One account, many faces — and one space per community. We simplified the flow and refreshed the screens of a Telegram contest entry.
One account, many faces: Nodes group a community’s channel, chat, rooms and apps in one space — and you join each one as the alias that fits.
Disclaimer. Official entry to the Telegram design contest. The feature shown has not been released and is not an official Telegram product.
Telegram mixes work chats, hobbies and anonymous communities in one flat list. Nodes group a community’s channel, group, topics, voice chats and Mini Apps into one space — and Aliases let one account be «CEO Alexander» in a work Node and «Anon_Dragonslayer» in a gaming one, without exposing the phone number.
Audited the contest file (14 findings), cut the flows that took the most steps, refreshed four key screens on iOS and Android in one design language, drew two component sheets and built a clickable iOS prototype of the new flow.
The contest file had 22 iOS and 13 Android frames, user flows and a code-based POC. This page shows the four screens a person meets first; admin tools (settings, layouts, roles) are out of scope for this round.
Telegram Nodes was designed and submitted as an official entry to Telegram’s design contest. It is a proposal, not a shipped feature: nothing here is live in Telegram, and no usage figures are implied. Telegram and its interface are trademarks of their owner and appear as the context the entry was designed for.
Design facts from the concept files — not business results.
We read every frame of the contest file (iOS and Android pages) and the project report, listed what already works, and sorted 14 improvements by how visible they are.
The core innovation — one account, many faces — is a row of unlabelled emoji pills in the toolbar. Nothing says who you are now, or what others will see.
DecisionKept the entry’s gesture and its side capsule: press your avatar and a slim capsule of faces slides out of it, slide the finger along to an alias, letting go switches the list. The name under the finger previews under the title («as Dalle»), a hint card explains the alias view, and Join adds roles and a privacy line.
The Join sheet had two primary actions (an «↑» in the corner and «Join»), and the alias choice sat behind «Change» with no picker designed.
DecisionOne sheet: what is inside the Node, three alias cards to pick from, one «Join as Dalle» button.
Three steps (Identity → Template → Privacy) with no selected state and «Next» drawn as a send arrow, active before anything was chosen.
DecisionTwo steps — name & template, then you & privacy — with checkmarks, a disabled «Next» until the name is filled and live link checks.
The branch sidebar is the most recognisable part, but a message field sat under voice rooms and Mini Apps, where there is nothing to type.
DecisionA branch rail in iOS 26 Liquid Glass, a composer only in chat branches, a room card that says which alias you join as.
The Android page reused iOS pills and the iOS «Change» capsule, had typos («joinig», «Broadcasts & News» on every row) and a wrong step title.
DecisionMaterial 3 structure in Telegram Android’s colours, no iOS glass: white app bar with the press-and-slide identity button, tonal surfaces, bottom sheet, navigation rail, M3 navigation bar with Telegram’s default tabs, FAB, full-screen dialog.
Telegram’s logo inside the screens, doodle wallpapers, photos of real people and third-party logos used as avatars in the contest file — replaced by initials, emoji and our own gradients. No new features beyond the file: the Gifts & Masks economy from the report is not drawn.
Every «before» is generated from the very same screen markup, reduced to outlines, readable labels and grey word-bars — no colour, emoji or glass. The «after» uses Telegram’s own tokens on iOS and Android. Drag a handle to compare.
No typos or placeholders on the refreshed screens («joinig», «Wen», the stray «Z» section title, «Role:Member»), sentence case, correct step titles on Android.
Selected template and alias get a checkmark or radio; «Next» stays disabled until the Node has a name; the link says Available / Taken / Invalid.
The send-arrow «↑» is gone from sheet headers: text «Cancel / Next / Create» on iOS, a text button in the Android dialog, and one «Join as …» per sheet.
No message field under voice rooms and Mini Apps; channels get «Mute / Discuss», chats get a composer that names your alias.
Colours, sizes and radii come from Telegram’s own source code: iOS rows 76 with 60 pt avatars and a 64 pt Liquid Glass tab bar; Android’s white 56 dp app bar, 70 dp rows and a Material 3 navigation bar. The tab sets are Telegram’s defaults: Contacts · Calls · Chats · Settings on iOS, Chats · Contacts · Settings · Profile on Android.
Photos of people, the Telegram and Figma logos and the doodle wallpaper are replaced with Telegram’s avatar gradients, initials and our Node mark; emoji are Apple’s set, as Telegram shows them.
Counted on the contest file and on the refreshed screens: the minimum taps or gestures a person needs, typing not included.
Template comes preselected and sits next to the name; the alias moved to step two, next to privacy.
Same tap count, but the choice is visible and there is a single primary button.
1 → 1: the entry’s press → slide along the capsule stays one gesture. What changed is feedback — the face under the finger grows and takes the ring, its name previews under the title, and the capsule slides back into the button showing the new alias.
Same path; the room now says «You’ll join as Dalle · mic off» and offers «Listen only».
Every colour, size and radius is read from Telegram’s open-source clients: iOS accent #0088FF, secondary #8E8E93, grouped background #EFEFF4; Android’s white app bar, accent #229AF0 and #298ACF for text. Node violet #7C4DFF marks what belongs to a Node or an alias. Inter stands in for SF Pro on iOS; Android keeps Roboto.
Telegram × Nodes: the official Telegram logo (from telegram.org, unchanged) next to our Node mark — four nodes joined into an «N» on the Node gradient. Horizontal lockup where there is room, compact one for square slots. The Telegram logo marks the contest the entry was made for; it does not mean Telegram endorses or ships this feature.
Each pair shows the same state with the same sample data — iOS on the left, Android on the right.
Press your avatar and a slim capsule slides out of it to the side — Alex (main profile) first, then Dalle, Rocket and «New alias». Slide the finger along: the face under it takes the ring and its name shows under «Chats»; letting go switches the list. Android does the same with a Material surface. Node rows in «All» carry the alias you use there.
What is inside the Node, who invited you, three ways to show up and one button that says who you will be. Android uses a modal bottom sheet with a radio list.
Feed, Rooms and Apps in a branch rail — Liquid Glass on iOS, a Material navigation rail on Android — over Telegram’s classic wallpaper colours. Posts are bubbles; channels offer «Mute / Discuss» instead of a message field.
Name and template on one step, the selected template clearly marked, «Next» ready only when the Node has a name. Step two (you & privacy) lives in the prototype.
Identity gesture step by step (rest, pressed, capsule slides out, slide along to Dalle, released), chat rows (invite, joined, unread, DM inside a Node), alias cards, iOS 26 Liquid Glass on buttons and search (on wallpaper and on white), buttons with disabled states, branch rail, template cards, link field states, token swatches and the voice room card.
White top app bar with the identity button and its press → slide states (side surface), radio list, filled / text / FAB buttons, Material 3 navigation bar with Telegram’s default tabs, navigation rail, selectable template cards, outlined text fields and token swatches.
Our own clickable iOS prototype, built from the same markup as the screens. It works with a mouse and with touch; a pulsing ring shows the next step.
Sample data only; nothing is sent anywhere. Branches other than Welcome, General and Meeting are out of scope for the prototype.
Open full screenMany facesOne spaceNative
Nodes re-use the blocks Telegram already has, so the work is in identity and navigation — not in new chat types.
Edge cases empty name keeps «Next» disabled · link taken / too short / invalid characters · private Node gets an invite link instead
Edge cases main profile chosen → «visible to members» note · already joined → the row opens the Node instead of the sheet
Node entity, Alias / Feed / Room glossary and the navigation map — written for the contest.
Contest stageAdmin creation and member discovery / join, mapped as diagrams with edge cases.
Contest stageA small HTML/CSS/JS proof of concept to validate alias switching and the Node wizard.
Contest stage14 findings, simplified flows, four screens × two platforms, component sheets.
OmnisenseClickable iOS prototype from the screen markup; the motion preview is cut from its states.
OmnisenseNot claimed anywhere on this page: users, retention or any other metric, a release date, or any involvement of Telegram beyond running the contest.
No. It was designed and submitted as an official entry to Telegram's design contest. It is a proposal, not a shipped feature: nothing here is live in Telegram, and no usage figures are implied.
Nodes group a community's channel, group, topics, voice chats and Mini Apps into one space. Aliases let one account use a different name in each Node without exposing the phone number.
We audited the contest file (14 findings), cut the flows that took the most steps, refreshed four key screens on iOS and Android in one design language, drew two component sheets and built a clickable iOS prototype of the new flow.
No. Nodes re-use the blocks Telegram already has, so the work is in identity and navigation — a wrapper, not a new app.
On iOS, the branch rail uses iOS 26 Liquid Glass. Android follows Material 3 structure in Telegram Android's colours, with no iOS glass.
We audit flows, cut the steps that cost the most and refresh the screens — on iOS and Android at once.
Official entry to the Telegram design contest. The feature shown has not been released and is not an official Telegram product.
