AKASHA World is an open-source decentralized social platform where users fully own and control their content. The platform is built around a composable architecture: each feature is a standalone app (a micro-frontend) that users can install, remove, or rearrange. These apps are independent but designed to work together. Any combination of them can form a "World," a fully customized social environment that a community or individual assembles to fit their needs. I was Lead Product Designer across all of them, from day-to-day interaction design to the shared design system that held everything together.
Every app in AKASHA World is a self-contained product that can be installed independently. A community might use just Antenna and Profile for a simple social feed, or combine all eight into a full-featured platform. Each app was designed by me: the flows, the information architecture, the interaction patterns, and the edge cases. Because they are composable, any app can become part of any World a user creates.
The home feed. Displays a chronological stream of Beams and Reflections from across a World. I designed the feed layout, beam composer, image/text block system, topic-based filtering, and the NSFW content toggle - balancing discoverability with user-controlled safety.
The publishing interface. Users create Beams (posts) using a block-based editor (text via Slate, images, DApps). I designed the block creation flow, the publishing process, and the content block extension API that allows third-party blocks to be added.
The response layer. Reflections are threaded replies to Beams; Reflects are replies to Reflections. I designed the threading model, the nested view, and the interaction patterns that distinguish Reflecting (considered response) from reacting.
Identity and presence. User profiles with their published Beams, following/followers, and decentralised identity indicators. I designed the profile pages, the follow system, and the Mini Profile widget that surfaces contextually throughout the platform.
The app marketplace. Users browse, install, activate, and deactivate apps and widgets - built by AKASHA or by the community. I designed the discovery experience, the extension card system, and the install/manage flows.
Community moderation. Users can flag content; moderators review flagged items and maintain a public Transparency Log. I designed the reporting flow, the moderator review interface, and the full Vibes Console - where users apply to become moderators and admins manage applications.
Cross-app search. I designed the search experience across Beams, Profiles, and Tags - with results that respect the decentralised data model and surface content from across a user's installed World.
User control centre. Theme (light/dark), NSFW preferences, connected accounts, and notification controls. I designed Settings as a low-friction, predictable space - the place where power users feel in control without overwhelming casual ones.
To prevent the ecosystem from fragmenting as apps evolved independently, I built the AKASHA World Design System on top of Shadcn UI: composable, unopinionated components that developers already trusted. Because the entire project is open source and apps can be assembled into any World configuration, the system had to work across unpredictable combinations. It covered tokens (color, spacing, typography, motion), shared component patterns, and interaction specs. It is what allowed 8 different composable apps to look and feel like one product, no matter how a community chose to assemble them. More detail on the system itself is in the AKASHA UI case study →