoosGo!, a mobile application that encourages in-person exploration and collaboration through gamified, location-based challenges. Inspired by Pokémon Go, HoosGo! allows users to explore grounds, collect virtual items, complete challenges, and interact with peers in shared physical spaces. Built using Flutter and Firebase, the app includes features such as real-time maps, friend systems, item trading, and achievement-based progression. Its distinguishing feature is its emphasis on translating digital interaction into real-world engagement. Rather than isolating users behind screens, HoosGo! uses the phone as a tool to guide students toward shared experiences. For first-year students navigating the transition to college, the app provides structured yet low-pressure opportunities to meet others, fostering a stronger sense of belonging within the campus community.
In my STS research, I examined how specific design choices in social technologies shape students’ ability to form meaningful relationships. Drawing on Langdon Winner’s argument that technological artifacts embody social and political values and Peter-Paul Verbeek’s concept of technological mediation, I analyzed how features such as gamification, social feedback systems, and location-based interaction influence user behavior. My research revealed that the effectiveness of social connection apps depends less on increasing digital interaction and more on whether their design encourages users to engage in face-to-face interactions. Many platforms prioritize engagement through likes, feeds, and passive consumption, which can fail to translate into meaningful relationships. In contrast, successful interventions guide users beyond the app and into real-world social environments. This finding highlights the importance of intentional design in shaping how technology mediates connection, particularly during the critical transition into college life.
Considering both projects together demonstrates the importance of integrating technical, social, and ethical perspectives in engineering design. STS frameworks reveal that technologies are not neutral tools but active participants in shaping human behavior and social structures. By applying these insights, HoosGo! was designed as an intervention that promotes in-person social connection and helps students form relationships. This approach reinforces the ethical responsibility of engineers to consider how design choices impact users’ well-being and social experiences. Technology can either reinforce isolation or foster community, depending on how it is designed by engineers.
