Threadscape - UX/UI Case Study
Branding, UX/UI, Digital Product
Made with:
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Figma
Threadscape is a location-based storytelling app that turns cities into living archives of personal memory. It allows users to pin stories, emotions, and reflections to real-world locations, creating a shared emotional map.
Built on a database of existing places, such as restaurants, streets, and landmarks, the app enables users to layer personal meaning onto physical locations, streamlining how memories are organized, discovered, and experienced across a city.
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Problem Statement:
Current location-based platforms like Google Maps, Yelp, & Beli prioritize efficiency, ratings, and information, but they fail to capture the actual emotional experience of being in a specific location, they also fail to include less traditional locations as part of their database.
Inspiration:
I got inspired for this project through the viral substack article by Eloise King Clement titled “Where New Yorkers Got Their Hearts Broken” which made me realize that the people are craving a way to conmemoralize the places tied to their stories.
Identifying Pain Points:
Memory/Location Logging:
Target Audience Niche:
Desk Research
Desk research looked at Substack, Reddit, Yelp, and Google Maps to understand how people discover and talk about places. While some platforms support long-form storytelling and others focus on location and utility, none combine the two. This revealed a gap between narrative and navigation there is no space where personal, in-depth stories are directly tied to place.
Competitive Analysis
Interviews:
I interviewed around 15 people in their 20’s about their current experience using location - based apps. What was interesting about my research was that a lot of the people shared similar thoughts in two categories; they shared with me a lot of intimate and meaningful memories they have about specific physical locations as well as wanted the option to keep said stories private if they needed to.From this research I was able to generate two user personas.
User Personas
How Might We? What If?
Brand & Logo Design : Why Threadscape?
Threadscape is built around the idea of navigation as something woven, not linear.
Instead of moving from point A to B, the experience is made up of threads and knots,
paths and moments.
Threads represent sequences of places: walks, routines, or memories unfolding over
time. The idea comes from the feeling of being “Tied to a spot” how certain places stay connected to people, emotions, or moments. Knots mark specific locations where something happened points of pause, interaction, or meaning. Together, they form a network of personal experiences rather than a static map.
The app pin takes the form of a knot, reinforcing this idea of places as points
of connection rather than just destinations.
App Splash
Style Guide
The visual system uses an off-white base with dark red accents and soft, muted tones to create a feeling of intimacy and reflection. It draws from journaling, long-form writing, and paper maps, giving the interface a tactile, personal, and slightly archival feel. I paired a serif for display type with a sans serif for smaller metadata to keep things readable.
Style Guide
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Final Flows & Features
Adding a Memory
Adding a Thread (List curated from saved memories)
Navigating the App ( Personal View)
Navigating the App (Mixed View)
Navigating the App (Following a Thread)
Thank you for taking the time to read through this!
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