Trace

In a 36-hour design hackathon, my team of three designed Trace, a platform that captures and shares the artistic process in real time, rebuilding trust between digital artists and audiences as AI blurs what is human-made.

Role

UX/UI Designer

Industry

Digital Art

Tools

Figma

Year

Mar 2025 (36 hours)

Problem

The hackathon prompt asked how technology could strengthen the connection between global artists and audiences while creating meaningful, engaging experiences.

We focused on trust. As AI blurs what is human-made and the creative process stays hidden, audiences struggle to know what they’re looking at, and artists risk having their work misjudged.

Problem statement

How can technology help rebuild trust between digital artists and audiences when AI blurs authenticity and the creative process is often hidden?

Research

We found a clear gap in trust and transparency in the digital art community, driven by the growth of AI.

Primary research

In our survey, 43% of participants couldn’t confidently tell human-made art from AI-generated work.

Secondary research

Studies and online discussions showed strong bias against AI art, and artists worried about their work being misjudged, devalued, or used without consent.

Here’s what we set out to build.

Capture

Record and verify the creative process as it happens.

Turn that process into an interactive, story-driven journey.

Trust

Build confidence through transparent creation.

Solution

Trace makes digital art explorable by capturing the creative process and turning it into a story audiences can trust.

1. Discover artists

Trace’s discovery system gives artists visibility, and audiences can explore the genres they care about most.

2. Behind the art

Art lovers get a behind-the-scenes view of the creative process and can react, suggest edits, and comment to connect with artists. Trace tracks hotkeys, clicks, and action logs to verify authenticity, and automatically labels AI-assisted work with a blue wand icon.

3. Artist profiles

Profile pages are built for exposure, and artists can export process clips to share on social media. Tools History shows which tools, including any AI, went into a piece, with links for audiences to explore them.

Reflection

This was a really fun (and exhausting) design hackathon I did with two friends. If I had to do it again, I’d 100% meal prep ahead of time