It's a critical provocation. A speculation on how we might interact with digital spaces if we question the norms of interface design.
[This product observes you back]
What if your smart home assistant collected your data only to ask you uncomfortable questions about privacy? A device that doesn't serve you, but serves as a critical mirror.
[Increases what you try to diminish]
An algorithm that doesn't hide uncomfortable content but instead highlights everything you've been algorithmically sheltered from. What if your feed was designed to make you uncomfortable?
What happens when we entrust our spiritual and existential needs to algorithms and artificial intelligence?
This speculative design explores a future where technology has been elevated to the realm of the sacred, raising questions about faith, meaning, and the increasingly blurred line between human and machine consciousness.
Hover to reveal question
Would you take moral guidance from an AI that has processed all religious texts ever written?
What if our devices were designed to slow us down instead of speeding us up?
This collection explores technologies that deliberately introduce friction, delay, and reflection into our interactions with digital systems.
Our obsession with optimization and productivity has created a culture where time saved is immediately filled with more tasks. What if technology helped us waste time meaningfully instead?
Every click, view, and interaction feeds a complex ecosystem of commerce and surveillance. What if your devices made this relationship explicit rather than hiding it?
The narrative of perpetual technological progress assumes that newer is always better. What if some technologies are already perfect, or even excessive for their purpose?
As we outsource more cognitive functions to algorithms, we may be sacrificing essential human capabilities. What if AI was designed to enhance our humanity rather than replace it?
Every friction removed from daily life also removes an opportunity for agency, skill development, and meaningful engagement. What if difficulty is sometimes desirable?
User-friendly design aims to make interactions seamless and intuitive. But what if provoking discomfort, reflection, and pause were valuable design goals for a more thoughtful digital world?
It's about the space between design and critical thinking.
Not a portrait of you
Critical Design uses design proposals to challenge assumptions and preconceptions about the role objects play in everyday life. It's more of a position than a method.
By creating these provocative, conceptual designs that challenge the status quo, we can reveal potentially hidden agendas and values within emerging technologies and open up space for public debate.
Don't create solutions. Create alternatives that ask questions.
This site does use cookies, but unlike other sites, we want you to feel uncomfortable about it.
Each click, hover, and scroll is being analyzed to better understand how humans interact with deliberately challenging interfaces.