Zeit Time Travel

Case Study

Background

Since 21 December 2012, when time travel was achieved using element 115 in the underground labs at S-4, there have been numerous expeditions through time led by the teams at the Black Ops firm CydonCorp. In the ensuing years, the technology exponentially improved to the point where exact dates and times (down to the hour) can be targeted. Travels to and from targets have been safe and without incident since 2014. Earlier this year in March, CydonCorp granted the first license to their time traveltechnology to Zeit for entertainment and tourism purposes only.

Problems

• Potential consumer time travelers have questions and concerns about time travel.

• Design a product that addresses the questions and concerns of potential time travelers.

Platform

Responsive Web - Desktop and Mobile Designs.

Research and Development

Methodologies

Interviews

Three participants were interviewed for 30-minute question and answer sessions: One in person and two by phone. Interviewee needs and concerns regarding time travel are used to construct the Zeit services and site architecture. (Interview impressions are interspersed throughout this page.)

Interviewees were concerned about the safety of the
time travel technology and the time travel journey itself.

Competitive Analysis, User Persona, Empathy Map, Goals, and...

Card Sorting

For this study, 30 cards each labeled with a historical event were created on Optimal Sort, an online sorting tool. Thirteen participants from ages 18 to 65 participated in the open sort. They were asked to place each card into a category of their creation. The card label of a historical event had the following descriptors:

Year
Location
Description of historical event

Usability Testing with a Prototype

Using the hosting platform Maze, a Zeit mid-fidelity prototype for making time trip reservations was tested with 6 users (1 in person and 5 online). Results and findings are delineated in the Affinity Map and in the full case study accessed further down the page.

Competitive Analysis

User Persona

Empathy Map

Goals

Card Sort Study: Dendogram

Card Sort Study: Similarity Matrix

Affinity Map: Usability Testing with a Prototype

Interviewees have expressed interest in both forward and backward time traveling.

Information
Architecture

All interviewees felt it was important or necessary to speak to a Zeit representative before booking the trip online.

Wireframes

Wireframe Prototype
for Time Trip Searches

Interviewees all felt the Zeit website must provide abundant, detailed
information on time travels for them to feel comfortable about such journeys.

Desktop Designs

One interviewee was interested in eye-witnessing history and solving mysteries.
Another was simply curious about what the future looks like for certain cities.
A third was interested in using time travel to make money.

Mobile Designs

Two of the interviewees mentioned that there needs some kind of accreditation
or licensure of time traveling overseen by some regulatory government agency.

Mid-Fidelity Prototype
for Reserving Time Trips

Affinity Map: Prototype Testing

Insights and Conclusions

Prototype testing is best conducted in person to observe and question pain points.
To reduce the number of misclicks for a future prototype testing, information fields can be designated as hotspots and populate with data upon test user's clicks.
Surveys with predefined multiple choice answers and short answers can and should be used to flesh out ideas and extrapolate them to the general populace.
More data collection is required to make generalizations concerning:
- Time trip goals, activities, and duration.
- Time trip direction - forward or backward.
- Safety issues and protocols.

For a more comprehensive look:

Zeit Time Travel
Case Study