Improving ChatGPT’s Temporary Chat Experience
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Product Introduction

ChatGPT is an AI‐powered conversational assistant developed by OpenAI. Built on large language model technology, it can answer questions, brainstorm ideas, write drafts, and even carry on multi‐turn dialogues in a natural, conversational style. Millions of users leverage ChatGPT for everything from quick research to creative writing support.

What Is the Temporary Chat Feature?

In addition to permanent chat threads, ChatGPT offers a Temporary Chat mode. When you start a temporary chat, the session behaves like a "scratchpad" - it isn’t saved to your chat history, and it disappears once the session ends or the page refreshes. This is great for quick experiments or one‐off queries that you don’t want cluttering your conversation list. However, the very ephemerality that makes it useful can also create significant usability problems.

Problem Statements

Through a combination of heuristic review and user testing, I uncovered three core issues with the Temporary Chat feature.

1. Visibility of Temporary Mode: Users don’t realize they’re in a temporary chat session because the UI doesn’t clearly distinguish it from a regular chat once a session has started, leading to confusion.

2. Loss of History on Refresh: When users refresh the page during a temporary chat, the entire message history is wiped out, causing loss of context and frustration.

3. No Conversion Path: Users have no option to promote a temporary chat into a permanent one, forcing them to start over in a new session if they want to preserve or continue the conversation.

In the sections that follow, I'll dive into how these pain points surfaced during our evaluation and propose design solutions - ranging from clearer visual cues to seamless "convert to permanent" workflows - that improve discoverability, data preservation, and overall user confidence in ChatGPT's Temporary Chat mode.

Visibility of Temporary Mode
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Problem statement: Users don’t realize they’re in a temporary chat session because the UI doesn’t clearly distinguish it from a regular chat once a session has started, leading to confusion. To validate this, I ran a 5-second test with 10 participants;

‍Methodology: I presented participants with two screenshots - one of a regular ChatGPT session and one of a Temporary Chat session - in random order. Each image was displayed for five seconds. After viewing both, I asked:

"Can you confidently determine which screenshot shows the ChatGPT conversation in Temporary Chat mode? Which one?"

90% of participants couldn’t confidently identify which page variant was in temporary mode.

To ensure that users can clearly see when they’re in Temporary Chat - both before they start and once the session is underway - I introduced a set of visual and interface changes:

Rather than just swapping out text, my adjustments focus on strengthening mental models and giving users clear control - core UX principles that drive confidence and trust.

1. Stronger Mode Awareness - Darkened Background + Persistent Banner: By visually “dimming the lights” and keeping a banner visible at all times, users immediately grasp that they’re in a special mode. This leverages preattentive processing (color and contrast) so they don’t have to read detailed copy to notice the shift.
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2. Clear Expectations Before Interaction - Explicit Headers & Bulleted Lists: Presenting what the chat won’t do alongside what it will do creates a balanced mental model. Users can scan familiar list structures and quickly internalize both the privacy benefits and the limitations - eliminating the need to parse dense paragraphs.
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3. Reduced Layout Shift & Accidental Loss - Fixed Input & “Ask Before Exiting” Toggle: Anchoring the input field prevents jarring content jumps, maintaining focus on the conversation. Meanwhile, prompting users before they leave cuts down on accidental data loss, directly addressing frustration points identified in testing.
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4. Seamless Conversion Path - “Convert to Standard Chat” Button: A visible, one-click control empowers users to take ownership of their data. Rather than abandoning a temporary session, they have an immediate path to permanence - streamlining workflows and minimizing friction.

Together, these improvements move beyond cosmetic tweaks. They reinforce clarity at every stage - before, during, and after the chat - helping users stay oriented, informed, and in control. See the attached before-and-after images for a side-by-side comparison of how each treatment reads in the live interface.
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Loss of History on Refresh

Users can lose their entire conversation in an instant whenever the page reloads.
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A straightforward solution is to preserve the conversation data until the user either starts a new chat or switches to a different conversation from the list.

No Conversion Path

A lack of a built-in conversion path forces users into a constant trade-off between exploration and preservation. Many people begin in Temporary Chat as a sandbox - drafting prompts, iterating on ideas, or testing ChatGPT’s capabilities. The moment they decide the conversation is worth saving, however, they must manually copy content into a new standard thread or start from scratch. This interrupts their creative flow, risks transcription errors, and creates frustration just when they’re most engaged.

That extra friction also piles on cognitive load. Users have to remember to switch modes, navigate menus to find where “saving” belongs, or juggle multiple tabs - all while trying to keep their train of thought. By contrast, a single, clearly labeled "Convert to Standard Chat" control would let them stay focused on content creation rather than tool mechanics. It streamlines decision-making and eliminates unnecessary mental overhead.

Moreover, giving users the power to promote their own sessions aligns with fundamental UX principles of user control and freedom. When people feel they lack authority over their data, their confidence in the feature erodes - and they may avoid Temporary Chat altogether, even when it would otherwise be the ideal space for quick experiments. A seamless conversion option reinforces trust: it tells users that the system respects their work and won’t discard it without permission.

Finally, a frictionless path from ephemeral to permanent conversation unlocks greater continuity and re-engagement. Users can pick up where they left off in a later session, revisit past insights, and easily share valuable exchanges with teammates or collaborators. By honoring both the sandbox and the archive in a single workflow, we create a more cohesive experience—one that supports spontaneous creativity without sacrificing long-term utility.
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