🌱 The Chemical Garden — Growth without guidance
Something begins to happen.
🧠 UX Interpretation: Emergence over control
The chemical garden came as small, coloured crystals. They were placed carefully into a glass of water, often an egg cup or small beaker, and left alone.
Then something strange occurred. Structures began to form. Delicate towers, branching shapes, slow upward growth.
No moving parts, no assembly, no clear instruction beyond “wait”.
🎯 Theme: Systems that reveal themselves
The user does not control the outcome. Once the crystals are dropped into the water, the process unfolds on its own.
The result is unpredictable but recognisable. Growth appears where there was none. Time becomes visible.
This is interaction without intervention. The role of the user is to set the conditions and then observe.
Design sometimes works by stepping back and letting the system show what it does.
💡 UX Takeaways
- Some systems are best experienced through observation.
- Emergent behaviour can be more engaging than controlled outcomes.
- Unpredictability can create fascination.
- Users do not always need to intervene.
- Time can be part of the interface.
📎 Footnote
Chemical gardens are formed when metal salts react with silicate solutions, producing plant-like structures through a process of precipitation and osmotic pressure. The effect became a popular feature of mid-century chemistry sets.
📎 Footnote 2
Often grown in small glasses or improvised containers, chemical gardens blurred the line between experiment and spectacle. The result looked alive, even though it was entirely chemical.