How do you build
genuine community when 150 apprentices are scattered
across 75 different locations?
Traditional tools like MS Teams are built for productivity, not connection—leaving no room for the casual, low-barrier "Third Place" where real culture grows.
Lucerne Commons fills this gap by acting as a "digital commons". It deliberately balances spatial visibility with protected zones, fostering serendipitous encounters across different locations during the daily work routine of the apprentices.
This project was developed as an experimental prototype for my Master's thesis. While there are currently no concrete plans for an official implementation, I am highly open to sharing my research and insights with cantons, municipal governments, or other large, decentralized institutions that offer apprenticeships and are looking to enhance their community building
Prototype Demo
The WebGL prototype was built to make the concept of the digital commons directly tangible in the browser, testing features like isometric theme tables, spatial audio, and selectable anonymity.
If you want to test it, let me know and I'll send you a link to the Demo. :)
Design & UX Highlights
To make this environment feel less like a formal enterprise tool and more like an inviting community space, the interface was built upon five evidence-based design principles.
Instead of relying on search-heavy, real-time chats, the spatial UI prioritizes observation and serendipity. Apprentices navigate an isometric cafeteria where they can "read the room" before actively participating. A dynamic lighting system mimics the actual sun's position from 07:00 to 20:00, anchoring the virtual environment in shared time. Subtle visual cues further communicate community activity: accumulating post-it notes signal asynchronous messages, animated speech bubbles highlight live chats, personalized drinks add a lived-in feel, and off-screen indicators reveal where peers are gathering.
To mitigate the fear of institutional monitoring and validate the desire to "just read along," the platform actively separates the user from their formal administrative role. A "paper-doll" avatar builder grants apprentices autonomy over their digital identity, while a situational "incognito mode" empowers them to ask vulnerable questions safely. By blending these familiar, low-barrier interactions with a protected environment, the prototype allows users to stay on the sidelines, observe discussions, and build trust at their own pace before actively contributing.
The Science Behind the Design
The foundation of Lucerne Commons is deeply rooted in behavioral science and social psychology. Drawing from the Self-Determination Theory and the concept of Communities of Practice, the platform is engineered to foster intrinsic motivation by validating "legitimate peripheral participation"—meaning it is perfectly acceptable for apprentices to simply observe and lurk without the pressure to interact. By prioritizing Social Affordances over rigid task-based enterprise workflows, the environment cultivates a digital "Third Place" where psychological safety thrives and the fear of institutional surveillance is actively mitigated.
By triangulating insights from qualitative in-depth interviews, participatory paper prototyping, and synchronous WebGL smoke tests, the Human-Centered Design process ensure that every spatial UX decision is strictly grounded in diverse, empirical user behaviors.
Wireframing
Above: Wireframes used for the paper-prototyping session.
Below: The final wireframes with a clear grid to achieve consistency in Unity.
I went from User Flow 1 (left/above) to User Flow 2 (right/below). The first user flow helped me plan the scripts for unity and prepare the wireframes for the prototyping session. The second user flow was made with the data and insights collected in the testing. As you can see, it grew a lot more complex als the project progressed.
Want to read more?
If you are interested in the full master's thesis or the detailed technical documentation, feel free to reach out to me directly! I am happy to share the documents upon request.
Credits
Tech Stack & Prototyping: Unity WebGL, Blender, Mixamo, Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign), Google Firebase, Hostpoint.
Visual Assets: Vector illustrations based on @upklyak (Freepik/Magnifik).
Audio: Music by @mirostar (Pixabay), sound effects via freesound.org and Adobe Stock.
Typography: Segoe UI, Segoe UI Variable Display.
