Nature Finder
Project Overview .
CONTEXT
Nature Finder is an app designed to improve the overall experience of hiking for all users. The app my team designed allows users to conveniently search for hiking trails and it crowdsources safety hazard information to alert other users. For this class project, I worked in a team of 4 and took the lead in facilitating the usability studies and designing the high-fidelity mockups.
PROBLEM
Preparing for hiking trips can get tedious especially because of how hikers had very limited ways to look up information accurately and conveniently. We noticed that hikers typically had to visit at least 2 sites when it comes to preparing for hiking trips.
Research .
We started the project by conducting semi-structured interviews (one per team member) with adults who hiked an average of once per month to understand their motivations, frustrations and habits of hiking. We wanted to talk to hikers who are proficient in this area because we wanted to find users who could speak confidently about their experiences.
INSIGHT I
Based on the interviews, users have expressed troubles finding reliable and updated information regarding hiking trails.
INSIGHT II
Users have to go on multiple sources to find information on a trail. According to interviewees, they typically visit 3 websites to explore different hiking trails, see pictures and find information regarding trail conditions.
INSIGHT III
Users’ main motivations of hiking are exercise, stress relief and bonding.
User Personas .
From our interviews, we found that there were 2 distinguishable groups of hikers; one group would conscientiously plan for hiking trip and one which does not. With that information, we created 2 user personas to represent these archetypes of our user group.
Journey Maps .
I designed the user journey map of our persona, Michael, to visualize what a typical hike would look like. This helped my team pinpoint crucial interactions and pain points hikers were most likely to encounter.
Design Question .
With so much information to synthesize, I developed a design question to ensure that my team stayed focus on the main problems our users were facing and to guide our discussions as our project progressed:
How might we design a centralized platform for hikers to conveniently access key information about their planned hikes?
User Goals .
Apart from providing the users with convenient ways to explore trails and find trail conditions, I realized that incentivizing our users to help one another can be effective in providing others with reliable and updated information. We then developed 3 key user goals that were crucial in improving the overall hiking experience for our users.
EXPLORE .
As a user, I want to use the application to conveniently explore new trails.
SAFETY .
As a user, I want to receive up to date information so that I can stay safe while on my hiking trip
GAMIFIED .
As a user, I want to be motivated and incentivized to use the application
IDEATION .
Next, we began to ideate on potential solutions by sketching and storyboarding our ideas, visualizing the medium for our solutions and also to see how our users might interact with them.
Deciding & Compromising .
We had a difficult time thinking about how we could implement our solution in a novel way. The use of smart watches and glasses were unique but I eventually made the decision to go with a mobile app because it was the most accessible and convenient platform.
Information Architecture .
At this stage, we referred back to our design requirements and developed the IA to help visualize the high-level components of the system and to show the hierarchical relationships between the functions.
Prototyping .
The sitemap allowed us to effectively create the application. We started by creating paper prototypes, a low-cost way to test initial designs. The prototypes were created for our three main tasks:
Usability Testing .
I took the lead in facilitating 4 rounds of usability testing with 4 different participants. During the testings, participants were told to complete 3 tasks so that we could identify and rectify components that users found to be unintuitive or confusing.
INSIGHT I
Many of our participants mentioned that the filtering and sorting system of our prototypes were confusing
INSIGHT II
After the testings, we found that there was a need to categorize hazard types within our Map feature. In addition, some of out participants raised concerns on how uploaded hazards needed to be verified before it shows for other users to ensure that the information uploaded is true.
INSIGHT III
Our testing also showed how illustrations on our prototypes needed to be clearer.
Final Solution .
After iterating through our wireframes, we designed our high fidelity prototype. During this phase, I designed the “Map” feature and oversaw the whole process to ensure consistency in the visual components throughout our application.
EXPLORE TRAILS .
This feature allows hikers to find trails based on their preferences with the use of shortcuts, sorting, and filtering. Hikers can also download trail maps to assist them while hiking.
NAVIGATE TRAILS .
Nature Finder offers real-time crowdsourced hazard reporting data that permits accurate displays of potential hazard when navigating to trails. Hikers are also prompted to report hazards as it contributes points to rewards.
GAMIFIED EXPERIENCE .
User research highlighted that people hike to maintain and/or improve their health. This feature is designed for this desire and also prompts users to report hazards, as it rewards users for hiking trails and reporting hazards in forms of badges and real rewards.
