based on you
Overview
Based on You is an interactive website that explores the risks of personalised and recommendation-based algorithms by simulating a digital environment where every user action is tracked, accumulated, and made visible through interaction.
Based on You is an interactive website that explores the risks of personalised and recommendation-based algorithms by simulating a digital environment where every user action is tracked, accumulated, and made visible through interaction.
Services
web design
framer
motion graphics
Services
web design
framer
motion graphics
Year
2025
Year
2025
Timeline
1 month
Timeline
1 month
Subject
communication design III - FBAUL
Subject
communication design III - FBAUL
About this project
This academic project was developed in collaboration with Inês Almeida, Joana Roldão and Clara morais, based on research from academic sources, particularly Governance of Algorithms (Saurwein, Just & Latzer, 2015).
The website explores the risks of personalised and recommendation-based algorithms through a structured system of nine identified risks, presented alongside simplified explanations of how these systems operate. It is structured into two parallel columns: the left and principal one presents nine key risks associated with algorithmic selection, with an manual scroll, while the right explains how recommendation systems operate through suggestion-based content, with an infinite automatic scroll. The interface uses button-like text elements inspired by filtering systems. Each of the nine risks is also represented through abstract animations, creating a visual and graphic layer that reinforces the conceptual content.
This academic project was developed in collaboration with Inês Almeida, Joana Roldão and Clara morais, based on research from academic sources, particularly Governance of Algorithms (Saurwein, Just & Latzer, 2015).
The website explores the risks of personalised and recommendation-based algorithms through a structured system of nine identified risks, presented alongside simplified explanations of how these systems operate. It is structured into two parallel columns: the left and principal one presents nine key risks associated with algorithmic selection, with an manual scroll, while the right explains how recommendation systems operate through suggestion-based content, with an infinite automatic scroll. The interface uses button-like text elements inspired by filtering systems. Each of the nine risks is also represented through abstract animations, creating a visual and graphic layer that reinforces the conceptual content.
Problem
The main challenge was to translate invisible and complex processes, such as algorithmic surveillance, data tracking, and loss of autonomy, into a tangible and interactive experience. It required transforming theoretical research into a structured and engaging system, while maintaining a critical perspective without becoming purely informational. Another difficulty was articulating multiple layers simultaneously: the nine identified risks, the functioning of recommendation systems, and the user’s own interaction, all within a coherent interface. Additionally, the project needed to balance a visually minimal and “seemless” interface with a concept that aimed to reveal hidden systems of control.
The main challenge was to translate invisible and complex processes, such as algorithmic surveillance, data tracking, and loss of autonomy, into a tangible and interactive experience. It required transforming theoretical research into a structured and engaging system, while maintaining a critical perspective without becoming purely informational. Another difficulty was articulating multiple layers simultaneously: the nine identified risks, the functioning of recommendation systems, and the user’s own interaction, all within a coherent interface. Additionally, the project needed to balance a visually minimal and “seemless” interface with a concept that aimed to reveal hidden systems of control.
Solution
The project translates abstract concepts such as surveillance and data tracking into an interactive experience where user behavior directly shapes the interface. A custom low-opacity cursor generates a persistent trace that accumulates over time. As users navigate the website, their movements leave layered marks that gradually accumulate, making interaction visible and simulating digital memory.
This logic extends to the visual system: the abstract animations representing the nine risks were developed using the cursor as a modular unit, ensuring visual coherence between interaction and graphic language. Additionally, the search bar reinforces this logic by always returning the same nine risks as “recommendations,” regardless of input, highlighting the illusion of choice and the underlying control of algorithmic systems.
All textual content is fragmented into interactive elements resembling filter buttons, but only the ones that are titles are really functional buttons, reinforcing the logic of categorization and selection typical of digital interfaces. Visually, the interface adopts a seamless, transparent, and immaterial aesthetic (inspired by contemporary digital environments), creating an almost invisible layer of interaction. This contrasts with the growing visual weight of the cursor trace, which accumulates over time.
The project translates abstract concepts such as surveillance and data tracking into an interactive experience where user behavior directly shapes the interface. A custom low-opacity cursor generates a persistent trace that accumulates over time. As users navigate the website, their movements leave layered marks that gradually accumulate, making interaction visible and simulating digital memory.
This logic extends to the visual system: the abstract animations representing the nine risks were developed using the cursor as a modular unit, ensuring visual coherence between interaction and graphic language. Additionally, the search bar reinforces this logic by always returning the same nine risks as “recommendations,” regardless of input, highlighting the illusion of choice and the underlying control of algorithmic systems.
All textual content is fragmented into interactive elements resembling filter buttons, but only the ones that are titles are really functional buttons, reinforcing the logic of categorization and selection typical of digital interfaces. Visually, the interface adopts a seamless, transparent, and immaterial aesthetic (inspired by contemporary digital environments), creating an almost invisible layer of interaction. This contrasts with the growing visual weight of the cursor trace, which accumulates over time.
