ROBERT STRAUBMÜLLER

straubmuellerstudios

Designing Clarity for Complex Simulations

Client

Institut für Optische Systeme, Konstanz

Segment

Optical Technologies & Imaging

Year

2022-2025

Role

Product Designer,
Inhouse

Services

Branding
Corporate Identity
User Interface Design
Pojectmanagement
science communication

Overview

Flowculate is a software solution designed to simulate crowd movements and infection risks using a continuous model that reduces both calculation time and computational effort. It also enables non-professional event organizers to efficiently review their space and evacuation plans.

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration and UX Design

The work on Flowculate extended far beyond the design of the user experience (UX). As the project was embedded in an interdisciplinary research environment with many stakeholders, continuous coordination between technical and design requirements was crucial. This involved integrating a new continuous model into the software architecture while developing an interface that balances scientific precision with user-friendliness. Another key focus was ensuring smooth communication between designers, developers, and researchers to meet both aesthetic and functional needs.

Branding and Visual Identity

The name „Flowculate“ was specifically crafted to reflect the core idea of the project while establishing a modern, English-language brand identity. It results from a creative fusion of thematically relevant terms, combining conciseness with clarity. The visual identity is based on the mathematical principles behind the project. The Delaunay triangulation, which divides spaces into precise triangles, inspired the logo design. This abstraction of geometric forms into a clear, modern design embodies scientific accuracy and design professionalism, creating a branding that communicates the project’s complexity while being adaptable to various contexts.

Clear and Functional Digital Design

The digital design of Flowculate emphasizes clarity and professionalism, focusing on functionality and simplicity. The color scheme supports this approach: while vibrant colors are used to visualize simulation data, the rest of the application features muted tones to create a calm and structured atmosphere. The layout follows principles of functional design, with the plan and editable areas placed at the center to provide maximum flexibility for users.

Communication Materials and Consistent Design

For scientific fairs, conferences, and project presentations, informational posters, a short video, documents, and presentation templates were created. To visually tie these materials to the project, the design incorporated color gradients used in the simulation to represent densities. These gradients symbolize the scientific foundation and establish a clear, recognizable aesthetic that makes complex content easier to understand.

A Journey of Design Evolution

Working on Flowculate was an incredibly rewarding experience, as it allowed me to develop a design across multiple media and over an extended period. It was exciting to explore and merge influences from both digital and analog design, allowing me to continually evolve the project. Over the course of two years, the design transformed significantly, and I had the opportunity to collaborate with and design for people who had no formal design background. This made it particularly engaging, as I had to communicate complex design choices in accessible ways while ensuring that the design could serve a diverse range of users and contexts.

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