Interface
Redesign
Comic Con
Curtain
Gallery Installation
Night &Cosplay
Curtain
Experience Design
Data Visualization
DataVisualization
Experience Design
& Curator
Experience Design
Interface
Redesign
Comic Con
Curtain
Gallery Installation
Night &Cosplay
Curtain
Experience Design
Data Visualization
DataVisualization
Experience Design
& Curator
Experience Design
“Fanscape”
Map-based Fandom Spotting
Overview:
The Problem
Fandom experiences are fragmented across multiple platforms, making it difficult for fans to find real-world fandom locations or follow where their community has been. Existing platforms prioritize content over place.
The Solution
Fanscape is a pioneering map-based community platform that transforms digital fandom passion into real-world exploration. By centralizing scattered information into an interactive map, Fanscape allows fans to discover, navigate, and document their journey through a specialized "Lens" system.
Design Goals:
Build a map-based experience that helps fans pin the meaningful locations through the lenses.
- Success Criteria:
- Users can find desired fandom spots in a short time in any city
- Lenses offer clear filtering of location types of the chosen fandom
- Users can track their friends’ pin location on the map & friend page
- Community-generated guidebooks by other fans in the fandoms
- Target Users:
- Fans in all fandoms who want to remember the locations important to the fandom
- International fans, when traveling to a new city
- Fandom friend groups and communities
- Constraints & Assumptions:
- Location accuracy depends on user-generated content
- Needs scalable pin filtering to avoid clutter worldwide
- Privacy controls needed for friend visibility
- Mobile-first experience
- Fandom behaviors differ across cultures (the US, Korea, China, Japan, Europe)
Outcome:
Research & Insights:
| Methods | Competitive Analysis | Semi-constructed Interview |
| Key Findings | • 311’s rat reporting system is formal, and users need to fill out structured forms, discouraging them from reporting frequently. • Users who really afraid of rats don’t receive real-time alerts, which means receiving reports doesn’t help. • Reports often take days or weeks to generate follow-up actions, and the feedback is slow or invisible to the public. • report-based result text-heavy and lacks visual guidance • The system assumes users are willing to interact with government services, which isn’t true. Many users avoid reporting because they don’t want to “make it official.” • No positive reinforcement encourages people to report this problem. People really afriad of rats will not be able to report themseleve. |
• Rat-Afraid People struggle with the life with seeing rats everywhere (parks, subways, trash bins, outside restaurants). • People will not report the existence of rats just because they are seeing them to 311; there’s no real solution for this. • Some people felt like rats have become a famous iconic thing of New York • It’s sometimes interesting to find out rats in the park with the squirrels. (Curious users want fun, exploration, and social sharing, making gamification a strong motivator.) • Both groups complained that 311 is too bureaucratic, too slow, and not friendly. • A dual-mode approach (Ranger / Walker) emerged naturally from the emotional divide |
Resources (cite) |
Rat or Mouse Complaint · NYC311 | Interviews/small chats |
Impact on Design | • gamification, maybe adding more playfulness into the whole program to encourage people participate • friendly and warm visual to reduce rat-anxiety (look like disney or Duolingo?) | • we need two different kinds of people in this app (one willing to collect photos, one only would like to find rat-free places) • For the map filter, we need to specify the distance around the user to make the rat-free users can choose the safe routes. • Maybe adding some achievements for the rat-collecting users |
Ideation & Exploration:
- Early Concepts:
- where people can submit their own encounters with rats as social media posts or reports to the government (too serious; similar to the form of 311)
- community-based discussion app (cannot really solve the problem) 3. Gamified Exploration Map-Based App
- Why Gamified Exploration Map-Based App?
- encourage all types of users and large database collection (either collect/photo the rat or not see the rats at all)
- lower “rat-anxiety”
- boost participation, civic engagement with a mode like Pokemon Go!
- Persona
Visual Prototypes:
FigMake Prototype: Two-Mode Testing
Finalized Visual Board:
Map-System Testing:
Final Deliverables:
Explanation of the problem:
Our solution addresses this through a dual-mode experience:
-
Rat Ranger Mode (For Curious Explorers)
This mode reframes rat encounters as a playful urban exploration activity. • Users can spot and photograph rats. • Collect sightings into a “Rat-a-Dex.” • Earn achievements to stay engaged.
-
Squeak-Free Walker Mode (For Anxious Commuters)
For users who fear rats or want safer walking routes: • No rat photos are shown. • Users receive simple, calm alerts. • The app generates safe, low-risk paths for nighttime commutes.
Instead of a one-size-fits-all reporting platform, Squeak provides a customized emotional experience tailored to the two dominant user mindsets we identified in our research.
- Content Design:
- Microcopy emphasizes playfulness (“Let’s GOOO!”, “Rat Ranger,” “Squeak-Free Walker”)\
- Avoiding fear-triggering language for the Avoider persona
Credit & Process Transparency
- Thanks to ChatGPT for generating the first combined, overall Figmake instruction with accurate button and sizing.
- Thanks to Pinterest for mascot inspiration
- Thanks for collaboration with my Group member: Astrid, Amy, Ruihao