Crafting Our Wings

A multimedia text-based experience for one that asks the participant to engage with and confront their own discomfort around taking a series of playful and social risks.

Inspired by the myth of Icarus and Daedalus, this project starts with the idea that Icarus’ fated flight wasn’t all bad. His great risk came with consequences and rewards: before flying too close to the sun, Icarus flew higher than any human before him. We imagine he regrets nothing about his choice to dive into the uncertainty of a new experience instead of remaining cooped up in the safety of the status quo.

We wanted to design an experience that tests and provokes this feeling.

Beginning with a web-based introduction to Icarus, invitation to play, and a curated playlist; participants are asked to send a text to ‘Icarus’. When Icarus responds, participants begin a multi-step SMS conversation over their phones with a friendly, playful chat-bot. The bot prompts them through a series of escalating physical and social challenges, each designed to first establish, and then invite users to push past, their comfort levels.

The experience ends with an encouragement to reconnect with a neglected relationship in the participant’s life and a zoom one-on-one conversation with a current friend who’s also gone through their own version of the Crafting Our Wings experience. Together the friends debrief and provide mutual accountability going forward.

Created in collaboration with Yvette Hatton and Emily Hostutler for the Odyssey Works 2023 Experience Design Certificate Program.