Vodafone | UX UI design for Sensing API digital product

For Vodafone’s debut of its Network Sensing API at MWC 2025, I led the UX UI design for an immersive demo that simulated the API’s real time object detection capabilities. As the technology was not yet ready for public release, the project focused on designing a complete and believable end to end experience that introduced attendees to its future potential, working closely with motion and development teams to bring the simulation to life.

The brief posed a unique challenge.
Show the world a technology that is not live yet, and make it feel real.

Vodafone’s Network Sensing API has the ability to detect objects such as cars, people, boats and bikes through the mobile network. However, as the API was still in development, the experience needed to demonstrate how the system would behave once fully functional, without relying on real time data.

The installation centred around a large physical map, with a transparent LED screen suspended in front of it to create an augmented reality style layer. As objects moved across the map, the screen appeared to detect them, visualising their paths alongside contextual data in a way that felt immediate and responsive.

I designed the full UX UI system from the ground up, mapping each state change, loading sequence, detection moment and transition. As the experience was entirely simulated, careful attention was given to timing, pacing and interaction detail to ensure it felt smooth, intelligent and believable.

A key part of the project involved defining a visual language for a technology that had no existing reference point. Vodafone did not have established UI components or iconography for network sensing, so I developed a new set of visual elements aligned with their brand guidelines while introducing a system suited to machine detection. These assets were later adopted into Vodafone’s global asset library.

Once the system logic, tone and visual language were established, I worked closely with a motion designer to choreograph the behaviour of each object. This included how a car slowed at a junction, how a boat moved across water and how a person followed a path, all paired with responsive UI animations. I then collaborated with developers to align timing, logic triggers and transitions, ensuring the experience felt cohesive and convincingly live despite being a controlled simulation.