Microsoft Research
Microsoft
Smartwatch Concept
Product Envisioning · UX Motion Design · Creative Direction
Microsoft Research is a global research organization focused on long-term exploration beyond traditional product timelines. During my time as Creative Director of Motion Design at Tectonic, I partnered with MSR on several product envisioning engagements that required translating early-stage research into clear, experiential concepts.
This project explores a conceptual UX model for a smartwatch, developed to help researchers and stakeholders visualize how motion, interaction, and system feedback could work together in a future wearable experience. While the work was exploratory in nature, it was grounded in real technical constraints. We collaborated closely with a Microsoft engineer who was actively prototyping the experience, using motion design to inform and iterate alongside functional builds.
I led the motion and interaction direction, focusing on how transitions, pacing, and spatial relationships could communicate hierarchy, state, and intent on a small, glanceable surface. Motion was used not only as a storytelling tool, but as a way to test assumptions, align with engineering feasibility, and refine the behavior of the system in parallel with prototyping.
The resulting concept helped bridge research and implementation, giving teams a shared reference point to evaluate ideas, discuss trade-offs, and explore future directions for wearable interaction. This work sits at the intersection of research, design, and engineering, where motion becomes a practical tool for shaping what’s possible.
Arc Keyboard / Word Flow
Product Envisioning · Interaction Design · Patented Work
In a separate engagement with Microsoft Research, I worked on early interaction and motion concepts for a software keyboard designed to improve one-handed typing on large mobile screens. The work focused on how spatial layout, motion, and predictive input could work together to reduce reach, increase speed, and make text entry feel more natural and ergonomic.
A key part of this exploration was Arc mode, a one-handed keyboard layout that allows users to dock the keyboard to the left or right side of the screen. The keyboard curves inward to shorten thumb travel to edge keys, aligning more naturally with the arc of a user’s hand when typing one-handed. Motion played a critical role in making this layout feel intuitive, helping users understand orientation changes, transitions between modes, and the keyboard’s spatial logic.
I also worked on interaction concepts for shapewriting (gesture or swipe input), where users form words by drawing a continuous path across letters rather than tapping each key individually. Motion and visual feedback were used to reinforce the shape of words, support muscle memory, and clearly communicate how the system was interpreting user intent in real time. This approach allowed typing to feel faster, more fluid, and less effortful.
The work was developed in close collaboration with engineering and research partners and informed both interaction behavior and system feedback. Elements of this exploration later evolved into Microsoft Word Flow, a Microsoft Garage project that shipped on iOS and introduced Arc mode and advanced shapewriting capabilities. The keyboard famously set a Guinness World Record for fastest text messaging on a touch-screen phone.
The Arc keyboard interaction was also recognized with a granted U.S. design patent (D782,530), highlighting the novelty of the interface and its underlying spatial logic. This project is a strong example of research-driven design moving from concept to real-world product impact, using motion as a functional tool rather than visual ornamentation.