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NY Product Design AwardsEnter Award

Interface & User Experience

Lumenwild

Entrant: Central South University

2026 Silver winner badge
2026

Silver

Lumenwild by  Central South University
CategoryInterface & User Experience
Class / SubcategoryUser Experience (UX)
Sustainable environment
Country / RegionChina
Client’s nameYuan Zhehang Yan Xi

The project

Project description.

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Lumenwild is an urban firefly conservation project that explores how humans and fireflies can coexist within contemporary city life. Through a system that combines home-based care, community participation, and support from an ecological center, the project reconnects people with fireflies not only as a romantic natural symbol, but also as sensitive living indicators of environmental change.

The project responds to the decline of fireflies caused by habitat loss, light pollution, water and soil pollution, and increasing human disturbance. At the same time, it addresses the public’s emotional distance from insect ecology: people often appreciate the glowing atmosphere of fireflies, yet feel unfamiliar with their real habitats and life cycles. To bridge this gap, Lumenwild builds a three-tier system — Urban Ecological Center, Community Mobile Service, and Household Eco-bottle — transforming firefly conservation from a distant environmental issue into a form of everyday community action.

In this system, users take part in the growth process of fireflies through guided, low-contact care. This experience is not only about observation, but also about continuous ecological education. By caring for fireflies, users gradually understand how light, humidity, water quality, habitat cleanliness, and ecological balance affect fragile lives. The process helps them become more aware of the consequences of artificial lighting, over-cleaning, pollution, and habitat destruction, strengthening their understanding of environmental protection and urban biodiversity.

When the fireflies reach maturity, the system completes a closed loop through community replacement, ecological center inspection, habitat recycling, and scientific release. In this way, individual care is connected to broader urban ecological restoration. Lumenwild uses fireflies as a gentle medium to encourage people to sense, understand, and protect nature through daily participation, while promoting a wider social awareness of harmonious coexistence between humans and the natural world.

Project credits.

Yan Xi

Yuan Zhehang

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