Fair Winds and Following Seas: A traditional way to wish luck upon someone about to embark on a journey, now only commonly used by the US Navy. Meaning "safe journey; good fortune."
Challenge: Popular hiking apps do not include a variety of accessible and inclusive hiking information, in-depth filters, or a clear way of confirming what the hike advertises.
Objective: Create an app that includes accessible and inclusive features to make hiking more approachable and equitable.
A UX thought experiment for a hiking app centered on inclusive design
Overview
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Develop Research Questions
Initial Research & Competitive Analysis
User Interviews & Analysis
Create Personas
Create Journey Map
Create User Scenarios
Create User Flows
Create Wireframes
Create Prototype
Two Rounds of User Testing
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Alissa Brimeyer: Lead Designer
Alex Boudreaux: Lead Interviewer
Kendra Oliver: Lead Researcher
Insights and advice from Feras Nabulsi's Summer 2022 Design Lab: The Industry Challenge class
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Figma
Mural
Notion
Illustrator
Google Drive
Zoom
Otter.ai
Calendly
The problem
Our team of three came together to discuss creating a hiking app that solves a problem that current hiking apps aren't solving. After a competitive analysis, researching the hobby, and talking to humans who hike, we kept coming back to the same problem. Hiking (especially in its most extreme forms) has historically always been for the white, male, and able-bodied, and current apps and information are considering that and deciding to lean into those same groups. We decided we wanted to challenge that. After all, accessible campgrounds are often fully booked as soon as reservations open. It is not that there is no desire to engage in the outdoors. It's that outdoor sports have always existed in the realm of gate-kept hobbies.
The audience
As the problem suggests, the audience chosen for this topic is important for accomplishing the goals we have set out. We discussed those with disabilities, women, racial minorities, and sexual minorities, and the different problems these groups face when engaging in hiking. We looked at the lack of information pertaining to these groups, the increased threat of violence, and the complete inaccessibility in some cases, and decided that with the overlapping problems between these groups, we would focus on 2 groups for interviews to learn more. Those groups are those who see themselves as a majority (non-marginalized) group in the world of hiking and those who see themselves as the minority (or marginalized) group. This allowed us to see how people categorized themselves, and how their stories differed while not minimizing anyone's experience.
Initial interview insights
Our interview purpose was to gain a better understanding of the hiking experience for people whose perspectives are typically not equally represented or included within the hiking community.
Here were our interview requirements
Interviewing two different user groups
User group 1 (3-5 individuals) self-identifies with marginalized groups
User group 2 (3-5 individuals) self-identifies with non-marginalized groups
Hike at least once a month
Have hiked consistently for at least a year
Use apps or digital maps
Here is what we learned are the biggest problems our minority group experiences while hiking:
Finding safety features that work with no service. Ex. Tracking your location, sending an alert, flagging dangerous areas/obstacles
The accessibility of information. Ex. Size of text/images, easily accessible maps, options to save trails to access later
The accessibility of the actual trail, from parking to seasonal challenges
Finding input from the unique communities they identify with Ex. Community reviews, having other hikers confirm what features or difficulty levels are listed, connecting with other hikers
Here is what we learned are the biggest problems our majority group experiences while hiking:
Finding clear directions/Finding ways to navigate hike while on the trail
Locating noted attractions, lookouts, swimming areas, etc.
Finding the most accurate details on how to prepare for more intense hikes
Finding trails that fit requirements for children or animals
General themes:
A hiking community is desired but can be hard to find
People are looking for discrete forms of safety and inclusion ie. feeling secure without drawing attention to that need
Crowds, noises, accessibility, and finding kid-friendly or dog-friendly areas are major concerns for many different groups for many different reasons
These user groups were then distilled into the personas below.
Persona One
NAME: Maya
AGE: 29
JOB: Marketing Manager
Maya is a frequent hiker. She identifies as a minority group and has a disability that impacts her hiking abilities at times. She hikes most weekends in the warmer months and uses Google and apps frequently to find hikes that tailor to her needs.
Pain Points
Finding trails that meet her difficulty level and have frequent resting points
Finding hikes quickly and easily
Finding less crowded trails
Wants
Community input on accessible trails without having to comb through reviews
A way to gauge how popular/crowded a trail is
Community feature to share hikes with friends
Easy-to-use app
Needs
Extensive, clear filters for the type of hike (distance, difficulty, accessibility, incline)
Safety feature that notes obstacles or weather alerts
Community input/recommendations
Persona Two
NAME: Eric
AGE: 51
JOB: Teacher
Eric is a frequent hiker. He identifies as the majority group. He has two young children that he often hikes with and loves to discover lookout points, swimming spots, and history about the area on his hikes. He uses word of mouth and apps occasionally to find hikes that have the features and difficulty levels he wants.
Pain Points
Finding trails that are kid-friendly, but challenging
Being able to access maps/locations with no service
Unclear directions
Wants
Trails that are good for families
Hikes that have swimming areas or attractions
Clear directions to trailheads and parking options
Needs
Safety features for getting lost & not having service
Clear directions
Kid-friendly trails and attractions
Scenario 1
Maya found out about an exciting hiking trail from a friend. The hike was pleasant until 3 hours in, when the path forward was flooded and unpassable. She was forced to decide to turn back.
She was upset she missed the rest of the hike, specifically missing out on the view she was hiking to see. Maya would like to warn others about the potential for flooding after heavy rain falls.
Maya finds the trail on the FairWinds app and goes to review the trail. She decides not to review the entire trail since she didn't complete it but adds the warning about potential flooding. She marks the area on the map where she experienced flooding so others know where flooding may occur. Maya is relieved others will have more information before planning their own hikes in the area.
Scenario 2
Eric was listening to the radio and heard about a hiking challenge put together by a local radio station. He gets a prize if he finishes all the hikes and sends them a screenshot of his profile with the completed challenge. This challenge encourages engagement in the community and promotes the radio station.
Eric logs into his hiking app and goes to the community page. He searches for the specific challenge name and enters the challenge. Eric sees which hikes he has yet to go on and adds those to his saved hikes. Next, he uses the individual trail pages to plan his hikes and downloads the offline maps to hike them. Finally, he reviews the trails he hiked to mark them as completed and finishes the challenge.
He sends the screenshot of his account with the challenge badge and receives his prize from the radio station.
Scenario 3
Maya mentioned to a friend that she has been looking for more people to hike with and found out she is running a group hike through FairWinds. She goes to the app and adds her friend; then, in the community tab, she joins her friend's group hike as a participant.
Maya receives notifications when others comment on the hiking page and updates about the hike, including necessary gear, weather, and time changes.
When the day comes, Maya uses the offline map to find the location start, meets up with her friend, and joins the hike. She is happy to be hiking with others and that this hike required minimal planning from her.
Key Features
Here are the key features distilled from interviews and research into actionable steps.
The initial flow
A basic wire flow was worked out to determine how these features would connect and form a cohesive app.
Expanded flow
An expanded wire flow was created to determine the optimal page flow and key interactions and components to design.
Testing
Testing was done at two different fidelities and had four main tasks:
Create an account and set preferences and tags
Go to the hiking community page and find a community challenge
Go to another hiker’s profile and follow them
Go to a specific trail page and review the hike
The goal of the low fidelity testing was to understand how individuals interact with the overall page flow and general ideas we are presenting, and the goal of the high fidelity was to understand how individuals interact with the main features and their details and what their expectations for these features’ capabilities are.
One of our first tasks was figuring out how to allow people to search for hikes with accessibility in mind. We sent out questionnaires and held interviews to understand different needs and create a growing list of important information. We asked how people would typically search, what makes an excellent hike, and what makes a bad hike so we could narrow in on the most pressing items for searching.
When considering how users could connect with others, we had to ask ourselves what that looks like in the context of inclusion and safety. As a result, the community-focused part of this app was broken up into three segments. The first was creating a way to add friends and share trails directly. The second was community challenges, which are lists of similar trails in an area, and the last was group hikes, where someone could host a hike that others in their community could join.
Inclusivity was a considerable focus for us, so we had to figure out what personalization would be like with that in mind. We concentrated on allowing people to adapt their level of personalization and be as discrete or connected as they wished. People can use the app to save hikes and search or follow people to get recommendations, personalize their account page, comment on group hikes, and join community challenges.
With the decisions made on personalization and adding friends, we had to clarify the role of users and their pages on the app. After interviewing users to understand what level of interaction they were looking for, we determined it would be best that users could follow others, publicly display their reviewed hikes and completed challenges, and opt to list specific information about them, such as if they hike with dogs, what communities they are a part of, or if they prefer using the app for biking over hiking.
The design system
This is the design system that was created to allow for accessibility and focused on creating components that promoted safety ad community. The colors were modified from old-school national park poster colors and made to be contrasting, clean, and calm with contrasting blue-green and cream colors. The components focused on quick recognition of symbols, for quick use and to convey a lot of information quickly and clearly. To do this icons were tested multiple times before the final version was established.
The Result
The account creation flow was modified by adding a second page where users decide what shows publicly and what acts instead as filters helping users have a personalized experience. Going into further prototypes, we added running or cycling options, as we found that many users of hiking apps are runners and cyclers. Finally, with the accessibility icon, we tried more modern accessibility icons, but we ended up settling on the wheelchair symbol as it was the only one that didn't seem to confuse and slow down users, including those who identified as having disabilities.
The search and filter options added through testing included features like waterfalls and caves, trail types, crowd levels, terrain, trail maintenance, and the option to avoid high levels of bugs, mud, and fallen trees. The quick view information on the trails in the search are the options people were most comfortable changing occasionally but are still important to them. These were crowds, difficulty, accessibility, and rating. An accessibility level reference page for accurate and consistent accessibility ratings still needs to be created.
The individual trail pages have the same information in the trail search as well as a map, images, directions, a description, reviews, and a detailed list of the features and warnings. These were modified and changed as we understood better how users searched for trails and what helped them the most in enjoying their time outside. In the review section, essential information for others, such as crowds and difficulty, have four ratings that are painless to select from. This allows for quick updates as these factors often change and enables the trail info to be updated easily once the review trends change. The trail pages also have a map feature (that is still being built out) showcasing good views, accessibility issues, and crowded areas.
The challenge pages are shareable lists of similar trails hosted by outdoor organizations and organizations that maintain the trails. These challenging pages are reference points for the community while promoting the local outdoors and giving hikers goals and ideas for new hikes.
Group hikes are scheduled local hikes that hikers can go on to meet people and enjoy being outdoors. We updated the group hike pages based on interviews to signify if the user is going, to include the number of people going, and encourage comments so anyone with questions can have them answered before the hike starts. However, the feature allowing for the creation of group hikes still needs to be built out.
Modifications to user updates on hikes, notifications, and their ability to save hikes were expected as they were what most people seemed to rely on for their primary information on changing conditions and hiking trends. We made more active friends notifications, such as if a friend joined a group hike or finished a challenge. We also added notifications for saved hikes, such as if information changed or if there was an upcoming group hike. We also updated the icons to increase findability and discoverability, including changing the search icon into a map icon and the saved hikes icon into a bookmark icon.
The prototype
Here is the final prototype on Figma. Click through and explore to see the design answers we came up with!
The next steps
As the App is centered on accessibility, additional accessibility checks and tests need to be done to account for screen readers and other accessibility devices.
An accessibility reference page needs to be created, so people reviewing a trail have a standard for accessibility when reviewing an app.
Components need to be built out and made more interactive. Currently, there are few micro-interactions and it should ideally have more to promote use and interaction (and also to be more fun).
The map feature needs to be built out so that Building out the map feature.
A heuristic analysis needs to be done of the key features, as the timeline didn't allow for the intense scrutiny on usability we would have liked.
Testing and modifications need to be made to determine the discoverability and learnability of the app when usability testers aren't given context.
The lessons
Many of the lessons I learned throughout this project had to do with collaboration, and many others had to do with prototyping.
Communicate your ideas early and often, and advocate for not only your ideas but those that you like from others.
When working as a team have clear roles and check in to collaborate, brainstorm, and maximize cohesion.
State your intentions with the project amongst the team and make sure you're in alignment on goals, process, and scope.
The more ideas (good & bad) you put out there, the closer you get to finding the unusually good ones while also getting the chance to challenge your own assumptions about the topic.
As you prototype your ideas test them as often as you can.
Do not get attached to an answer to your problem. Get attached to the problem itself.