Things I build to find out.
Interface problems worth solving twice. Everything here runs live, nothing is a video, and each one ended up in something that shipped.
Refraction, not blur
A frosted panel averages what is behind it. This one bends it: every pixel is resampled through a barrel law, and the three channels are sampled at different strengths, which is where the colour at the rim comes from. Drag it.
The curve is the feeling
Same distance, same duration, four curves. The plot is position over time, so you can see the thing you feel: where the speed actually goes.
A field that gathers
Dot size follows one diagonal law and the pointer moves the law. Press gather and the same field resolves into the monogram, which is how the mark was found in the first place.
Type that answers
Weight and tracking driven by pointer distance from centre. Restraint is the whole trick, so the resting state is behind it: the two are never more than four points of tracking apart.