TOPIA
Welcome to the
Future of Digital Trust
Topia is a social platform designed to help users engage more critically with the content they see every day online. Born out of a desire to combat misinformation without disrupting familiar scrolling behaviors, Topia integrates AI-powered credibility tools directly into the content experience. The project was developed as my final capstone for MICA’s MPS in UX Design, with a focus on restoring trust in the digital space through transparency, clarity, and interaction design.
project TIMELINE
The design process for Topia spanned 16 weeks across two UX courses and followed a human-centered, research-driven approach. My goal was to build a solution that fit naturally into the way people already use social media — not one that disrupted it.
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Initial research and topic exploration
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Problem framing and competitive analysis
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User interviews and reflections
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Persona development
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Presentation building
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Midpoint recap and presentation (Capstone Part 1 close)
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Journey mapping and storyboarding
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User flows and early wireframes
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High-fidelity prototyping and usability testing
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Synthesis, revisions, and visual updates
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Iterative testing and polish
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Final presentation and case study creation
social media fueling misinformation
the problem
2008-2012: EMERGENCE of social media
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube explode in popularity.
No regulation on content accuracy—misinformation spreads freely.
Viral content becomes more valuable than verified content.
2016: Election Year
Fake news articles got 8.7M shares—more than real news.
Foreign interference (e.g., Russian bots) influences U.S. voters.
Social media companies start facing public scrutiny, but little action is taken.
2020: The pandemic
False COVID-19 cures, conspiracy theories, and misinformation flood social feeds.
No regulation on content accuracy—misinformation spreads freely.
Viral content becomes more valuable than verified content.
Present day
Algorithms continue prioritizing engagement over truth.
AI-generated misinformation (deepfakes, manipulated images) is harder to detect.
No widely adopted solution exists—this is the gap my project is solving.
A social media user who feels overwhelmed needs to fact check information — but faces confusion and fatigue.
the SOLUTION
Designing Credibility Into the Scroll
Topia takes on the credibility crisis by meeting users exactly where misinformation spreads — in the scroll. Instead of disrupting how people consume content, Topia integrates fact-checking tools into familiar interactions, helping users assess accuracy without leaving the feed.
Key Features
AI Credibility Scores: Every video is scanned and assigned a transparency score based on accuracy, tone, and source reliability.
Tap-to-Expand Analysis: Users can tap to open a full overview explaining why the content was rated a certain way.
Source Integration: Linked articles are color-coded and categorized by origin — AI-sourced, creator-sourced, or neutral — so users can explore at their own pace.
Ask AI Anything: A built-in AI messaging tool lets users dive deeper and ask follow-up questions about the content in view.
Key Findings
Users don’t trust content at first glance but rarely verify it.
Users don’t trust content at first glance but rarely verify it.
Users want to know why something is true or false
Different users want different levels of depth when it comes to research.
Fact checking isn’t built into everyday habits
I conducted six in-depth interviews to understand how different users engage with information on social platforms and how they respond to potentially misleading content.
Wireframing & Prototyping
The product evolved from low-fidelity wireframes into a high-fidelity prototype informed by user behaviors and refined design principles.
Personas & Journey Mapping
From those interviews, I created two user personas and mapped both current and future-state experiences to surface pain points and opportunity areas.
Usability Testing & Iteration
After testing with real users, I made targeted revisions to tutorial gestures, onboarding clarity, and the sources page, making the experience more intuitive and transparent.
Reflections
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Challenges
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Next Steps
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Reflections ✦ Challenges ✦ Next Steps ✦
Target Audience
Topia is designed for socially aware digital users who regularly engage with short-form video platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. These users frequently encounter political or informational content while casually scrolling, but lack quick, trustworthy ways to verify what they’re seeing in the moment.
Audience
Curious, Scroll-first Users who want fast, digestible facts without leaving the app
Professionals balancing social media with civic awareness and daily responsibilities.
College Students navigating misinformation in academic, social, and political spaces
I identified this group through qualitative interviews and usability testing with participants across a range of educational backgrounds, tech comfort levels, and media habits. Across the board, users expressed a shared need for clarity, flexibility, and the ability to stay informed—without breaking their scroll.
Process
Problem Framing & Discovery
I began by analyzing misinformation trends and defining a core user problem based on early desk research and behavioral insights.
User Flows & Storyboarding
I mapped out how users would interact with Topia — from onboarding to credibility exploration — using common gestures like swiping, tapping, and scrolling.
The Topia prototype brings together credibility scoring, gesture-based navigation, and integrated source validation — all designed to work within users’ natural scroll behavior. This interactive model reflects my final Capstone solution, built for testing and refinement with real users.
The Prototype
The Topia prototype brings together credibility scoring, gesture-based navigation, and integrated source validation — all designed to work within users’ natural scroll behavior. This interactive model reflects my final Capstone solution, built for testing and refinement with real users.
User Interviews
From Idea to Interaction
Reflections
Clarity vs. Complexity
I learned that good UX isn’t about removing complexity entirely, but organizing it in a way that feels approachable, layered, and easy to navigate.
UX Is About Precision
Every swipe, tap, and animation needed to carry meaning — small adjustments made a big difference in usability and trust.
Challenges
Next, I’m exploring how AI models can assess credibility without relying on user feedback — starting with a conversation at Claude.
I also plan to expand usability testing to include users with different levels of digital literacy.
And finally, I’ll be researching how content creators can participate in this system — identifying the tools and incentives that make credible sharing worth it.
NExt Steps
Next, I’m exploring how AI models can assess credibility without relying on user feedback — starting with a conversation at Claude.
I also plan to expand usability testing to include users with different levels of digital literacy.
And finally, I’ll be researching how content creators can participate in this system — identifying the tools and incentives that make credible sharing worth it.
Don’t Oversimplify
Users aren’t satisfied with a simple label — they want context that explains why content is flagged and how that decision was made.
Designing with a Critical Lens
This project pushed me to think beyond surface-level design and consider how systems of power and information shape user experiences.
Create a Safe Space
Designing for heavy topics like misinformation meant creating a space where users could explore without feeling judged or overwhelmed.
Beyond the Classroom
Topia challenged me to create something that could live in the real world — and sparked ideas for how this concept might evolve post-graduation.
About the founder
Taylor Zlab is a UX designer and researcher passionate about building digital experiences that foster clarity, curiosity, and trust. With a background in graphic design and a master’s degree in UX Design, Taylor brings a multidisciplinary approach to solving complex problems. Her work blends storytelling with systems thinking, often exploring how technology can support users in fast-moving digital spaces. Her project, Topia, explores how credibility tools can be integrated into everyday scrolling — without disrupting the user experience.
