Ever since building an interactive version of the Westworld attribute matrix, I’ve been looking for other Hollywood FUIs to make real. A few have ca

Building the Lumon macrodata refinement app

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2025-01-17 17:30:05

Ever since building an interactive version of the Westworld attribute matrix, I’ve been looking for other Hollywood FUIs to make real. A few have caught my eye, but none quite like the macrodata refinement app in Severance.

Severance tells the story of employees working at the Lumon biotech company, where a controversial procedure separates their personal- and work-related memories. The main characters work in the Macrodata Refinement department, using a mysterious data-processing app to… nobody actually knows.

Probably worse. We won’t know till at least next season what the “macrodata” are and why they need refining. Though I dread finding out what the app does, its retro aesthetic, motion design, and plausible UI made it an irresistible coding exercise.

My UI prototyping toolbox has evolved a lot since the Westworld project. React and Framer Motion have made it easier to develop interfaces like the macrodata refiner. But there’s still plenty of interesting math left to make this a satisfying challenge.