Pentel

Project Overview
Pentel, a renowned Japanese stationery manufacturer, embarked on an ambitious 2024 Back-to-School campaign, “Reimagine Your World.” Their vision centered on facilitating deeper human connections among students, pushing conversations beyond surface-level small talk. As part of this campaign, our team was tasked with designing a social experiment and producing a 3–5 minute montage video that captured this transformative approach to fostering genuine interactions. I led the filming portion of this project, overseeing all aspects of video production—from concept development and storyboarding to on-site direction and final edits.

Problem Space
The core challenge lay in accelerating the formation of deeper connections within educational environments. Pentel recognized that college and school campuses offer ample opportunities for students to meet peers—but these initial encounters often stay superficial. The campaign sought to demonstrate how a simple reframing of conversation prompts can spark more meaningful dialogue. By exploring where these connections take place and how to guide them toward greater depth, Pentel aimed to inspire students to “Reimagine Conversation” both on and off campus.

Pentel challenged our product strategy team to address the key problem statement:

How might we create a mechanism for developing & posing questions to students that get beyond "surface-level" conversations & create deeper connections?

Our social experiment and corresponding montage video addressed this query by showcasing an innovative way to initiate authentic discussions among students—ultimately reflecting Pentel’s hopeful, optimistic spirit for the new school year. Through carefully crafted prompts and a structured, engaging format, participants were encouraged to share personal stories, insights, and experiences, illustrating the power of thoughtful questioning in bringing people closer together.

Final Product
With our social experiment and video concept solidified, the final deliverable took shape as a 6-minute montage that visually captures Pentel’s mission of sparking deeper connections. Through three filming sessions, our team collected over an hour of footage, later refined through Assembly, Rough Cut, Fine Cut, and Picture Lock stages. The result is a structured narrative that transitions viewers from casual, campus-based conversations to more intimate, thought-provoking dialogues.
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Introduction
We explain the premise of the video/social experiment and how we plan to “Reimagine Conversation”

Casual Interviews
We have some quick conversations with strangers passing by on our campus and ask them some fun questions

Transition
We decide to try something new and walk through our process on how we hope to foster deeper connections with a more intimate setting and guided questions

Deep Interviews
We pair up strangers and provide some insightful question prompts through a gacha ball mechanism that get deeper as they progress

Exit Interviews
We ask the participants how this experience helped them “Reimagine Conversation” and allow them to reflect on building connections

The Process

Research
Our research approach consisted of three primary avenues: (1) a review of existing studies and academic literature on social connections (secondary research), (2) a broad survey distributed to UC Berkeley students, and (3) in-depth user interviews. Each of these methods yielded unique insights into how and why students form deeper connections, what barriers they face, and which conditions help foster meaningful relationships.

Secondary Research
Our initial exploration focused on understanding how college students typically form communities and meaningful connections.

‍Role of Clubs & Student Organizations
Literature suggests that clubs and student organizations are central to the formation of deep social bonds among college students. In addition to providing shared interests and experiences, these groups often serve as hubs of emotional support and enculturation. Students described such settings as “a place for socialization” (88% strong agreement in one study) and “a place to make new friendships” (79% strong agreement).
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‍Nature of High-Quality Connections
One compelling insight from organizational behavior research is that high-quality connections need not be lengthy or deeply personal. Even short, positive exchanges—be it a single conversation or an email thread—can foster a sense of vitality and belonging. These micro-moments of genuine interaction can be just as impactful as more extensive relationships, underscoring the importance of everyday interpersonal gestures.
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‍Deep Conversations vs. Shallow Exchanges
Multiple social psychology experiments reveal that people often avoid deep, personal conversations out of fear of awkwardness or rejection. However, these fears are frequently overestimated; participants report feeling more connected and happier when they engage in deeper topics. Notably, introverts often experience even greater boosts in connectedness compared to extraverts.
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‍Conversational Receptiveness & Conflict Navigation
Research on conversational receptiveness highlights strategies such as hedging claims, acknowledging other perspectives, and emphasizing points of agreement. Using these techniques can make individuals appear more trustworthy, reasonable, and objective—qualities that are critical for sustaining connections even in the face of disagreements (e.g., about politics, religion, or personal values).
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‍Ethical Considerations in Social Experiments
Finally, we noted common ethical dilemmas in social experiments, such as whether to obtain participants’ consent beforehand or to keep them unaware to avoid biasing behavior. For our project, we plan to ensure participants are informed while still aiming to preserve as much authenticity in interactions as possible.

User Research
To complement our secondary research, we conducted direct user research within the UC Berkeley student community. This consisted of two components: a broad survey targeting a wide audience and a set of in-depth interviews with selected participants.
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We gathered 64 responses to a survey designed to capture students’ perceptions, experiences, and barriers related to forming deeper connections.
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‍Pain Points: The fear of awkwardness emerged as the most common deterrent to initiating social interactions. Participants worried about running out of topics or appearing too serious.
‍Shallow vs. Deep Connections Shallow: Often characterized by surface-level conversation topics and minimal personal disclosure.
‍Deep: Associated with honest sharing, empathy, and mutual understanding. A notable number of respondents highlighted the importance of a sense of safety or trust that allows for vulnerability.
‍Motivations for Deeper Connections: Students are more motivated to seek deeper relationships when there is a shared interest or activity—such as sports, arts, or community service.Pre-planned conversation prompts and structured environments (e.g., intimate 1-1 settings, dimmer lighting) help facilitate more substantive exchanges.

User Interviews
We then conducted 4 in-depth interviews to deepen our understanding of these survey findings and explore students’ lived experiences.
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‍Shared Interests & Effort
Participants stressed that initial rapport often hinges on common ground—be it a hobby or a club affiliation. Even so, both parties must show equal willingness to invest in building the relationship. One interviewee noted that “shared interests open the door, but continued effort keeps it open.”
‍Managing Awkwardness
Interviewees acknowledged the tension between the desire for meaningful dialogue and the fear of conversations becoming too serious or uncomfortable. They found that humor, open body language, and reciprocal vulnerability can diffuse tension.
‍Environments That Foster Connection
Several participants revealed that the environment itself can facilitate or hinder deeper discussions. While new, “neutral” spaces encourage openness by removing preconceived notions, familiar, comfortable settings can also help people relax and open up.
‍Indicators of Disinterest
A lack of follow-up questions, generic or one-word responses, and a general disinterest in deeper topics were strong signals that the other party was not seeking a more meaningful bond.

Key Takeaways
From our secondary research and direct engagement with UC Berkeley students, it’s clear that while clubs and student organizations often serve as catalysts for deeper social ties, the fear of awkwardness remains a considerable barrier to meaningful interactions. Practical tools such as structured prompts, receptive communication styles, and supportive environments can help students transition from surface-level contact to more authentic connections. Moving forward, our findings highlight the importance of fostering opportunities for safe, open-ended dialogue and building students’ confidence in deeper conversations—elements we plan to integrate into our final project and video to support Pentel’s mission of encouraging genuine human connection.

Synthesizing the research
After collecting data from surveys and interviews, we moved into the synthesis phase to uncover deeper patterns, commonalities, and contradictions in our research. This process involved creating affinity maps, developing user personas, and drawing out key insight statements that guide our design focus.

Affinity Mapping
We began by organizing all our qualitative data—survey responses, interview notes, and relevant quotes—into thematic clusters. Each cluster represented recurring patterns around social interactions, obstacles to deeper connections, and factors that encourage or inhibit vulnerability. This exercise allowed us to visualize where the majority of pain points and opportunities lay, helping us move forward with clearer perspectives on how to design solutions that foster deeper social bonds.
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User Personas
To humanize our findings and ensure our solutions resonate with real needs, we created user personas that represent core segments of our target audience. Each persona reflects the attitudes, behaviors, and pain points we identified.
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Key Insights
From our affinity map and persona development, the following insights emerged as the driving forces behind users’ desires for connection and their challenges in achieving it.
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1. Deeper Connections Are Built on Emotional Resonance and Vulnerability
As one survey respondent stated, “Deeply connecting with someone entails developing a lasting relationship that goes beyond simple interactions. Common characteristics include a strong emotional resonance, shared values, honest and open communication, and a feeling of support and understanding between people.” This underscores the importance of creating environments and conversation prompts that allow participants to feel safe opening up.
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2. Laughter and Vulnerability Help Diffuse Tension
A light-hearted or playful approach can mitigate awkwardness, encouraging participants to share more meaningful thoughts and experiences. Gamified ice-breaker formats or simple humor can help reduce social barriers.
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3. Structured Prompts and 1-on-1 Settings Facilitate Deeper Interaction
Participants consistently mentioned pre-determined questions and more private settings (like darker or quieter spaces) as conducive to intimate conversation. These elements provide a focused environment with fewer external distractions.
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4. Signs of Disinterest Include One-Word Responses, Silence, and Surface-Level Questions
Respondents reported that genuine follow-up questions and reciprocal sharing strongly signal engagement. Conversely, closed-off responses quickly halt any chance of deeper dialogue.Together, these insights clarify not only what users need to feel comfortable exploring deeper connections but also how to structure conversations and environments to foster that sense of rapport. They will inform the next steps of our design process, where we aim to prototype and test solutions that reduce social friction and encourage more meaningful interactions.

Ideation
Building upon the key insights from our research, we crafted a dual-format social experiment and video concept designed to guide students from casual, surface-level discussions to more meaningful, in-depth conversations. As the project lead for this phase, I focused on formulating an engaging structure for the video, as well as a physical mechanism to facilitate deeper questions in a fun and inviting way.

Translating Insights into Concepts
Casual vs. Intimate Settings: Our affinity mapping and user interviews revealed that shallow questions often feel safer but rarely lead to deeper connections. By splitting the video into two distinct parts—a casual setting for introductory, “shallow” questions and a more intimate, focused setting for deeper prompts—we addressed participants’ need for a gradual transition into vulnerability.
‍Progressive Question Difficulty: Structured prompts were frequently cited as a catalyst for deeper interactions. We implemented a “rounds” approach where each subsequent question grew more introspective, in line with our research indicating that gentle escalation fosters comfort and openness.

Dual-Format Video to parallel spatial contrast with conversation depth

Shallow Start
Initial interviews in casual setting (resemblance to Tik Tok Content). Filmed in a relaxed environment, participants are asked typical get-to-know-you questions (e.g., “What’s your major?”). This casual beginning aligns with real-world first interactions where individuals often remain guarded.

Deeper Connections
Participants relocate to a cozy, more private setup, allowing them to feel safe engaging in substantial dialogue. Deeper, more personal questions emerge, pushing beyond the surface-level exchanges introduced in shallow setting.

Question Mechanism
Gacha Ball Dispenser
Inspired by the playful, curiosity-driven nature of capsule toys, we introduced a gacha ballmechanic. Participants draw questions at random, each round revealing prompts that increase in depth. This element not only gamifies the process, but also alleviates pressure by letting chance steer the conversation.
Prompt Progression
Starting with questions like “What’s your major?” and culminating in prompts such as “Who was your very first friend, and do you still talk to them?” ensures a natural build in emotional investment without overwhelming participants from the outset.
By weaving together a two-part interview style and an interactive question mechanism, this ideation phase produced a social experiment model that encourages participants to move beyond the typical small talk of campus life. The blend of staged environments, structured prompts, and an element of play effectively addresses the user need for gradual, authentic connection—ultimately embodying Pentel’s mission to help students reimagine how they engage with one another.