a hiking trail app
Encouraging youngsters to explore nature and bond with one another.
Overview:
"hikies" makes it easy to find hiking trails wherever you are, users can create a to-hike list, share new hiking trails with the community and create fun challenges with their new or old friends alike!
Problem
When I started hiking, I was overwhelmed with the information online. Creating an app where hikers could discuss trails and share opinions would be helpful. Although other hiking apps exist, I didn't feel welcomed in the communities. Besides, keeping users engaged with an interactive approach like task gamification is essential in today's fast-paced world.
How can I convince my friends to try hiking with me? I'm having a hard time finding people with similar hiking experiences and interests. 😞
Objective
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Design an app that allows users to discover, share and save hiking trails with ease.
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A way for users to build a community and find like-minded hikers to hike with or bond with friends through discovering nature.
Researching the problem
According to YPulse (a Millennial and Gen Z market research company), most young consumers wished they had more skills and time for outdoor activities; 38% of the youngsters even stated that they don’t feel welcome in the outdoor community. Thus, I wanted to learn about existing competitor resources and understand user pain points in the field.
Research Goals
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Understand users' needs and motivations for looking for hiking trails
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Identify users' frustrations when planning for a hike
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Identify people's preferences in discovering hiking trails
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Analyze current resources offered by competitor apps
What are the existing hiking trail apps?
Most apps focus more on the discovery of trails and less on the practical aspect of the app, like having highlights on the map, a way for friend groups to hike together or an efficient way to unravel new trails.
Competitive Analysis:- Comparing features of popular hiking trail apps .
Interviewing users on hiking experiences
I've gathered feedback from millennials and Gen Z through digital questionnaires and interviews, as well as reviews of other hiking trail apps to determine the most desired features and areas for improvement for our hiking trail app.
I love hiking with friends! It's a great way to exercise, make memories, and explore nature.
- College student that occasionally hikes
Building user empathy
By conducting a comprehensive analysis of the competition and engaging with users, I acquired valuable insights into their needs and preferences for a hiking app. Based on this feedback, I created a clear visualization that helped me to define the product.
User Persona
Based on the patterns seen in the user interviews I have developed 2 types of user personas:
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a beginner hiker who loves nature and wants to make hiking a new hobby
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an experienced hiker who wants to have more hiking friends.
Beginner hiker persona was used as a primary persona
Experienced hiker looking for hiker friends persona as the secondary persona
The goal of "hikies" is to make starting hiking as a hobby a less overwhelming and daunting experience for beginners. It's also to make it easier to connect with hikers around the world where it's inclusive to all types and levels of hikers.
User Flow
Translating needs into features
From the touch points to needs from the empathizing phase, I've created a Product Feature Roadmap to outline specific app features and detail what each feature does.
Design & Prototype
Thus, with the user preferences and priorities of the app in mind I began designing the features and user interface of hikies. With "hikies" focusing on the:
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Discovery of unique and new trails for hikers to try
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Community section where people can connect with other hikers
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A fun challenge section to earn badges
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Plan and invite friends for a hike
Sketches show the main features of the hikies app
A fun & quirky UI design
For hikies to appeal to Gen Z and Millennials, a fun and quirky design with refreshing colours and playful fonts is ideal, creating an enjoyable and inviting user experience!
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The name of the app, hikies, cleverly combines the words "hike" and "besties" as it promotes hiking and finding a hiking companion. By referencing a word that is familiar to the app's target audience, hikies was chosen as the final name to resonate with and attract potential users.
Plan hikes & invite buddies easily
Choose your preferred details, invite your buddies, and add an exciting challenge to your hike. Enjoy the great outdoors like never before.
Usability Testing
The Hikies app heavily relies on exploring its interface and utilizing its features to plan a hike.
Therefore, the interface must be clear and concise. A round of usability testing was conducted on a high-fidelity prototype to identify any major issues in these features.
Revision & final design
The testing showed that the home page lacks interactive features, and doesn't encourage users to explore the interface more.
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Home page lacks interactive features, and you would not want to explore the interface with this first impression
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Added many reminders around the interface when the user has upcoming plans
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Added notes for trails so beginners are well prepared
App Loading & Sign In Pages
Explore Features & Trail Details
Explore Features & Trail Details
Project Takeaways
I was worried about starting this project not knowing much about hiking. However, after conducting in-depth research on all the essential aspects and challenges faced by the hiking community, I better understood the project's direction. Overall, it was an enjoyable learning experience.
Some key takeways:
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Creating a good project plan. Efficient project processes can only be achieved through meticulous planning and effective time management.
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Embracing simplicity when needed. Although I wanted to showcase the branding, I found a balance in the design to ensure better user navigation and good brand familiarity.
"Hikies" aims to change how beginner hikers perceive the hiking community. It's a platform where hikers can connect, share knowledge and promote the benefits of hiking. Hopefully, this will encourage more people to take up hiking as a hobby.
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