UX RESEARCH
UI/UX DESIGNER
SPRING 2026
Somni
Designed a speculative dream tracker for a more intentional way to explore the subconscious.
TIMELINE
March 2026
TEAM
3 Designers
ROLE
UI/UX Designer
TOOLS
Figma, Figma Make
LONG STORY SHORT
Making the subconscious a little more tangible
I'm fascinated by the human brain, and more specifically, by how much we don't know about it. The idea for Somni was born one late night. I got a notification from the Health App counting my steps for the day, and I started to think about how much of the human sensory experience is tracked, and how much we have left to track. One area stood to me, the one area I always wish I can track, but it seems almost impossible: dreams. Introducing Somni, a speculative design app that allows users to track their dreams, specifically designed for those with insomnia and PTSD.
THE INSPIRATION
Dreams aren’t meant to be tracked, but what if…
From the moment we close our eyes to the moment we wake, our brain processes an enormous amount of information, yet 90% of people forget their dreams within minutes. What if it didn’t have to be this way?
HOW MIGHT WE
Make subconscious emotional signals during sleep visible so people experiencing stress, insomnia, or recurring nightmares can better understand their mental wellbeing?
THE SOLUTION
Somni turns your dreams into data you can actually understand and rewrite
KEY INSIGHT FROM RESEARCH
Across cases of insomnia, stress, and PTSD, we found overlapping emotional patterns during sleep, not just symptoms in isolation. This formed the basis of our 3 features, detailed below.
DREAM DIARY
What used to be a fleeting memory becomes a searchable record of what your subconscious has been processing.
SOMNI ASSISTANT
Grounded in imagery rehearsal, Somni’s AI guide lets users actively rewrite dreams’ ending.
The insights dashboard surfaces trends so users can analyze patterns between the dreams.
OVERALL INSIGHTS
AND… THERE’S MORE
Somni pairs with a wearable sleep mask that tracks REM activity and emotional signals in real time. The mask is designed to detect brainwave activity, eye movement, stress signals, and heart rate variability.
WALKTHROUGH
REFLECTION
What I learned
Give the unusual idea a chance
Somni was the first time I pushed myself to create something that was completely out of the box in such a short time span (3 days!!). I had so much fun creating the vision for this project with my team, and learning how much meaningful human experience we humans have left to explore. Thank you to my wonderful team, Kimmi Zhao and Arshia Narula, from whom I learned to be a better designer. Somni, I hope to see a world with you in it soon.