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Overview
In a world bustling with social media platforms, Wander Journal stands out as a haven for national park enthusiasts. It's more than just an app; it's a gateway to preserving cherished memories and unlocking the essence of each national park visit. Every trail hiked, wildlife encounter, and scenic vista can be captures and become a treasured chapture in a personal exploration journal.
My Role
User Research
User Interviews
Sketching
Wireframing
Prototyping
Visual Design
Tools
Figma
Photoshop
Google Forms
Problem
Existing apps specialize in specific functions, leaving a gap for a thorough national park journaling app
Alternate applications often focus on specific functions such as trail mapping or wildlife tracking, leaving a significant gap in offering a comprehensive solution for documenting complete national park experiences. This void highlights the necessity for a versatile application capable of encompassing various aspects of users' national park adventures within a unified platform.
Outcome
The Wander Journal app effectively meets project goals and user needs, offering flexible journaling options and sharing features. Future enhancements may include integrating with a book-making website and adding online features for park planning and information.
Goals
Comprehensive Tracking
What strategies can we employ to integrate a feature that enables users to track multiple aspects of their visits, such as trails hiked, wildlife encounters, and notable viewpoints?
Offline Access
In what ways can we ensure offline functionality for users to access and update their journal entries even in areas with limited connectivity?
Personalization Tools
How might we develop tools for users to personalize their journal entries based on their specific interests and preferences?
User Engagement
How might we encourage users to engage with the app regularly and consistently document their national park adventures?
Research
Method #1
Competative Analysis & App Reviews
I analyzed the most popular and common apps in the national parks niche, particularly those focused on tracking and journaling. Some of these included AllTrails, NPS, ParkPassport, Travel Diaries & Natparks. My goal was to identify the common components and patterns found in these platforms as well as pain point among users.
Method #2
Qualitative and Quantitative Data
I conducted surveys and performed interviews to gain a deeper understanding of users' motivations and pain points helped me walk in their shoes (pun intended). I learned about users' documentation habits and routines, which provided insights into how they currently record and reflect on their experience.
"The ability to use the app without relying on an internet connection is paramount, especially in the context of national park visits where cellular service is often unavailable or unreliable."
National parks are known for their remote and natural environments, which are frequently located in areas with limited or no cellular coverage. For users exploring these parks, being able to document their experiences, record trails, note wildlife encounters, and capture memorable moments without the need for an internet connection is essential.
Survey Findings
"The key elements of documenting national parks often include sharing photos, tracking visited parks, and noting the dates of visits."
To the right are a selection of questions asked during the survey. The items with the highest percentages represent the greatest opportunities.
How comfortable are you with technology and using apps for tracking personal experiences?
What aspects of your national park visits do you find most meaningful to document?
What motivates you the most to visit national parks?
Would you prefer a customizable journaling experience, allowing you to choose the categories you want to document?
How do you usually document your national park experiences?
How important is it for you to have offline functionality in the app, especially in areas with limited connectivity?
How important is it for you to personalize the app based on our specific interests and preferences?
Synthesizing
Initial research showed opportunities, but my main focus stayed on delivering auser experience aligned with MVP and business goals.
While initial research highlighted potential areas for improvement like updated park information and book-making resources, the focus needed to center on the MVP and business goals. The app aims to provide a seamless and comprehensive user experience, accommodating users interested in documenting various aspects of their park visits, including hiking trails, wildlife sightings, notable viewpoints, travel details, plant species, and personal reflections. Navigating these complexities requires innovative solutions to maintain a cohesive and intuitive user experience.
Data from user surveys and interviews were categorized into three main groups:
Motivations for park visits
Key aspects to documents
Documentation practices.
Users seek a personalized app experience that aligns with their diverse interests and documentation preferences.
National parks serve as multifaceted destinations, attracting a diverse array of visitors with varied interests and experiences to explore. Users emphasize the significance of personalization, highlighting the need for the app to align closely with their unique interests and preferences. This emphasis on customization reflects the wide spectrum of documentation practices among users, showcasing their individualized approaches to capturing and cherishing memorable national park experiences.
Building the Structure
To prepare for wireframing, I developed a site map to streamline user navigation by defining page hierarchy and relationships. This aided in understanding the product's structure while ensuring alignment with user needs and business objectives.
Usability Testing
Focusing on simplifying user interactions and streamlining the navigation bar enhanced user experience.
Valuable user feedback from testing led to significant improvements between mid-fidelity and high-fidelity wireframes, refining the design concept by simplifying interactions and emphasizing pop-up and slide-in features during multiple iterations of low-fidelity wireframes.
Task completion metrics
"The notch on my phone was block some of the content at the top. For the most part, I was able to figure out what page I was on, but sometimes I wasn't sure if I was in the correct location."
"Navigating through the app overall seemed pretty straight forward! I liked how you could filter to a specific state if you were looking for a certain park."
"I had difficulty figuring out how to add a park to my adventures. It took me awhile to realize that there were circles to check off on each park card. "
93%
of the participants understood the core premise of the app.
78%
of the participants were unable to successfully complete all tasks
85%
of the participants enjoyed the overall experience of the app
32%
of participants had difficulty using certain functions of the app
There were inconsistencies with icons in the app. While park cards featured circular checkboxes, the rest of the app utilized square ones. Given that most locations involved square elements, it was logical to switch the circles to squares. Additionally, users were more inclined to recognize squares as actionable items for checking boxes, enhancing usability.
As a newcomer to the UX field, I'm continuously learning from my mistakes. One oversight was the iPhone notch, a feature I overlooked, as I haven't owned an iPhone in over 15 years. This resulted in header space being too high in all my mid-fidelity wireframes, impacting legibility. Consequently, I had to adjust the placement of all elements downward.
I received a suggestion to customize each award to resemble a national park-related patch. It's a fantastic way to digitize something realistic that park-goers collect—so cool!
Also, it was suggested to include more information about each award. This would involve adding details such as the number of the award in each category, the criteria for winning the award, what is required to earn the next award, and the date of receiving the award. Users would also have the ability to click on awards they haven't received yet to understand what it will take to earn them.
Reflection
The final product not only successfully addressed the project goals and user needs but also aligned with business objectives. It provides users with the flexibility to include whatever content they desire in their journal entries, while also offering prompts for those who may need guidance. Users can easily track their park visits, rate parks, access educational information about each park, and even share their entries with friends and family via email or phone.
Looking ahead, one potential future enhancement could involve integrating a feature that connects with a book-making website. Imagine the ability to create a personalized book containing all your park adventures—a million-dollar idea right there!
Overview
In a world bustling with social media platforms, Wander Journal stands out as a haven for national park enthusiasts. It's more than just an app; it's a gateway to preserving cherished memories and unlocking the essence of each national park visit. Every trail hiked, wildlife encounter, and scenic vista can be captures and become a treasured chapture in a personal exploration journal.
Please visit on a desktop for the best experience!