𓊞 Lasting Letters

When someone dies without adequate end-of-life planning, their loved ones must navigate grief while figuring out what to do and where to start. Families end up guessing at the person's wishes, dealing with default legal outcomes that may not fit, and facing a slow, costly, court-reliant process.

Despite death being life's only certainty, Singaporeans remain unprepared. Only

• Only 13% have both spoken and written down their final wishes, while 53% have done neither (source ↗ (opens in new tab))

• Only 22% have a legally drafted will (source ↗ (opens in new tab)), and less than 3% of Singapore’s population have lodged wills with the Wills Registry (source ↗ (opens in new tab))

• Only 5% have made Lasting Power of Attorneys (source ↗ (opens in new tab))

This creates real costs for families and government. Cases without wills take 1-3 months longer and cost $500-$1,500 more to resolve (source ↗ (opens in new tab), source ↗ (opens in new tab)), hitting lower-income families hardest. When people don't nominate CPF beneficiaries, families face delays up to six months while the Insolvency & Public Trustee's Office steps in to distribute funds (source ↗ (opens in new tab)).

This results in real and tangible costs to both citizens as well as government:

Target Audience

Young Singaporeans (25-50) are the least prepared, despite being most open to discussing end-of-life topics. (source ↗ (opens in new tab); source ↗ (opens in new tab)). There is a gap between what young Singaporeans say they are willing to do, and what they actually do.

While 86% of CPF members aged 65+ have made nominations, only 36% of those aged 16-64 have done so. (source ↗ (opens in new tab)). Just 22% of all wills and 17% of all LPAs belong to people under 50 (source ↗ (opens in new tab), source ↗ (opens in new tab)).

When we spoke to young Singaporeans, two themes emerged:

1. Lack of Education = Lack of Urgency: They initially dismissed the topic ("I'm still young", "I don't have many assets") but realized their hesitation came from knowledge gaps and failure to consider consequences.

2. Overwhelmed with Getting Started: Beyond being emotionally heavy, the tasks were administratively complex, required navigating multiple systems, and confused people unfamiliar with legal processes. It was unclear what they needed to do or where to start.

Lasting Letters is our attempt at tackling Theme #1. It is an immersive campaign to raise awareness about the importance of end-of-life planning, especially among young Singaporeans.

Velocity - what we actually built or changed

Based on user interviews, we found that young Singaporeans weren’t avoiding planning on purpose, but instead were operating on false assumptions or vague knowledge. Lasting Letters was designed as an immersive, guided reflection that makes defaults and consequences feel real, without overwhelming users.

1. People knew the concepts, but not what happens by default. We surfaced clear, simple explanations of intestacy outcomes so users can quickly see whether the default matches their intent.

2. People underestimated the admin pain of having no will. We explained the practical complications of dying without a will (extra steps, longer timelines, higher costs) in plain language to make the trade-offs tangible.

3. People needed education that does not feel like a lecture. We embedded optional, tap-to-open info pop-ups so users can pull details only when they want them, keeping the experience non-intrusive.

4. People struggled to relate abstract planning to their own lives. We grounded the reflection in simple personal inputs (age, whether they have completed key steps, what they are leaving behind, and how significant it feels) so the stakes feel relevant, not theoretical.

What we’ve built

Over the past month, we built Lasting Letters ↗ (opens in new tab), a short, interactive storytelling experience designed to raise awareness around end-of-life planning by helping users emotionally understand what happens when nothing is prepared.

What we shipped or meaningfully changed

• Shipped a scroll-based, narrative-driven experience that guides users through a simulated “what if something happens” journey.

• Built a lightweight personalisation layer, where users input basic information (e.g. age and background) to tailor facts and scenarios.

• Implemented dynamic storytelling blocks that adapt content based on user input rather than showing generic information.

• Curated and embedded key overlooked facts about end-of-life planning at relevant moments in the story, instead of presenting them upfront.

What users can do now that they couldn’t before

• Experience a realistic, personalised walkthrough of what their loved ones may face if end-of-life matters are not handled.

• Understand consequences emotionally, not just intellectually, through narrative rather than checklists.

• Absorb the most critical end-of-life planning insights in under 5 minutes, without committing to any planning action.

What parts of the product are usable today (even if rough)

• Interactive scrolling storytelling flow

• User input and basic personalisation logic

• Dynamic content rendering based on age and background

• Fact-based inserts highlighting commonly neglected issues

The experience is fully navigable end-to-end, though visual polish and content depth are still evolving.

Important gaps and limitations

• Personalisation is currently limited to a small set of inputs and does not yet reflect complex family or financial situations.

• The product focuses on awareness only and does not transition users directly into execution (e.g. writing a will or assigning guardians).

• Scenarios are illustrative rather than legally or procedurally precise.

What we tried that didn’t work, and what we learned

• We initially explored presenting educational content in a traditional explainer format, but found it easy for users to skim or disengage.

• This led us to pivot toward a story-first, scroll-driven experience, which keeps users emotionally engaged and moving forward.

• We intentionally constrained the experience to ~5 minutes, learning that brevity increases completion and retention in a sensitive topic like this.

Traction - how real people are using it, and what is happening as a result

User testing garnered mixed traction signals. On one hand, users found the approach fresh and unlike anything they had seen before from a government campaign. However, users also had critiques which the team was not able to tackle in the limited time remaining:

• Narrative Tone: this was a hit or miss. While some users found the reflective nature of the journey meaningful, others felt that the blend between fantasy and reality was far too dissonant for them

• Unclear Calls to Action: users gave feedback that while there was sufficient messaging on the consequences of not having a will, not enough messaging was done on the benefits of having one

• Missed Opportunities for Deeper Integration: users wished that information that they had filled out in Lasting Letters could be more seamlessly integrated into the flow for Envelopes.