Intosphere

User Research | Product Design | Visual Identity | UI/UX

Special Thanks to Eric Diem and Irwin Matutina.

Intosphere enables users to capture personal moments with existing and generated photos, videos, transforming neighborhoods and locations into dynamic memory archives that inspire a deeper bonding with their environment and community, and connect people to the places they cherish with a time thread.

Photography by Haiting Sun↑

/ Background

I was born in a small city in China in the 90s. One of the most remarkable thing of this country is how rapidly the economy developed during the past 20 years. From mega cities to small ones, massive urban redevelopment and relocations took place. Today anything built earlier than the 80s, have largely been replaced by new and modern ones.
the Soviet-style residential area built in 80s where I lived until my first year of elementary school. It was already one of the oldest neighborhoods in my hometown and had been listed for redevelopment. That place holds my earliest memories—my family and my young friends. But now, I am about to lose these bondings to the past, with only a very few photos left in parents.

As i grew up, I became a fan of video games like many other boys and a history lover. but the different thing is, I prefer just walking around in these open virtual worlds, instead of completing tasks and achievements.
However, some other countries are also suffering from losing the history because of military conflicts or terrorism. Many great ancient heritage sites have already been destroyed, and we can only attempt to reconstruct them through depictions in books or imagination.I know that I, and probably nobody, can stop this process, but I hope to at least record the evidence of these past existences in this way, preserving what belongs to people's history.

/ THE PROBLEMS

/ THE SOLUTIONS

These experiences lead to the questions below:
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Deindustrialisation
Many cities, neighborhoods are vanishing due to multiple reasons.

Less Customized Virtual Experience
Users/gamers have limited freedom to customize their experience.
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Disappearing Historical Heritages
This is still happening in many places of the world today, whether due to war and chaos, as in Syria and Afghanistan.
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Then I've found out a few solutions answering those questions:

Time as a Thread
Why not use the time as a thread to attach evert precious things related to a certain place.
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Generating Visuals
Take advantage of existing artificial intelligence to generate imagery based on users’ customized needs.
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Tagging System
Users are welcome to tag exact feelings attached to the pieces of memories.
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/ Mission

/ persona

Intosphere enables users to capture personal moments with existing and generated photos, videos, transforming neighborhoods and locations into dynamic memory archives that inspire a deeper bonding with their environment and community, and connect people to the places they cherish with a time thread.

I have collected(created) 4 user personas, trying to cover a wider range of groups.

/ Key functions

There will be several possibilities on the Time Thread: the past, what you have experienced, now, and the possible termination.
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the Mood System where the only thing that I used colors, to enhance the feeling of the present moment.
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Users have a easy portal/access to recreate things quickly in a single product by AI assistance, no need for them airdrop between devices, and this is the major function for potential profit.

/ User flow and WIREFRAMES

There is nothing super special in the user flow. starts with splash screens, introducing key features and bringing the general vibe of the product, ends with user profile.

And obviously, images and videos will take the majority of the screen space, as they are the core assets of this product, and user's attention. At the same time, it's important to avoid adding too many options and components.

/ Visual identity and components

The black and white gradient and transparency used in the system components will bring a magical interaction with the layers(images/videos) behind it when users scroll it.

This core visual effect conveys the experience I aim to bring: a transition from blur to clarity. feels like bringing the past back.

/ Design Criteria

I have always believed that appropriate design crierias and art directions are the keys for the following visual design.

Minimal and Clean: The use of monochromatic black, white, and gray emphasizes a clean, minimalist interface, keeping distractions minimal. It makes the memory content the focus of the user’s attention. Simple and clean typography (with "Intosphere" in a serif font, providing a subtle elegance) ensures readability while maintaining a sleek design aesthetic. The use of all lowercase in buttons like "for you," "popular," and "nearby" contributes to a modern, user-friendly vibe.

The image of the memory, with rounded organic edges (flower-shaped cutout), takes center stage, which drives a Content-Focused approach. The design prioritizes memories in a visually impactful way, offering users an emotional, nostalgic experience.

‍Tagging System: The memory displayed is tagged with location ("San Francisco, CA"), time ("April, 1999"), and mood ("Nostalgic"). This system allows for contextual memory browsing, providing users an immersive way to search and categorize their memories.

The presentation of the memory photo in a stylized shape, rather than a standard rectangle, adds a personal touch and makes it stand out as a unique piece of content. This design choice speaks to an Emotional Connection to memories, making the app experience more personal and visually engaging

/ Interface design

Explore: here at the homescreen, search engine is the core part of it. I want to provide the quickest navigating option for users at the very beginning. huge selected or recommended past cards take the rest part of the homescreen.
By searching key words, any related contents and details including what users have contributed to this community will pop up.

Archive: the star of the product is archive tab. where users are able to view and edit any locations, buildings in the past they love.
And users can freely add/adjust anything in their private archive. and of course they can share them with the world, there is a private/public switch in the account preference settings. the timeline is created for each place with 4 kinds of time slots. before, your connections, today, and the future. panoramic photos are allowed to upload to give more immersive experience.

The major function AI imagery generator is also hiding here. the only colored system icon as entrance and generate button reminds users that this is something different in this product.
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Account: the last part Account is designed more simply and directly. the social system center is placed here. here users can interact with other users, familiar or unfamiliar.
I would never neglect the social function of a product from a business perspective. As far as I know, almost all popular apps in China have a social system, even including payment ones like Alipay, people are even able to find dates here, its not a joke, the developers found out a long time ago that social needs make products more profitable. It's human nature.

Meme United Football Club

Different Ways of Seeing