Retro Net
Time-Travel Through The Web.
Retro Net was a fun project created for users to experience the internet's past, offering a nostalgic journey through time. In an era where web design and content have evolved rapidly, Retro Net fills a unique niche by allowing users to easily step back in time and see their favourite websites as they appeared a decade ago. The goal was to make this "time-travel" experience as intuitive and enjoyable as possible, harnessing archived data to bring the past to life. Retro Net captures the essence of how the online world has changed, whether it's YouTube's early simplicity, Wikipedia's evolving content, or Reddit's old-school layout.
Background
My specific role on the project
This was a personal project where I managed all aspects of development, from the initial concept planning to the final implementation. Specifically, my responsibilities included designing and developing the user interface using React.js, integrating external APIs such as the Wayback Machine, and ensuring a smooth user experience.
The design of Retro Net focused on delivering a user-friendly interface that allowed seamless navigation between different websites. The design aimed to recreate a "time travel" atmosphere, with the UI kept intentionally clean and simple to echo the styles of past web interfaces, providing a familiar yet engaging experience. Accessibility was a key consideration in the design process, ensuring that the site was fully keyboard accessible. This included thoughtful navigation elements and interactive components that could be easily accessed without a mouse, enhancing usability for all users, including those with disabilities.
Design
Retro Net was implemented using a variety of modern web technologies. React.js served as the foundation for building a dynamic and responsive user interface. The Wayback Machine API was central to the application, providing the archived snapshots of popular websites from years gone by. Tailwind CSS was used for efficient and modern styling, allowing for a streamlined approach to design and rapid prototyping. The application architecture emphasised modularity, ensuring that new features could be added easily in the future.
Implementation
The rest of this page is currently under construction. Check back in soon to find out more about the design, implementation, testing and deployment of this project!