Pixla
Pixla is a speculative experience exploring how intentional friction can restore anticipation to moments made instant by convenience.
Pixla is a speculative experience exploring how intentional friction can restore anticipation to moments made instant by convenience.
Industrial Design
Industrial Design
Speculative
Speculative
Anticipation
Anticipation
About the Project
Pixla started with a small frustration. I would spend more time choosing a movie than watching one, moving between endless options and knowing I could change my mind at any point. It made me think about how different that experience would feel if the choice was harder to undo.
I began looking more broadly at how convenience had changed anticipation, commitment and effort, then looked for experiences where effort still adds value. IKEA became an important reference: the product is not complete when you receive it, and part of the experience is figuring out how to build it.
That led me to use a projector as the medium. I took it apart completely, studied how it was assembled, repacked the parts, and created instructions so it had to be rebuilt before it could be used. The final experience made the wait, the effort and the act of putting something together part of the outcome itself.
Type
Experience Design, Speculative, Critical
Year
2025
Context
Individual academic project
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Pixla instructions manual
What
What
Pixla is a speculative experience that uses a disassembled projector to turn access into a slower, more deliberate ritual. By making something familiar less immediate, it explores how effort, anticipation, and participation can shape the value of an experience.
Pixla is a speculative experience that uses a disassembled projector to turn access into a slower, more deliberate ritual. By making something familiar less immediate, it explores how effort, anticipation, and participation can shape the value of an experience.
Closed box
Open package
Why
Why
I wanted to explore what happens when almost everything is instantly available. With entertainment especially, we can choose from thousands of options, switch at any moment, and rarely have to commit to a choice. That ease is useful, but it also removes some of the anticipation that used to build around an experience. Pixla became a way to test what happens when that sense of waiting, effort, and commitment is brought back.
I wanted to explore what happens when almost everything is instantly available. With entertainment especially, we can choose from thousands of options, switch at any moment, and rarely have to commit to a choice. That ease is useful, but it also removes some of the anticipation that used to build around an experience. Pixla became a way to test what happens when that sense of waiting, effort, and commitment is brought back.
(Video) Disassembling the projector
Pixla components
How
How
I started by looking at how convenience had changed the way we wait for, choose and experience things, particularly entertainment. I then looked at experiences where effort still adds something rather than simply getting in the way.
IKEA became an interesting reference. Its furniture arrives unfinished, turning ownership into a process of unpacking, understanding and building. That gave Pixla its structure: I took apart a projector, studied how it went together, and repackaged it so that rebuilding it became part of the experience rather than a step removed by convenience.
I started by looking at how convenience had changed the way we wait for, choose and experience things, particularly entertainment. I then looked at experiences where effort still adds something rather than simply getting in the way.
IKEA became an interesting reference. Its furniture arrives unfinished, turning ownership into a process of unpacking, understanding and building. That gave Pixla its structure: I took apart a projector, studied how it went together, and repackaged it so that rebuilding it became part of the experience rather than a step removed by convenience.
Pixla components
Pixla hero
Then
Then
Pixla gave me a way to test an idea I already believed in: that effort and anticipation can add value to an experience. What changed through the project was seeing how much the structure of an experience matters. The same object can feel completely different when access is delayed, steps are added, and the user has to participate before reaching the outcome. That shift—from designing the object to designing the sequence around it—became the most important takeaway from the project.
Pixla gave me a way to test an idea I already believed in: that effort and anticipation can add value to an experience. What changed through the project was seeing how much the structure of an experience matters. The same object can feel completely different when access is delayed, steps are added, and the user has to participate before reaching the outcome. That shift—from designing the object to designing the sequence around it—became the most important takeaway from the project.