Verena Ortlieb

Social Blob

An iOS app that visualizes your social battery

Everything

The problem

There's no good way to tell someone you're too peopled-out to see them without sounding like you don't care. I wanted to turn that invisible feeling into something you can see and share.

The concept

I built Social Blob as a simple tool for introverts and anyone who gets drained by social interaction. You adjust a slider to match your energy level, and a hand-drawn jelly blob character reacts. From bouncing energetically on a chair at 100% to melting into a puddle on the floor at 0%. You can share your blob when words fail: "I'm at 15%" says everything without guilt or explanation.

The character

The blob is a soft, round creature. Not quite formless, not quite defined. Just enough structure to sit in a chair, drape over furniture, or collapse on the floor. I drew it in scenes that progress from energized to completely depleted, each capturing a specific state of social exhaustion that anyone who's ever needed alone time will immediately recognize.

Design philosophy

I wanted this to feel handmade, not optimized. Every scene is hand-drawn - the blob, the chair, the expressions. Just an honest tool that acknowledges sometimes you're at 8% and that's okay. The visual does the work so you don't have to explain yourself.

Check out Social Blob