Human In The Loop
Human in the Loop is a participatory foresight and storytelling project that explores the near-future risks of Generative AI in India.
Client
Quicksand Design Studio
Digital Future Labs
Timeline
2 Months - Website Design
1.5 Months - Comic
Ongoing - Publication
( Over the span of 10 months)
Year
2025
Scope
Website Design
Comic Design
Publication
Summary
Problem Statement
Impact
Human in the Loop is a participatory foresight and storytelling project examining the near-future risks and unintended consequences of Generative AI .
I was tasked by quicksand design studio to design the website that houses research, stories, and comics pertaining to impacts of Generative AI across diverse domains ( healthcare, agriculture, environmental costs etc.)
I was also tasked in designing the first Comic for the project, as a proof of concept for the other contributing artists.
To design a website to house the research, comics, and story submissions pertaining to the near-future risks and unintended consequences of Generative AI.
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Unique users in the first month - 2,082. We had 2,082 unique users on the website in the first month of the launch. The Social media assets pertaining to the project and direct reach-out through virtual and in-person live events showcasing the project attributed to the engagement. 49.6% of the audience came through social media (LinkedIn-14%, Instagram, Facebook, Digital Future Labs socials, Substack) and SEO.
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Significant presence in Global AI conferences- With merit of Human in loop project and team presented at AI Impact Summit by OpenUK, FOSS 2025(FOSS United), and Eyemyth Media Arts Festival .
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Additional Funding and interest in Human in the loop publication- The interest in project awarded Human in Loop team with funding to convert our future fiction comics and open-calls into a publication.
Final Outcome
Starting Point- proof of concept comic
As the project didn't have a proof of concept, we decide to create our first comic "The ballad of the barren fields" . We needed a comic that can be adapted into a web-friendly format. This proof of concept comic for the website was essential to create the functional proof of concept website.
About Comic - The ballad of the barren fields
A fictional comic about a startup’s attempt to boost crop yields with XR-GenAI glasses backfires, leaving fields barren—while unexpectedly turning farmers into viral Bollywood dance stars.
Script and storyboarding by Shikhant Sablania and I.
Research and story concept by Quicksand and Digital Future Labs.
Early website picture
Early Website
Early proof of concept was designed by earthwhile design . The early design was created parallel to the proof of concept comic - The ballad of Barren fields. The website navigation and architecture of the website was adapted once the proof of concept comic was created.
Comic Making - Script to Final
Wireframes
Website Thought Process
To design the website to house these comics, we decided to run an exercise with the client team to understand what the website requires, and what the navigation of the website should look like. We divided the website features into buckets of Compliant, Good, and Great.
We collated the feedback and defined the features of the proof of concept website, website addition proposed by the client, and Proposed changes by us.
This exercise allowed us to understand the need to redesign the homepage, adding additional pages (Research, About), procedural frame by frame reading of the comic etc.
Compliant-
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Website provides access to the all the requisite information
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The Website allows hybrid experience between web and mobile
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Website looks pleasant( bar some type and VD issues)
Proof of Concept website
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Access to all the comics from the main page
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hamburger menu with additional website pages
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Comic PDF download from the comic page.
Good-
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Website provides good navigation and good information hierarchy between information
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Good type design
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Looks on par with the content of the website
Website Additions
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Research, Open-call, About Us pages
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Carousal of latest stories up top on the homepage
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Long scroll homepage with preview of all the content of the website (along with the hamburger- baked in redundancy)
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Great-
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Unique UI that gives an ‘Aha’ moment
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Seamless interactions and intuitive design.
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Immersive Comic reading experience
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Content that visually goes an extra mile for an audience that’s nerdy and wishes to indulge
Proposed Changes
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C
Architecture
To understand the architecture of the website, we needed to answer the following-
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How did you get to this website, and What brought you here?
Digital Future Labs Website-
A News Article-
Social Media-
Real life event-
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What do you care about when you get to this website?
Final Website
Outcome
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Unique users in the first month - 2,082. We had 2,082 unique users on the website in the first month of the launch. The Social media assets pertaining to the project and direct reach-out through virtual and in-person live events showcasing the project attributed to the engagement. 49.6% of the audience came through social media (LinkedIn-14%, Instagram, Facebook, Digital Future Labs socials, Substack) and SEO.
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Significant presence in Global AI conferences- With merit of Human in loop project and team presented at AI Impact Summit by OpenUK, FOSS 2025(FOSS United), and Eyemyth Media Arts Festival .
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Additional Funding and interest in Human in the loop publication- The interest in project awarded Human in Loop team with funding to convert our future fiction comics and open-calls into a publication.
Credits
Stories by
Quicksand - Avinash Kumar
Digital Futures Lab - Sasha John, Harleen Kaur, Urvashi Aneja
Research and writing by
Digital Futures Lab - Sasha John, Harleen Kaur, Urvashi Aneja
Book Design by
Gaurav Vikalp
Human in the Loop website design by
Gaurav Vikalp
Earthwhile Design- Ishan Loya
Supported by
Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies