01 Context02 Overview03 Onboarding04 Ideation05 Final Design06 Next Steps
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Overview

Chronoleap is a Hackathon project that completed in two days. The project is about the topic of space & time. Time travel has long enchanted people through various media, captivating audiences with its imaginative possibilities. Despite this fascination, it remains purely fictional. However, envisioning a breakthrough in technology that allows us to transcend time and space opens up new possibilities. Imagine an innovative mobile app that enables users to experience history and the future firsthand, defying conventional limits and offering an extraordinary journey through time. Chronoleap is an app which enables the user to experience the past moment as an observer, as well as experience future possibilities to learn and anticipate real life scenarios without facing real life consequences.

What I Accomplished

  • Design app interfaces that enable users to seamlessly navigate between past and future time travel experience
  • Conduct A/B testing and usability testing on the low-fidelity prototype to inform adjustments for the final design

My Role

UX Designer — Visual Design, User Flows, App Design, Prototyping

Team

Sylvia Tsai, UX Designer

Hugo Li, UX Designer

Harsh Chavda, UX Designer

Timeline

May 4 ~ May 5 2024 (2 days)

Highlights

Explore the Future, Revisit the Past: Experience Life Without Limits

Shown below is a glimpse of our final solution. We’ll be going over the final solution and design rationale in more depth here.

01 Onboarding

What Did Chronoleap Do?

We aimed to develop an experiential time-travel app that immerses users in past events and future scenarios through advanced VR and AR technologies. This app is designed to help researchers, historians, educators, and enthusiasts virtually revisit historical events, offering a richer understanding of social, cultural, and political dynamics. Additionally, it allows users to explore future possibilities based on current data trends and predictive models, simulating outcomes without real-life consequences. With a user-friendly interface and customizable settings, our app provides an engaging and interactive way to study history and anticipate future developments.

Before We Travel...

The time travel we envision is not about physically journeying to different time and space, but rather allowing users to observe the past and future in an immersive environment in bystander mode.
Users cannot interact with the past or future, therefore avoiding the risk of altering events on the timeline. We have implemented this setting out of moral concern to protect the order of the human world from being disrupted.
To prevent humans from continuously exploring the future and then changing their present, we have decided to only show 10 future scenarios based on probability. Users cannot discern the relationships between events, thereby eliminating direct interference to avoid affecting others' futures.
Consequently, we believe that users shouldn't share Future Events to prevent others from using the information they gather from it and jeopardizing others' lives.

02 Ideation

User Journey Map

The user journey shows the path a users can navigate through the past and future time travel

Initiating the Ideation: Low-Fidelity

Exploring various ideas through sketch and low fidelity mockups, we weighed them against each other to come up with the finalized versions. We also came up with various features to include in the application, which were derived from the persona.

Solidifying our Ideas: Mid-Fidelity

We refined a few interface elements considering a futuristic UI. We clarified the features and then conducted usability tests to consider what to take forward and what to leave behind.

Usability Testing

A/B Testing

We did an A/B Testing with the users to test whether we should make a nested page or separate all the selection button into different page

03 Final Design

Meet out user

Problem #1

Help Christy Find The Data From The
Cretaceous Period To Produce A Better Paper

Final Design #1

Take Christy Travel Back To The Past

Solution 1

Allow Christy To Search For Historical / Personalized Events In The Past

Christy can explore historical events by searching for specific moments in the past and traveling back in time. If she wants to view personal memories, she can select the personal option to revisit her own past experiences. Christy can then customize her journey by choosing the location, time, and the experience she wishes to relive. The system will also suggest related events that align with her interests.

Solution 2

Provide An Immersive Experience For Christy's Needs

Christy can use the app as a controller to an immersive environment showcasing the past journey. We also include a transcript to overcome language barrier while traveling, which also improve the accessibility to more users. If the users can not enter to an immersive environment, the app could also act as a standalone AR device which showcases the past journey. Users can also use a turning knob to scroll forward and backward through time.

Problem #2

Help Christy Record And Save The Journey

Final Design #2

Allow Christy To Save And Share The Journey

Solution 1

Help Christy Save The Journey For Research

Christy can save the past journey for any future research she wants to do. Christy can also share her journey to the social media platform in Chronoleap. The reason why we want to make the social page because users can get recommendations for historical events and iconic locations. The user also has the ability to participate on the app’s own social platform, access other peoples journey or share your own story to others. However, we do not allow users to share their future experience because it might change the future.  

Problem #3

Help Christy Understand What Might
Happen In The Future For Her Career Plan

Final Design #3

Take Christy To The Future

Solution 1

Enable Christy to Travel to Any Chosen Future

Christy can choose to travel to any point in the future by selecting a specific time and providing a prompt for what she wants to learn about her future. If she doesn’t have a particular event in mind, she can click the "I’m Feeling Lucky" button, which will randomly take her to a future moment related to her life.

Solution 2

Allow Christy to experience 10 possible futures

Christy can explore 10 different future scenarios, allowing her to experience and investigate outcomes without any real-life consequences. The idea behind offering 10 possibilities is to keep the true future uncertain, so users won’t know which scenario might actually come to pass.

04 Next Steps

What's Next

UI and UX Enhancement

I believe the next step for this project is to significantly improve both the UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience). Completing the project in just two days meant several areas within the UI require substantial refinement, as it currently lacks a polished look and intuitive feel. Our initial testing phase involved only three individuals, providing limited feedback. To understand the strengths and weaknesses of our design, we must broaden our testing pool to gather comprehensive feedback on usability, accessibility, and overall satisfaction. To achieve a more robust and user-friendly final product, I propose refining the visual design to ensure it is modern, clean, and appealing, and improving interactive elements to make them more intuitive and responsive. Conducting usability testing with a larger and more diverse group of users will help identify pain points and areas for improvement. By developing high-fidelity prototypes and performing multiple rounds of testing and iteration, we can ensure the interface is user-friendly and visually appealing. These steps will transform our initial prototype into a polished, user-centered product that exceeds expectations.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

This was my first Hackathon project, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I appreciated the competitive atmosphere and learned a lot by observing the work of others. The intense, fast-paced environment of the hackathon also taught me crucial lessons in time management, teamwork, and rapid prototyping. Completing such an ambitious project within a tight two-day timeframe required exceptional creativity, technical skills, and collaborative effort. This experience reinforced the value of clear communication, efficient workflow management, and the ability to adapt quickly to feedback and new ideas. Furthermore, working on Chronoleap broadened my understanding of the potential applications of emerging technologies. While time travel remains fictional, this project highlighted how imaginative approaches can inspire innovative solutions in app development and user experience design. The practical applications of Chronoleap, such as its potential as an educational tool and its utility in strategic planning, were particularly eye-opening. Overall, this projectc was a remarkable learning experience that enhanced my technical and creative abilities, provided deeper insights into user-centered design, and demonstrated the powerful impact of collaborative innovation in overcoming challenges and achieving ambitious goals.