design
Cityyyyy
An exploratory interface concept reimagining how people navigate cities.
Product Design, Concept, Prototyping
2024 · 4 weeks
Cityyyyy is a speculative design exploration imagining a map-first app that adapts to how people actually move through a city, not just how they search for it. The starting question was simple: why do most map apps still behave like static reference tools instead of responding to context in real time? From there, the project became an exercise in designing for movement rather than for a fixed moment in time.
The interface prioritizes context — time of day, transit availability, and nearby activity — over a traditional list-based search experience that treats every query the same way. A morning commute and a Saturday night out surface completely different information by default, without the user needing to filter manually. This context-first approach became the core differentiator of the concept.
Motion was used deliberately throughout, with transitions that mimic physical movement through space rather than simple screen swaps that reset the user's mental model. Zooming into a neighborhood, for example, feels like descending into it rather than jumping to a new screen. This required close collaboration between design and prototyping to get the timing and easing to feel natural rather than gimmicky.
While never shipped as a product, the concept became a reference point for several later production features, particularly around contextual recommendations and transit-aware search. A few of the interaction patterns explored here were eventually adapted into shipped features on unrelated projects. It remains a useful example of how a speculative project can still create lasting value beyond its own scope.
