Disclaimer: All characters and events in this story are entirely fictional except for my role in this project. Any similarity to future historical events is entirely intentional, because I totally called it.
At Rhombus Creative Agency, ideas tend to show up in the middle of casual team chats. During one of those conversations, Mara’s team was tossing around reasons for a slow client month. When someone joked that they’d already reached out to everyone on Earth, a teammate added, “Then maybe we try space.” That got everyone’s attention. Someone remembered an old project I worked on about extraterrestrial travel, and suddenly the idea didn’t feel so random. So they got in touch with me.
F42 Version 1
I had previously designed a travel app for aliens to help them find the meaning of life by exploring the universe. The visual design was focussed on what each element on the screen would look like if the user (the alien) was looking at it with a blue filter.
And, a week before I got the call from Rhombus, this was released-
Alien skeletal remains found on earth (supposedly)
This was a great opportunity to gauge the feasibility of V1 based on the anatomy that we see in these images.
I quickly realized that V1 wouldn’t work for them.
Drawbacks with V1
Device
They could not possibly be using an iPhone. It just wouldn’t fit in their hands.
They seem to have a deep skull which when filled with matter would be quite heavy. So, holding any device with their hands would be uncomfortable.
Their eye sockets are visibly deeper which makes me question if they have peripheral vision.
Interactions
The human keypad wouldn’t work based on the anatomy of their hands.
All interactions in V1 relied heavily on touch. I had added depth to the buttons to make them look tactile but looking at the fingers in these images, they must be having a tough time interacting with technology if they are pressing buttons while holding a phone.
AI generated image of an OX3 alien holding an iPhone.
Emotion
The copy was designed to elicit an emotional response. Bold of me to assume that it would work on a non-human.
Snippets from V1 that were designed to elicit an emotional response
Booking Process
The process of booking a trip was very human. It followed logic as we know it which included selecting one option that works out of multiple options and choose a package that matches the vibe of the trip.
Friction
The number of clicks involved in completing an action was as human as it could get because of the friction that was introduced deliberately.
Commerce
There were multiple options for vehicles, stays and activities.
Payment was a part of the trip confirmation process.
The booking user flow in V1
So, I decided to fix this in V2
The User
Meet Xylo 👋
They live on a plant called OX3 and absorb energy from their moon- which is red, to survive which is what makes their skin and eyes blue.
They have 3 long and narrow fingers, a deep skull and no emotions (not the kind we’re used to anyway).
Everyone on OX3 has equal ability so accessibility as we know it, does not exist.
Capitalism is not a thing on OX3. There is one option that works perfectly and everybody uses the same thing.
And, no one on OX3 has any human tendencies.
AI generated image of Xylo
My Approach
Device
I started by mapping the position of their eyes to see if any of the earthly devices would work for them but wearing a rather heavy 3D camera that would anyway restrict their field of view didn’t make a lot of sense.
I decided to start from scratch and think outside the boundaries of a device. It couldn’t be handheld and the elements on the screen had to be visible to a user who only has central vision and everything they look at looks blue.
Removing all boundaries from the interface would be the most comfortable option and the more I thought about it, there really did not have to be a device.
Initial sketch to evaluate different interface options
Activating the Interface
Having established that no one on OX3 experiences emotions, it follows that their sense of ethics would be fundamentally different. That means their inhibitions would be different too.
So, they have a gadget installed within them that would activate this application when they need it and all interactions are based on their thoughts and vibration(sound).
User Flow
As I was removing all forms of capitalism from the design, I removed everything that caused friction because it wasn’t necessary anymore and this reduced the number of clicks by 90%.
Initial sketch of the user flow
Experimenting with different selection patterns
Spatial Design
Here’s a video demonstration of my proposal-
Visual Design
3D
My main focus for V2 was to understand spatial arrangement and how light would interfere with objects in space so it made perfect sense to go 3D.
I chose Spline because I could easily show the light, plane and different perspectives during critique.
Objects
The goal was to make the objects look unfamiliar to the human eye by reimagining what the universe might look like without any visual reference.
I started out with basic shapes and kept modifying the extrusion until it looked unusual to the human eye.
I also wanted to make sure that I wasn’t being consistent with my treatment because consistency is human too.
Materials
The main objective with the materials used on these objects was to ensure they were impactful with the blue filter.
Applied color, depth, noise, matcap, and fresnel in different ways across each object to create a sense of visual distortion..
I experimented with layering materials differently on each object to not make them consistent.
Tried using the Spline AI texture generator, but it wasn’t quite the direction I had in mind, so I stuck with custom materials.
Exploring Spline's AI Texture Generator
Lighting
The background is black and ambient light is turned off in all the scenes because, space.
I’ve added one white light source in the top left corner for the light that’s being emitted by the celestial bodies.
Light 2 is red which is the moon and it faces OX3.
Both light sources are being emitted radially so there's a third light in the top right corner to have accurate wavelength.
The colors for light 2 and 3 are modified based on the wavelength that they fall on.
All objects have phong shading to ensure the reflections of the colors from the light sources are accurate.
Motion
Given I’m designing for this to be spatially accurate, I’ve modified the movement of each object’s base state displacement linearly to ensure they are still in view but are moving. I’ve deliberately avoided consistency here as well.
I’ve also used multiple states for each object to show interaction through animation.
Sound
I had established that those who live on OX3 derive meaning from what they’re seeing through vibration so I’ve included sounds for each object to convey what they’ve selected.
There is no use of text because sound is doing that for them.
Critique
I wanted to make sure people got to see what Xylo would be seeing. So, everyone in the room viewed the prototype with an alien eyes cutout which was layered with blue cellophane sheet which I used while designing the user flow.
Design Critique Day
Everyone at Rhombus loved it, here’s the ad that I made for their alien clients to promote this 😭 While the visuals and text help us humans understand the "app", the sound conveys the same message to those who live on OX3.
Prototype
Interactive prototype of the booking user flow on Spline
Future Scope
Design objects outside of the frame to show what it would look like when they move.
Explore vehicle animation further.
Reflection
Although there are fictional elements in the story, I wanted to base my design decisions on science as humans know it, and it was a lot of fun to twist what I knew for a specific population.
The story guided the direction of the project, and staying open to new turns while understanding the value of constraints kept the process interesting.
Credits
Professor Jason Aston for being invested in this project and taking me seriously when I pitched this.
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