THE SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 
Under the provisions of the regulations for the degree 

MASTER OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 
on 
Monday, April 21, 2025
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST 

Teams Link

Sarah Harris 
will present a thesis defense entitled,  
"Exploring the Potential of Tangible Interaction Design to Foster Social Connectedness and Enhance the Subjective Well-being of Isolated Adolescent Patients"   
 
Advisor:  
Dr. Leandro Miletto Tonetto, Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design  
Committee:  
       Dr. Yixiao Wang, Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design  
                                            Jill Morgan, Emory University Hospital, Charge Nurse and Clinical Research
        
 Faculty and students are invited to attend this presentation.  
   
Abstract  

This thesis explores how Tangible Interaction Design (TID) can foster social connectedness and support adolescents' subjective well-being (SWB) in extended hospital isolation. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to the psychological and emotional toll of isolation, as this period of life is marked by heightened sensitivity to social exclusion, increased need for peer belonging, and active identity formation. Hospital isolation restricts access to daily social interactions and disrupts normal routines, which can lead to feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, anxiety, and depression - experiences that may have lasting effects on mental health, behavior, and life satisfaction. While screen-based technologies offer some degree of connection, they frequently fall short in replicating the spontaneity, emotional richness, and embodied presence of face-to-face interactions. TID, by contrast, emphasizes physical, multisensory, and embodied interactions, offering a more emotionally resonant and intuitive form of communication. To address these challenges, this research developed a set of design guidelines rooted in the dimensions of social connectedness: relationship salience, feelings of closeness, contact quality, shared understanding, and knowing each other’s experiences. These guidelines are uniquely tailored to the developmental needs of adolescents by emphasizing peer connection, autonomy, novelty, and personal expression. Created from insights gathered through literature reviews and expert interviews, the guidelines are intended as a practical resource for designers working on interventions that aim to improve the well-being of adolescents in isolated settings. The guidelines were then used to inform and guide the development of a TID concept. The final design concept, Tether, was developed as a direct application of these guidelines to demonstrate how they can be translated into a tangible system. Tether is a network of connected physical objects that facilitate multimodal, multisensory interactions between adolescents and their chosen social circle. Designed to feel intuitive, personal, and emotionally engaging, each object supports different connection aspects through shared presence, personal expression, and tactile communication. Evaluated by subject matter experts, Tether exemplifies how designers can use the proposed guidelines to create developmentally appropriate, human-centered interventions that address social disconnection and enhance adolescent well-being in hospital settings.