Mridula Haridasan

Fostering Intergenerational Mentorship Through Community-Centered Design

The Project Hoop began as a simple question, what happens to our communities when generations drift apart?

This research investigates the quiet erosion of intergenerational connections in our contemporary fast paced world, and explores how interaction design can help rebuild these bonds. Hoop at its core is a community driven service concept, a platform designed not just to enable mentorship between generations, but to honor it as a reciprocal, emotionally rich, and socially meaningful exchange.

Collaborating with co-designers allowed the project to go beyond the conventional mentorship approaches. Together, we explored questions that arose during the process such as What if mentorship wasn’t something you enrolled in, but something that happened organically , through shared spaces, casual conversations, and mutual curiosity? Through in-depth interviews and participatory co-design workshops, this study identifies the barriers that prevent such connections.

The co designers play with the idea that mentorship need not be a one-way transaction but a reciprocal exchange grounded in trust and social value .They envisioned a world where skills are shared like gifts and where connections are forged not through ratings or money, but through genuine human value. This project is a direct response to their voices. The result isn't just a digital tool, but a framework for an empathy driven connection. The project explores the idea that mentorship is less about expertise and more about presence , being seen, and valued across generations. What people seek is not just instruction, but companionship, perspective, and a sense of belonging. Digital tools can facilitate this , but the real transformation happens in shared moments and physical spaces.

It offers a timely reflection on how we might design for connection rather than correction.