Work/AXA Health
Digital Disposal System
Challenge
As our lives become increasingly digital, we leave behind vast trails of data, from personal memories to creative outputs and private conversations. But unlike physical assets or organs, our data has no posthumous plan. How might we create a system that allows people to consciously sort, delete, or donate their digital data, ethically, emotionally, and meaningfully, before they die?Approach
We treated the project as a speculative design probe — not to solve a problem immediately, but to provoke reflection, surface values, and test emotional engagement with the idea of posthumous data donation.- Designed physical and digital artefacts to simulate a data donation station
- Involved participants in interactive decision-making about their digital footprint
- Integrated emotional and ethical layers by collaborating with grief and legacy experts.
We began by presenting people with the core idea:
If you could donate your data after you die, what would you keep, discard, or give away?
🧠 This initial prompt revealed confusion, curiosity, and emotional discomfort.
💡 Insight: People needed structure to think through their digital presence.
Breaking Down the Digital Self
To help people engage more intuitively, we created physical data tokens — each representing a category (photos, messages, creative work, docs, etc.).Breaking Down the Digital Self
Participants were asked to interact with these tokens by choosing what they’d want to:
- Keep private (Trash)
- Pass on to loved ones
- Contribute to research or public good
- Donate to social causes
Prototyping the Data Donation Experience
We created an interactive station where people could:- Select a data token
- Choose a donation destination
- Tap to donate
- Receive a small physical or digital reward
Destinations of Donation:
| 💌 Loved Ones | 🧠 Public Research | 💙 Charity | 🗑️ Trash |
|---|
This interaction triggered real-time reflection and led to spontaneous conversations about:
- Memory
- Privacy
- Value
- Legacy
Building the Digital Prototype
I led the creation of a Figma-based prototype simulating the full experience:Select Data → Choose Destination → Confirm Donation → ReflectThis prototype is not a product, but a conversation tool — inviting users to consider their data legacy and emotional footprint.
Ethical Layer: Data Donation Agreement
We recognised the importance of addressing data ownership, misuse, and AI training. This led us to begin drafting a Data Donation Agreement, outlining:- Who has the right to access your data after death
- Can data be split across recipients (e.g., part to family, part to AI)?
- How do we prevent misuse, surveillance, or commercializatson?
Outcome & Reflections
- The process successfully shifted a taboo topic into a tangible experience
- People reflected deeply on what they create, who it’s for, and what deserves to outlive them
- The experience sparked questions around:
- “How should I organize my data?”
- “What can be repurposed?”
- “Can I train an AI on myself for someone I love?