The design-thinking cycle alternates between divergent and convergent thinking. During Empathize the four persona posts around the platform light up in turn, representing research into different user needs. Define pulses the central problem ring as those insights are distilled into a single problem statement. Ideate spawns idea particles from that core that drift outward with random quality and direction — quantity over quality, pure divergence. Prototype & Test reverses the field: surviving ideas are pulled back toward the central prototype, and each is scored against the convergence strength; the ones that pass join the golden ring of validated ideas, the rest fade out.
score = quality × convergence
kept = score > cutoff
steer = attract(prototype) · convergence (Prototype & Test)
steer = random(direction) · rate (Ideate)
- Brainstorm rate — how many idea particles spawn per second while the cycle is in the Ideate phase; higher rates mean more raw material but also more noise to filter later.
- Convergence strength — how hard surviving ideas get pulled toward the prototype during Prototype & Test, and how strict the pass/fail cutoff is; low values let almost anything through, high values keep only the strongest ideas.
- Cycle speed — a multiplier on how long each of the four phases lasts, so you can watch one full loop slowly or run many iterations back to back.
- Skip to next phase — jump straight to the next stage of the cycle instead of waiting it out.
Real-world relevance: the loop shown here — Prototype → Test → Analyze → Refine — is the same iterative core every design team runs, whether they are sketching an app screen or testing a physical product; the simulation compresses weeks of studio work into a few seconds per cycle.