Neuralink app that controls your senses

I decided to design a Neuralink concept app after watching Elon Musk’s latest chat on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

Context

Neuralink is one of the companies Elon Musk works on. They are developing skull implants that connect to the brain to restore certain body functions that were lost through injury or health complications.

My idea

I took the Neuralink idea to the next level and envisioned a time where Neuralink stimulates the brain in order to control and change your senses.

Of course, there would be an accompanying app that you’d use to change your settings on the go, and that’s what I designed.

My design process

I opened up a text file and dumped my rough ideas out in front of me.

I wanted to remember all of my initial creativity. My new ideas sometimes flow from an unknown source that I might not be able to tap into again if I forget.

I looked at Neuralink’s website (neuralink.com) to get a feel for their brand aesthetic and design style.

I like building concepts that replicate the current look-and-feel of a brand.

Concept apps that feel part of the brand’s aesthetic universe tend to be more believable, and believability is part of the appeal of concept apps!

I noted down all the text styles and colours.

I opened up a new Sketch file and rebuilt all the elements that I saw on the website, so I had building blocks to use in my design.

I added a slight border to the cards to make the design feel more like an app.

I pasted my initial idea’s text into the building blocks to create a rough layout.

I put a logo at the top, placed each ‘sense’ on a card, deemphasised the secondary links at the bottom by excluding a card, and excluded any buttons because there wasn’t any functionality that needed buttons.

I developed the design off of the initial base by adding clear labels and appropriate controls for each ‘sense modification’.

Using brand colours within each element made the whole design feel cohesive.

Using icons for the secondary links, instead of text, deemphasised their importance within the field of view but kept them easily accessible.

My lessons

I took away 3 lessons from the project.

1 — Stick to brand guidelines for a cohesive product experience

Keep the same colours, fonts and style as existing brand material.

The new website or app you’re making will feel like part of the same family of products.

2 — Use icons to de-emphasise elements

Lots of words can be distracting and make your design look cluttered.

Icons help to reduce the attention placed on secondary actions.

3 — Ideating and designing are two different phases

Use the ideation phase to get all your creative ideas out onto paper or screen. Don’t get trapped in the detail of how it’ll look.

Then, the design phase flows much better with a clear outline of what to do based on the ideation phase.

Let me know what you think

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