Local Legends
Project Interactive Walking Tour Concept
Goal Tell a Compelling Story
My Role Solo Project!
Timeline 2 months!
Constraints Offsite
After returning from a 4-month internship in Europe, I was inspired to create a narrated walking tour for my hometown, Heliopolis, a historic neighbourhood in Cairo, Egypt. I analyzed the area, chose my sites and crafted a narrative that was informative, intriguing, and fun! I proposed that my project be experienced through a travel app that takes both visitors and locals to under appreciated locations, revealing mysteries of architecture and history by a local. The goal is for the app to be interactive, with users sharing their own experiences with the mentioned buildings, commenting on one another’s memories, and also going to the past to see what some of their favourite destinations looked like centuries ago! This project was my Figma debut ;)
The Problem & User
Often when travelling, one is unable to find a tour that is cheap, convenient, works within their schedule, locally based and informative! Local-Legends solves all of that! Walking tours are created by locals, are free and can be taken at any time from a traveler’s cell phone! The product is designed for both tourists and locals that are curious about their hometowns!
The Inspiration
Many cities around the world are known for their most famous destinations. But so much richness and history lie outside those bounds. Egypt is no exception. While downtown Cairo and the Pyramids of Giza are internationally renowned and receive great tourist activity, smaller neighbourhoods also reveal mysterious histories and relationships.
The Flow
One of my favourite parts of this project was implementing what I know about spatial sequencing to interface design. I was simultaneously planning out the route in physical space and the user experience on the screen. This interplay between physical and digital informed the flow and the iteration process.
The Interface
The app’s UI is meant to be simple, intuitive, and purposeful. A list of destinations, coupled with a map, guide the user’s journey through the site, and a simple colour palette makes space for the history and architecture to shine.
Users can listen to the narration, discover more detailed info on the site such as the principal architect, ,and the year it was constructed, and can take a look at the past.
The Features
During my research, I stumbled upon a book with pictures taken from the same viewpoint that are approximately 100 years apart! I immediately thought it would be super cool for users to see what the same area they’re looking at looked like 100 years ago! I imagine this feature to use Google Cloud to recognize where the user is, and bring to the screen the image that corresponds to what their camera sees!
The stark contrast between the past and the present is a great way to immediately see the change in the fabric of the city!
