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Embark on an extraordinary journey through time with the first-ever time travel app!

Overview

Time Leap is a time travel app, designed to help users navigate the world's past and future. I designed this project during a UX/UI course at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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Timeline: 14 weeks

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Approach: Design Thinking

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Tools: Figma

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Challenge: Designing features for an unfamiliar technology in a way that’s easy for users to navigate.

Stakeholder Research

Swot & Pest

During my initial brainstorming session, I made two key observations:

  1. Users would have very limited knowledge about the app, as it would be the first of its kind.

  2. The number of potential travel destinations is virtually endless, which could make it difficult for users to choose where to go.

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These insights led me to ask a few important questions:

  • What features can help make the app intuitive and easy to navigate?

  • Should the app give all users access to every destination?

  • How can I design the experience to minimize decision fatigue and prevent users from feeling overwhelmed?

Value Canvas

After creating a value proposition canvas, two key features emerged:

  1. Return Home Button – Designed as a safety feature, this allows users to immediately return home if they feel unsafe or encounter an emergency.

  2. Contextual Chat Box – A built-in assistant that helps users navigate unfamiliar locations or time periods by answering questions and providing relevant information.

User Research

Personas

While envisioning users like Lucas and Linda, I realized that the appeal of time travel extends far beyond individual explorers.

The opportunity to experience different eras would excite nearly anyone—which led me to expand the app’s focus to a broader user base, including adults, families, and groups.

 

Designing with this diversity in mind ensured the experience could be inclusive, adaptable, and enjoyable for a wide range of users.

Journey Map

After deciding on a user persona, I began to tackle a major usability challenge: How can we make an endless list of destinations and time periods feel less overwhelming for users?

 

To address this, I conceptualized two key solutions:

  1. Popular Visits Page – A curated page highlighting top destinations, helping users explore trending or highly rated trips without decision fatigue.

  2. Save Feature – Allows users to bookmark trips they're interested in, making it easier to revisit and compare options later.

 

These features aim to simplify the decision-making process by offering structure and personalization, reducing cognitive load and enhancing overall usability.

Ideation

Affinity Map

To further support decision-making, I explored additional ways to present destination information:

  • Visit Descriptions – Both the Discover and Saved pages will include detailed descriptions to help users evaluate whether a trip aligns with their interests or needs.

  • Future Enhancements – Additional features such as an interactive quiz to guide users to destinations based on preferences, or a dedicated page for trips tied to specific historical events, could further personalize and enrich the experience. These are ideas I plan to explore and implement in future iterations.

Story Map

Story Map

Next, I focused on designing the app’s core feature: the travel console.

The console serves as the central hub for users during their trip. It includes essential tools and information to support a safe and seamless experience

Prototype

Paper Prototype

The first prototype focused on the key pages: Home page, Console page, New Visit page, and Chat page. 

Lo-Fi Prototype

I digitalized the design, and added an additional key feature: the Saved page.

This page allows users to easily revisit destinations they’ve bookmarked, supporting a more personalized and organized user experience.

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Another important design decision was implementing a hamburger menu for the side navigation. This choice helped streamline the interface by reducing visual clutter and creating a cleaner, more focused layout.

Heuristic Evaluation

The heuristic evaluation had a significant impact on the evolution of my design.​

It helped identify potential usability issues early on and led to the implementation of several key improvements:

  • Pop-Up Warning – A confirmation prompt was added before starting a visit to prevent accidental clicks on the Start Visit button. This aligns with the heuristic principle of preventing user errors and adds a layer of intentionality to user actions.

  • Ratings Page – After completing a trip, users are taken to a quick ratings screen. This encourages feedback while providing a seamless transition back to the home page, supporting user control and task closure.

Usability

Desirability Study

Desirability Study

I conducted one last feedback session before finalizing my design... 

Prototype

And with that, the first-ever time travel app was brought to life.

Next Steps

There are still several exciting features I plan to implement to enhance the app’s functionality and user experience:

  • Refine the Discover Page – I want to continue developing this page to ensure it’s easily accessible and engaging the moment users open the app. It should serve as a welcoming, intuitive starting point for exploration.

  • Interest-Based Quiz – Inspired by early brainstorming sessions, this quiz will guide users to destinations that align with their preferences, helping them discover trips that feel personally meaningful.

  • Historical Events Page – This feature will highlight major events throughout history, making it easy for users—especially those like history teachers such as Lucas—to find and explore iconic moments in time.

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These additions will create a more personalized, educational, and immersive experience for all users.

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