Keepr
Built for CreateSC 2025, USC’s premier UI/UX designathon, Keepr reimagines digital memory through the lens of emotional scarcity. In a world of infinite selfies and endless scrolling, Keepr treats each captured moment as a fragile, irreplaceable artifact.
Because some memories aren’t meant to scroll past. They’re meant to stay.
A Polaroid is never just a photo. It’s the flutter in your chest as you load the film. The thrill of capturing a moment with no retakes. The laughter that follows. The worn edges, tiny notes, and the feeling that what you’re holding is more than an image. It’s a memory, alive in your hands.
Experience Design, Research
March 2025
Figma
Bryan Pek, Tan Tan Nguyen
Where It Began
This year’s theme for CreateSC was Digitizing Tangible Experiences. We didn’t want to recreate a function. We wanted to recreate a feeling.
As a team, we turned inward. We shared stories of missed shots, scribbled notes, the excitement of gifting a photo to someone who mattered. And we realized what made these moments unforgettable wasn’t just the picture. It was everything around it.
Keepr is our way of honoring those memories. Not by copying them, but by reimagining the emotional arc that made them special in the first place.
Why It Matters
In a world of infinite content, we’ve lost the weight of real memory.
Keepr is not about filters or likes. It’s about slowing down. Paying attention. Holding something that can’t be recreated.
Instead of more noise, we’re creating a quiet space where every photo is rare, every memory is felt, and every connection matters.
Keepr invites people to cherish what’s in front of them. To treasure the moments that pass and the people they share them with.
The Possibility
We saw a chance to bring back the emotions that once made memories feel real.
The joy of being fully present, the warmth of sharing a moment, the magic of holding something made with care.
By blending the timeless connection of tangible memories with the evolving possibilities of digital technology, we can create experiences that feel alive—memories that can be touched, remembered, and treasured together.
The Problem
Our digital lives are overflowing. Photos are infinite. Memories are editable, retaken, posted, forgotten. We snap and scroll so fast that we barely feel what we’re capturing.
What once made memories feel intimate, personal, and physical has quietly disappeared. We don’t need another camera app. We need a new way to feel close to our memories again.
Exploration
We didn't jump straight into pixels. We started with questions. Stories. A shared desire to feel something again. What does it feel like to treasure a moment? What makes a memory worth keeping? Our process was messy, emotional, and full of questions—exactly how it should be.
Every whiteboard, every messy sketch, and every sticky note became part of our design language. These were more than just planning tools. They were a map to something we didn’t want to lose: the feeling of being present, connected, and human.
Designed to Feel
Keepr was never just about bringing Polaroids online. It was about protecting the emotional rhythm of memory. From anticipation to intimacy to nostalgia, we traced the arc that made analog feel alive.
We wrote down every moment that made us pause. The breath before clicking the shutter, the silent decision of who keeps the photo, the joy of not knowing how it would turn out. Then we asked: what if technology could make those moments even more precious?
Every screen in Keepr was designed to slow you down. To remind you that not everything should be instant. Some things are better when they unfold.
Our Approach
Keepr is a digital Polaroid app that treats each memory like a treasure. It slows you down, softens the noise, and brings the feeling back into photography. Every feature is designed to recreate the emotional magic of analog film—while offering new ways to connect and remember.
No Live Preview
You look, you feel, you shoot. There’s no screen telling you what to expect. Just a moment captured as it happens.
Slow Reveal
Like real film, photos take time to develop. The wait builds anticipation and lets wonder return.
One Copy Only
No edits, no redos, no backups. Just one fragile photo, unique to the moment it was born in.
Limited Film Rolls
You only get a few films a day. Use them mindfully. Or share them with a friend to create something meaningful together.
Dibs with Friends
After a group shot, tap phones to call dibs. The photo goes to the person it meant most to.
Shared Memory Albums
Photos live only with the people who were there. Albums become private memory spaces, not public feeds.
Living Memories
Keepr gently records ambient sound and setting. Photos come with a soft layer of context that brings them to life.
Fading Over Time
If connections fade, so do the photos. But reconnect with someone, and the warmth slowly returns.
See It In Action
Every choice in Keepr was made to protect the feeling of memory—its fragility, its joy, its weight. Below, we bring those choices to life. From capturing a moment to sharing it with someone who matters, here’s how Keepr feels in motion.
Looking Back
Keepr reminded us that emotional design isn’t just about how something looks or works. It’s about how it makes you feel, and how it makes you remember. The most powerful memories are rarely perfect. They’re imperfect, messy, fleeting, and real.
We didn’t want to just capture moments. We wanted to keep them alive.
That’s what Keepr is about. Holding something close, ...knowing it matters precisely because it fades with time.
