Adit:
Enabling Snackable Moments of Visual Creativity
TIMELINE
Fall 2025
TEAM
Bruce Cao
Karissa Wong
Gily Yu
ROLE
Product Designer
SKILLS
Product Design
Product Strategy
Prototyping
OVERVIEW
Turn Idle Moments into Creative Expression
Adit was created during a five-day designathon with the theme of transforming idle moments into creativity. We presented to a panel of 15 industry designers in New York from places like Apple, Notion, Meta, Google Creative Lab, New.Computer, Avara, and more.
We got laughs, nods, and were urged to ship it as an actual app.
CONCEPT
Remix The Subway Ads Around You
Adit turns every subway ad into a hijackable canvas for those boring minutes waiting for the train. Whether the users are seriously redesigning or casually memeing, it gives them a natural outlet for humor, irony, and creativity.
CHALLENGES
Design a Lightweight Editor on a Tiny Screen
Graphic editing on mobile is notoriously clunky—precision actions, multi-finger inputs, and complex settings don’t apply. We needed a tool that frictionlessly transforms spontaneous thoughts into polished visuals.
Design for the Underground Void, with Low or Zero Signal
NYC subways are where internet dreams get buried. We had to imagine how a visual editor could still function when the rest of the internet stalls.
Make Adit More Than a One-Ride Joke
We didn’t want people to edit one ad, giggle, and delete the app. Our challenge was to give Adit a social loop and community value so riders would return, share, and participate during their daily commute.
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS
A Minimal Toolkit Demands Nothing More Than Your Thumbs
We built a lightweight editor powered by doodle-based AI prompts—circle something, write a phrase, and the system handles complex edits.
Adit also preloads existing brand palettes, fonts, and brand materials for each ad, making execution fast with nearly no manual precision.
An AI Prompting System Syncs to the Subway’s Stop-and-Go Rhythm
Because the signal is strongest at stations, Adit uses an asynchronous distribution queue: it reminds users to send prompts at one stop, and results arrive at the next. The server will handle the requests on its side in between.
We tied the loading bar to real train-running data, so you know when your AI edits will be sent back.
Local Station Feeds and Community Creativity
Adit features a station-based feed highlighting top remixes, voting, and playful interactions. Users can save their ads, build a personal “artist profile,” and tap into a hyperlocal creative culture.
OUTCOME
Adit Landed Loud
We pitched Adit as a punk, NYC-born creative tool—and it landed.
The panel responded with laughter, enthusiasm, and a lively debate on its future direction. We were urged to actually build and ship it for its cultural potential.
“I love that you respect the time underground... It’s awesome that you have that interaction while you’re between each stops thought out. Those little things make the experience so much better.”