’She’s just my life’: digital design to support women’s self-other care in relationships with their mothers

Recent HCI research has suggested a move from individualistic models of digital care and wellbeing to considering the family unit as a locus of support in this area; however, little work has examined the complex, granular everyday experience of such relationships, and the role of gender, class, and care is underexplored. This study focuses on women’s familial relationships through interviews with 6 Irish women about their relationships with their mothers, as well as ways in which they maintain the care of themselves and others within these relationships. Our thematic analysis of this data generated four themes: self-other care, leaky boundaries, changes over the lifecourse, and space and conflict – from which we ideated a series of design concepts, six of which are presented here with critiques from our participants. From this exploratory work, we delineate four directions for future HCI research into women’s close relationships.