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Taking the same route every day can be boring.
Local hikers were finding it difficult to discover new trails and routes in their area. Existing apps didn't make it easy to match routes based on difficulty, and they tended to overwhelm users with information.
Furthermore, users couldn't download trail maps, which caused problems when they were out in areas with no connection, or when they wanted to be in airplane mode to save data.
Finally, they were also found to be massively lacking in accessibility information, which is vital for people looking to find safe and fun routes.
User interviews provided guidance.
Speaking with potential users helped me to get a better understanding of what they needed in this app.
Based on my competitive research, I wrote a list of features the app could have and asked them to rank their favorites.
In the end, their most-desired features were photos of the route, as well as information on things such as trail conditions, the length of the route, and the difficulty of the route.
Flow map and concepting.
I created a flow map to organize the user's journey through the app. This also allowed me to plan out which concepts would make it into the final prototype, based on what my research suggested would be most beneficial.
As the most important features, trail conditions and difficulty can be accessed right away. Images of the route can also easily be clicked through.
The route options have images and length listed upfront. The difficulty is represented next to the length by color and shape.
More information on the difficulty score and estimated completion time can be viewed.
Usability testing introduced some changes.
People initially found it difficult to find the app's accessibility information, so the color and shape ranking system was introduced and included alongside the difficulty button. The different colors and shapes help differentiate them, and including them inside the button shows people where to go
to find it.
Conclusions and takeaways.
Ultimately, providing features that allow people to quickly and easily access information on their routes is the most important element of this app. I learned what users valued most in this context, what they felt was missing, and what types of things I could do to more effectively give them access to what they needed through things like shape and color coding.