ABSTRACT Staying in touch is a fundamental aspect in maintaining a long-distance relationship, whether it is in a family context or a friendship. An effective communication appliance can enable families or friends living apart to have a feeling of connectedness and help them to maintain their relationship despite the physical distance. This paper describes the results of an exploration study on people living far away from their families and friends, with a focus on how they stay in touch with their close friends and overcome the distance. The targeted user group in this study is geographically and physically isolated people. A user study was conducted by means of a survey, focus group and interview. The results show that sharing problems and feelings between two remotely located friends is crucial. Consequently, the design goal was set to enable users to notify and physically comfort each other, in a subtle way, through a remote but shared experience, whenever a problem or feeling