Future U Mobile

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We created a transformative app that allows participants to communicate with a lifelike older version of themselves, helping advanced research into decision-making.

Made for

MAXLab Freiburg, University of Leiden

Development: Orb Amsterdam
UI Design: HAY ST.

Research to connect with your future

MAXLab Freiburg and the University of Leiden approached us to develop a mobile app as part of their FutureU research project.

The project explores how connecting with one’s future self motivates future-oriented behavior, such as studying for an exam, eating healthy or working out, and reduces short-sighted behaviors such as putting off what needs to be done now, alcohol use and smoking.

They asked us to build several tools that would enable this connection while being both scientifically robust and emotionally engaging.

A mobile app to create empathy

One of the tools we co-created with the research team is a mobile app available on iOS and Android, featuring a lifelike avatar creation tool to generate 10-year-older versions of users.

For three weeks, participants texted with their virtual future self, set goals, received psychoeducation, and responded to structured questions. The researchers gathered detailed data from these interactions to analyse how the app's ability to create empathy influenced the behaviours.

The app prioritized user experience while ensuring compliance with strict privacy standards, collecting anonymized data to support the research goals.

Impact

MAXLab ran their randomized controlled trial for 12 months and more than 100 participants engaged with the app, yielding data that contributed to publications in journals like Prevention Science and PlosOne.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-023-01609-yhttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0309180

By blending advanced technology with meaningful interactions, the app set a benchmark for innovative research tools, showcasing how empathy-driven design can transform scientific studies.