Eight frames for the same machine
UX experiments for tententoon — the engine is identical in all of them (the project's real GPU pipeline, demo photo preloaded); only the frame around it changes.
Each card states the hypothesis the prototype is testing. They are sketches, not products: judge the framing, not the polish.
New: three explorable introductions →
The Loop Is the Hero
instant gratification · zero chrome
The app greets you with an empty tool and asks for work before showing any magic. Flip it: open inside the finished spiral, full-bleed; the UI exists only when summoned.
Try: do nothing for 5 s · move the mouse · drop a photo anywhere.
Three Steps
guided wizard · one decision per screen
The pro-tool layout shows ~20 controls at once for a flow with exactly three decisions. A full-screen wizard — photo, frame, loop — should get a first-timer to a result without thinking.
Try: complete it on a phone · skip with the demo photo · go back a step.
The Lens
direct manipulation · single surface
The split view forces eye ping-pong between cause (rect) and effect (spiral). Keep one surface: the photo fills the screen and a floating spiral lens shows the result where you're already looking.
Try: drag the frame and watch the lens react · move/resize the lens itself.
One Knob
single parameter · playable poster
Buried in the current UI is the one number that makes this tool special: degrees of twist per copy. Make it the entire interface — a giant dial from straight Droste fall (0°) through Escher's spiral.
Try: sweep the dial slowly through 0° · flick it and let it settle.
The Scroll
scrollytelling · explanation as onboarding
The tool and its explainer are two separate pages today. Merge them: scrolling is the timeline — the photo nests, unrolls into the log strip, leans, and rolls back up into the spiral as you read.
Try: scrub up and down slowly · read it top to bottom on a phone.
Darkroom
camera metaphor · familiar mental model
Nobody knows what "set the nest rectangle" means; everybody knows how to aim a camera. Frame the gesture as a viewfinder with a shutter, two lenses (DROSTE / TENTENTOON), and a filmstrip of developed shots.
Try: aim, shoot, develop · switch lenses · reshoot from a filmstrip frame.
Twin Infinities
comparison · the concept is the home screen
The product's core idea — same recursion, two geometries — is invisible in the app (views hide behind a toggle). Show both infinities zooming in lockstep, with one slider morphing straight fall into spiral.
Try: drag the morph slider mid-zoom · tap a side to focus it.
The Print Gallery
museum frame · output as artwork
A file you export from a tool is a throwaway; a print hanging lit on a gallery wall is something you made. Present the result as the exhibition Escher named the trick after — wall text, brass plaque and all.
Try: step closer · read the plaque · hang your own photo.