The science behind calm.
At Lumina Labs, we translate insights from neuroscience into practical guidance for digital interfaces, physical spaces, and urban experiences.
Our nervous systems are constantly responding to the environments we move through — online and offline. Even small, intentional design choices can influence attention, emotion, and connection.
Calm design isn’t just aesthetic — it’s measurable. Every texture, tone, rhythm, and interaction primes the brain to feel safe, focused, and engaged.
Why calm matters
Research shows that overstimulation increases stress hormones, reduces attention, and fragments emotional regulation.
Calm design — grounded in neuroscience and behavioral psychology — creates environments and experiences that support attention, connection, and cognitive ease.
Key Studies
Stanford University — Interface rhythm and visual clutter’s effect on cognitive load.
MIT — Narrative flow and microinteraction influence on attention and emotion.
TU Delft — Sensory design principles for reducing digital fatigue.
TU Eindhoven & Well Building Institute — Biophilic, sensory-calibrated spaces reduce cortisol and improve focus.
Aarhus University & EU Joint Research Centre — Urban aesthetic coherence enhances social cohesion and perceived safety.
Calm design is more than a trend — it’s a measurable way to improve how we feel, think, and experience the world.
Explore our work
Digital Calm
How interface rhythm, microinteractions, and flow shape cognitive ease.
We study NeuroUX and cognitive ergonomics to reduce digital fatigue, improve focus, and support emotional regulation. From screen pacing and microcopy tone to motion design and journey rhythm — calm interfaces feel intuitive, connective, and human-centered.
Why it matters:
Reducing visual clutter and unpredictable feedback loops lowers cognitive load and increases performance. Attention restoration techniques improve emotional stability and creativity.
Learn more:
Apply calm design to websites, apps, and branding.
Explore neuroadaptive, emotionally resonant UX.
Master pacing and microinteraction flow.
→ Explore the Digital Calm Guide
Spatial Calm
How environments regulate the nervous system through the predictive brain.
We research neuroarchitecture, environmental psychology, and neurodiversity design to contribute to spaces that restore rather than deplete. Sensory predictability, lighting, acoustics, and biophilic cues modulate stress and attention, supporting wellbeing.
Why it matters:
Predictable, biophilic environments support neurodiverse comfort and cognitive recovery. For example, calibrated light, texture, and acoustics reduce cortisol and improve focus by up to 30%.
Learn more:
How spatial cues shape emotion and stress.
Core principles of neurodiversity-aware design.
Essentials of restorative and biophilic space-making.
→ Explore the Spatial Calm Guide
Cultural Calm
How city rhythm and storytelling foster restoration, belonging, and connection.
We explore neuroaesthetics and place-making in urban environments, green spaces, museums, neighborhoods, and cultural experiences. Our Calm Routes™ framework, aligned with the New European Bauhaus, reframes urban exploration as sensory wellbeing.
Why it matters:
Curated routes can restore attention and emotional balance. Aesthetic coherence and sensory richness increase oxytocin and perceived safety and shared sensory experiences strengthen social bonds.
Learn more:
Science of restorative tourism and sensory mapping.
How urban aesthetics guide attention, restoration, and belonging.
How city rhythm and sensory atmosphere affect emotional balance.
→ Explore the Cultural Calm Guide
Meet the founder
Dana Skylar Blake, Behavioral Scientist, Calm Design & Choice Architecture
I apply neuroscience and psychology to craft digital, spatial, and urban systems that regulate emotion, clarify decisions, and restore collective ease.
My work sits where choice architecture meets calm design: using behavioral science not just to persuade, but to protect attention, lower cognitive load, and make intentional action feel easy. Whether through a digital microinteraction, a room’s rhythm, or a city’s sensory flow, I explore how every cue can signal safety and support agency.
By grounding design in the nervous system — not just in aesthetics or efficiency — I help people craft experiences that regulate rather than overwhelm, invite rather than demand, and build trust through coherence.
Because calm isn’t passive — it’s a powerful design signal. It’s how the brain recognizes safety, and how behavior begins to align with what feels good and right to choose.
From Behavioral UX to Neuroaesthetics
After earning dual bachelor’s degrees in Behavioral and Consumer Psychology and Biology — with a focus on how design influences decision-making through physiology — I spent several years working in behavioral UX and emotional experience design, helping SaaS brands craft digital experiences that supported clarity, and trust.
Over time, I realized that much of design operates on a neurophysiological level long before we consciously notice it — shaping not just how we think, but how we feel and choose.
A rhythm of movement or interaction that restores focus. A tone of voice that feels safe. A color temperature that quiets the body.
Design, I discovered, isn’t just communication — it’s co-regulation: a dialogue between the environment and the nervous system.
At the same time, the more our digital worlds were designed with external cues for conversion and engagement, the more overstimulated our nervous systems became.
I wanted to apply science to reintroduce calm — and now to design not only for connection, but for conversion and engagement through through internal cues rich in agency.
I do this by translating neuroaesthetics, the study of how aesthetic and sensory experiences affect emotion and cognition - into applied design principles. I also pursued a research master in Brain and Cognitive Science to ground this work in evidence.
My Philosophy
Calm isn’t the absence of stimulation — it’s the presence of coherence.
When sensory and narrative elements align, the brain recognizes safety, and the body follows.
Design has always been emotional; now, it’s neurophysiological.
By integrating the science of perception and emotion, we can create digital, physical, and cultural experiences that are not only beautiful — but regulating.
Because every texture, tone, and transition tells the brain what to expect.
And when design feels aligned, attention is restored, and emotion becomes coherent, and clearing the path to connection.
The Creation of Lumina Labs
I founded Lumina Labs to bring this research to life — translating insights from sensory-intelligent design and neuroaesthetics into practical tools for brands, products and projects.
Through guides, workshops, and coaching, Lumina Labs bridges the gap between academic research and applied creativity — showing how even small design choices can reshape how people feel, focus, and connect.
Our research informs a growing library of guides, learning experiences, and coaching programs designed to help others apply these principles to their own work.
How Science Becomes Practice
Our frameworks are grounded in neuroscience — linking sensory predictability, attention regulation, and emotional coherence.
Through research, design, and guided application, we help translate complex theory into human-centered experiences that feel intuitive, restorative, and real.
Three Research Areas
🌀 Visual Rhythm & Attentional Flow
How pacing, spacing, and visual rhythm shape mental focus.
→ Applied in Digital Calm — designing interfaces that feel intuitive and reduce cognitive strain.
🧠 Predictive Processing & Safety Signaling
How the brain uses pattern and coherence to regulate emotion and trust.
→ Applied in Spatial Calm — designing environments that cue safety and restore clarity.
🎧 Multisensory Congruence & Affective Response
How aligned sensory inputs foster comfort, connection, and belonging.
→ Applied in Cultural Calm — shaping city rhythms and storytelling that feel emotionally grounding.
2. Three Opportunities to Apply Learning
Even small, intentional adjustments can profoundly improve attention, emotion, and connection.
☑︎ Audit your digital flow — reduce cognitive load and design more intuitive experiences.
☑︎ Calibrate your physical space — align light, sound, and texture to restore focus and ease.
☑︎ Curate a calm route — nurture neuroaesthetic wellbeing across urban and green spaces.
3. Three Steps to Integrate Learning
Browse the Guides
Evidence-based resources translating neuroscience into calm design frameworks.
(Learn how to design for calm.)Join a Workshop
Hands-on sessions that bridge theory and practice — bringing calm design to your own projects.
(Try it yourself.)Get Coaching
Personalized guidance to embed neuroaesthetic principles with measurable, lasting impact.
(Apply with confidence.)