The Web Rebellion Project
A self-initiated MA major project investigating visual conformity in modern web design. The work combines UX research with experimental visual systems to test how far disruption can be introduced without breaking usability. The outcome is a structured, testable exploration of controlled instability in interface design.
The brief
Defined problem, testable response
Contemporary web design is increasingly standardised. Common layouts, predictable interaction patterns, and framework-driven outputs improve efficiency, but reduce authorship and visual diversity.
This project examines whether designers are making intentional decisions or defaulting to established patterns because they are safe and widely accepted.
The response is not purely visual. The site is designed as a controlled experiment: introducing disruption while maintaining usability. The objective is not to reject conventions entirely, but to identify where deviation is possible without breaking comprehension.
UX research is used to structure this process, turning a subjective critique into a measurable design problem.
UX research
UX as a control system for experimentation
UX methodology is used to validate experimental design decisions rather than constrain them. It provides a framework for testing whether unconventional interfaces remain understandable.
The research is structured around four objectives:
• Measure user tolerance for non-standard layouts and interactions • Identify where unpredictability becomes friction • Understand how users interpret disrupted hierarchy • Define thresholds between engaging disruption and usability failure
These objectives ensure that design decisions are based on observed behaviour rather than assumption.
Audience definition
The project targets designers and creatives familiar with current design patterns. This allows testing at a higher level of visual literacy, where deviation from norms is more noticeable and meaningful.
Personas represent different tolerance levels: rule-seeking designers, strategic creatives, and experimental practitioners. These profiles guide decisions around clarity, disruption, and interaction.
Empathy mapping
Empathy maps capture user reactions to unconventional interfaces, including both engagement (“this feels different”) and friction (“I don’t know where to click”).
These insights inform hierarchy, navigation cues, and the placement of disruptive elements within the layout.
Journey mapping
The user journey is mapped across six stages: entry, orientation, exploration, friction, engagement, and exit.
Each stage defines acceptable behaviour. Orientation must remain clear. Exploration can introduce disruption. Friction is only valid when it contributes to understanding.
Hypothesis-led prototyping
Prototypes are built to test specific levels of disruption rather than visual preference.
Light Rebellion maintains conventional structure. Structured Rebellion introduces controlled deviation. Full Anarchy pushes unpredictability to failure point.
Comparing these variants establishes where usability breaks.
RITE usability testing
Testing follows the RITE method, allowing immediate iteration after each session.
Evaluation focuses on time to orientation, task completion, comprehension, and emotional response. This enables rapid refinement based on real user behaviour.
Visual direction
Visual systems evaluated against intent
Two complete visual systems were developed and evaluated based on how effectively they embed the project’s critique into the interface.
Disrupted layout, compressed manifesto strips, and structural instability. The interface itself becomes the critique. Risk: misinterpreted as broken UX.
Print-inspired aesthetic referencing zine culture. The rebellion is expressed stylistically rather than structurally. Risk: insufficient disruption for the target audience.
System Corruption was selected because it embeds the critique within the system itself. The interface is not describing the problem; it is demonstrating it.
Controlled instability: introducing disruption while preserving comprehension. This is treated as a measurable threshold, tested through prototyping and usability evaluation.
Influences
Positioning within the web landscape
The project draws from art-directed web design, zine publishing, and neo-brutalist aesthetics, where design is used as a form of expression rather than optimisation. Reference sites such as Stuff & Nonsense and Heydon Works demonstrate strong editorial voice without reliance on templates or standardised patterns.
Status