● Description: Product Development
● Platform: Native Mobile App
● Timeline: SEP 2023 - DEC 2023
Objective: The purpose of this project was to design an application designed to streamline the planning of outdoor activities by acting as a personal trail guide and connecting enthusiasts to trail locations tailored to their preferences, abilities and budgets.
Problem: Finding the perfect hiking destination that aligns with the user's skill level, budget and wanderlust dreams can be a daunting task that may dissuade users from engaging in healthy, outdoor themed activities.
A screener survey was conducted with questions intended to uncover user pain points, delights and any suggested solutions they might have for an improved searching experience. Their responses were pooled together into an infinity map in order to visualize and identify major bottlenecks and determine the priority of proposed solutions.
Sample 2 is a persona derived from the feedback received during surveys and interviews and highlights user's needs, motivations and pain points. The featured persona is representative of user types who are intermediate outdoor enthusiasts seeking outdoor activities and doing so to remain active, as a meditative activity or to connect with nature.
This journey map diagram illustrates the five key stages of a general user’s interactions when organizing a trip with the Embarkr app. The five key stages are as follows: Discover, Explore, Decide, Action, Reflection. The journey map breaks down the actions and illustrates the user's emotional processes while interaction with the app.
Storyboarding was used to demonstrate one of the Embarkr app's key product features: the ability to share your location with friends on the app. This feature was designed to boost client engagement by reinforcing feelings of accomplishment all the while providing a security element when engaging in outdoor activities.
Sample 5 showcases a mid-fidelity wireframe of an early iteration of the product. The wireframe features a homepage, map screen, showcases location-sharing ability and confirmation pages. There are image placeholders and annotations highlighting and describing key user interactions when engaging with the product.
A design system including a logo, brand colors, typography and custom design components were created to give the product a consistent and recognizable visual identity. Buttons, icons and components were designed in Figma and were incorporated into the final prototype.
The interactive prototype prioritizes key app features like location discovery, social interactions and community building. According to user testing data, highlighting the aforementioned features was a the primary goal. Refining the app's data visualization tools, navigational menus and social-sharing functions were other aspects of focus during the final design iteration.
