prose
Reimagined the academic article as a digital-native interactive experience — a research project exploring how design can make scholarly work more accessible and engaging.
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The Problem
Academic articles are still designed for print. Even when they're distributed digitally, the format is a paginated PDF — linear, static, and disconnected from the rich media that could make research more engaging. For a generation of readers who navigate interactive web experiences daily, the traditional academic paper feels like a relic. The question: what happens when you design a scholarly article as a digital-native experience from the start?
What I Built
Prose is a research project that reimagines the academic article as an interactive, web-native publication. Instead of adapting print conventions to a screen, I designed the reading experience around what the web makes possible:
- Scroll-driven narrative — Content unfolds through scroll-based animations and reveals, creating a sense of progression that PDFs can't achieve
- Inline media — Video, audio, and interactive visualizations are embedded directly in the reading flow, not relegated to appendices or external links
- Adaptive reading paths — Contextual sidebars and non-linear navigation let readers explore tangentially without losing their place in the main argument
- Interactive citations — References are linked and expandable in-context, not buried in a bibliography at the end
- Responsive layout — The article adapts to any screen size, from phone to ultrawide, because scholarship shouldn't require a specific device
The design philosophy prioritizes accessibility over novelty — every interactive element serves the reader's understanding, not just visual flair.
Technologies
Next.js, React, CSS animations, MDX for content authoring, responsive design, scroll-driven interaction patterns.
Outcome
Prose demonstrates that scholarly communication can be both rigorous and engaging without sacrificing one for the other. The project serves as both a working prototype and a provocation — evidence that the tools exist to radically improve how research reaches its audience. The template is designed to be reusable, lowering the barrier for other researchers who want to publish interactive work.