Ali Maggioncalda

An 80 year Harvard study on health and happiness found that quality of relationships is more predictive of long, happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes; perhaps no relationship is more central to how most of us organise our adult lives than a romantic partner. While there are plenty of services to help us find a partner – the dating app industry is worth an estimated $2.5 Billion in the US alone – little exists beyond traditional therapy and self-help books to help us define and build meaningful romantic relationships. In fact, many people consider technology to be a threat to committed relationships – alternative partners are a swipe away; it’s often easier to text about feelings rather than talk in person, and our phones have the tendency to command our attention, even in the presence of loved ones.

As designers, we thought, 'How might we use technology to enable more meaningful offline interactions for people in romantic relationships, so they can build more satisfying partnerships?'

Eros is a digital service that helps users in relationships enable better communication, foster feelings of closeness, trust, and excitement, and unearth how to better respond to each other’s needs in the real world. The three fundamental and interconnected features use artificial intelligence to stimulate reflection (perspective tracker), conversation (discovery questions), and new experiences with your partner (goal setting), so you can grow in love. It’s playful, inclusive, personalised, trustworthy, and user-led, not prescriptive.