Smatch
An app design for better national park trip planning experience
“National parks are tightly woven into the fabric of American culture. For over a century, generations of visitors have explored these stunning landscapes, marveled at amazing wildlife, walked in the footsteps of the people who shaped our history, and formed a connection to the outdoors.”
OVERVIEW
Duration
Oct 22, 2022 - Dec 22, 2022
Design role
Research, synthesis, ideation, UI/UX design
Tools
Adobe XD, Invision, Miro
USER RESERACH
Before starting the trip to parks, travelers may have unpleasant experience with overwhelming information from different travel resources and a hard time to work on a trip plan which fits everyone who joins the trip. Also, the trip plan may not be up to date and bring up some frustration during the trip.
My research question was: what I can do to improve the trip planning experience. The following image is showing the general design process.
Understand users
Goal: Identify the gap in the park trip planning market and the needs of target users to improve the trip planning experience
Methodology: 40 participants were invited to answer a screener survey about their park trip planning experience to identify the potential participants. After the screener survey, 5 qualified participants joined the in-person interviews to help uncover the pain points and have a better scope of their behaviors.
Participant characteristics:
Type: Travel enthusiast
Park visiting frequency: Within the last 18 months
Age range: 18-55
Days of visiting: 4-8 days
Planning in advance: Yes
Activities(sorted by popularity): Sightseeing, observing wildlife, roadside exhibits, photography, painting, visiting museums, etc.
Research questions:
What are the essential things you consider when planning a trip?
How do you typically plan your trips?
To what level of detail do you like to have your trip planned out?
Can you briefly talk about your most recent trip to a national park?
How was your trip planning experience?
What apps or websites do you use to plan trips to national parks?
Tell me about a time when you had problems planning a trip or executing a plan.
How did you handle a sudden change of travel plans?
What did you consider the most before making the changes?
Quotes from interviews:
“Planning a trip was not very enjoyable when I was busy with my work.”
“If we can’t go to the place directly, we may take a detour and try to make it happen since our trip is usually a one-way route.”
“It was a little bit more difficult to find easy hikes when I traveled with my family.”
Key insights
All participants liked to have a flexible travel plan
All participants had a sense of timing during the trip
Time, distance from home, and travel time were the top 3 aspects that affect participants’ decisions on destinations
Participants liked to use paperless documents for itineraries and apps for navigation
80% participants mentioned that they were confused by overwhelming travel information from different resources
Empathy mapping
I developed empathy maps to illustrate the user's needs and behaviors, effectively connecting their mental and emotional patterns across different personalities. They offered insights into users' thoughts, feelings, and motivations, leading to a deeper understanding of their desires and pain points. A clear visualization of user needs helped me make informed decisions throughout the design process and prioritize features and design elements that directly cater to user requirements, resulting in a more effective and user-focused design.
Persona
Before I went any further, I created a user persona to help develop a thorough grasp of my target market and answer one of the most crucial questions, "Who are we designing for?"
Heuristic Evaluation
In this heuristic analysis, the aspects that I was focusing on were trip planning, parks, navigation and activities. In this project, my goal was to improve the trip planning experience when people visit parks. I chose four relevant apps from the app store with a large number of ratings. Some of the apps may not be designed for park visit purposes, but they are still good references in terms of design and methodology.
Gaia GPS, AllTrails, NPS, National Parks Pocket Maps (from left to right)
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
What’s my problem space?
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Opportunity
While each App excels in its specific area of concentration, there are certain areas where it falls short. This makes it simpler for me to identify market gaps.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
I started with the problems and insights that I had uncovered and to construct “How might we...” questions that helped frame the problems for ideation. The following “How might we...” are the statements that I wanted to move forwards with in order to brainstorm more new ideas or address opportunities in the gap of the market.
How might we help travelers create a trip plan efficiently?
How might we help travelers optimize their trip plan in terms of timing, distance from home, travel satisfaction, and budget?
How might we increase the liability of reviews of places to visit?
How might we provide help when something unexpected happens during the trip and affect the rest of the plan?
INFORMATION STRUCTURE
By leveraging Miro, I established an information structure that identifies content hierarchy, prioritizing essential information. This approach guarantees logical organization of content and elements, leading to optimal usability and the enhancement of intuitive navigation systems.
Mind map
The mind map proved to be a valuable tool, enabling me to brainstorm and foster ideas in an imaginative and non-linear approach, while also facilitating the organization of essential information in a flexible and hierarchical structure. Importantly, I remained mindful of the end-users' needs and preferences throughout the entire design process.
User story
brainstorm and generate ideas in a non-linear and creative manner. organize information in a visual and hierarchical format. visualize the different paths. concise and visual representation of the design plan flexible and modifiable. keep the end-users in mind throughout the design process
Sitemap
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User flow
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RAPID PROTOTYPE
Lo-fi hand sketch
I sketched some screens on iPad to demonstrate my concepts and ideas which were still works-in-progress. Guerrilla usability testing was conducted after this. The captured feedback which aligned with my target audience's expectations were fully analyzed and prepared for the next round of prototype iteration.
Lo-fi wireframes
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Guerrilla usability Test
Finding #1:
Insight: Participants like to use recommended trip plans more than create one from scratch.
Evidence: All participants are not familiar with the park and the cities nearby, especially some people who have never been to the midwest. The first step for them is to look for recommended guides to see if the plans fit their requirements.
Recommendation: Minimize the park update section in the Search section and extend the trip recommendation section and content
Finding #2
Insight: The destination is significant in the trip timeline decision in the searching section.
Evidence: Some participants prefer to spend more time on the trip between the departure city(same as home) and destination, and then go back home in 2 days or less. Meanwhile, some participants like to travel in a circular pattern where they can spend some time visiting other places on their way back home from the national park.
Recommendation: Provide a generic timeline chart in each plan, instead of using text only
Finding #3
Insight: The plan section can be simplified. Creating a new plan button is not easy to find.
Evidence
Some participants claimed that they barely share trip plans with other people and visit the same park in at least 3 years, which means that the Past section is not useful for this type of user. They suggest that it would be helpful if the sections are customizable.
No participants tried to create the trip plan from scratch. However, they are surprised by finding the Create a new plan button under settings in the Drafts section.
Recommendation: Reorganize the plan section and relevant features, and make some sections /buttons customizable
MOOD BOARD & DESIGN GUIDELINE
Don’t know where to go, never mind!
Go to Explore section to see other people fascinating trip plans. When the users find the plan they want to follow, just tap “Use as the template” button and customize.
Problems:
The infographic timeline was a bit difficult to read
Some users were not concerned about the details of the trip
Users were not able to use other users’ plans as template to create their trip plan
Solutions:
Redesigned the infographic timeline
Moved the trip detail information section to the bottom. Users can also hide this section under Profile - Setting to change their preferences
Added “Use as the template” button
Problems:
Repeat questions of accommodation place was inefficient and annoying
Too many options to sort or filters the sites and activities
Solutions:
Omitted the screen of asking daily accommodation and added it to arrival section, so the users can adjust wherever it’s necessary
Minimize the options to sort or filters the sites and activities
FINAL DELIVERABLE
Search with a destination in mind
Users just need to simply enter the information of the park they want to go, departure and return dates and locations to find the most suitable trip plan based on their situations.
Save and edit later
All the plan you like will be saved under Collections. Tap the sites/activities you want to check out to see the photos and basic details. Also, your travel buddies can be invited to modify the plan!
Problems:
The infographic timeline was a bit difficult to read
Some users were not concerned about the details of the trip
Users were confused about Current, Saves and Drafts sections
It’s difficult for users to find “Create a new plan” under Draft section
Solutions:
Redesigned the infographic timeline and remove trip detail information
Redesigned the sections.
Collections: Plans that are saved or created by the users
Drafts: Unfinished trip plan created by the users
Archives: Plans that users don’t want to show under Collections
Added floating “Create a new plan” button"
Problems:
The infographic timeline was a bit difficult to read
Some users were not concerned about the details of the trip
Users were not able to use other users’ plans as template to create their trip plan
Solutions:
Redesigned the infographic timeline
Moved the trip detail information section to the bottom. Users can also hide this section under Profile - Setting to change their preferences
Added “Use as the template” button
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Problems:
Too many options under sort
The scales were not easy to adjust
Solutions:
Minimized sort section
Omitted the scales and added options to choose for each section
