UX/UI Design
goCamp
Course: IAT334 - Interaction Design Methods
In a senior user interface design course, we were tasked to conduct research for a selected design domain to understand users’ needs and goals for potential application opportunities. Seeing that Canada is home to some truly stunning scenery, more people are gaining interest in camping within the past decade. However, there are currently no application that can provide detailed information about camping all in one app., campers are usually required to open up several tabs and apps to look for the information they need. We saw an opportunity to create an application that serves as an all-inclusive platform for both beginners and experienced campers.
Role: User-Research, UX/UI Design, Graphic Design, Prototyping,
Video editing
Tool: Illustrator + Photoshop + Premier + After Effect + ProtoPie +Sketch
Duration: 2 mouths
In a senior user interface design course, we were tasked to conduct research for a selected design domain to understand users’ needs and goals for potential application opportunities. Seeing that Canada is home to some truly stunning scenery, more people are gaining interest in camping within the past decade. However, there are currently no application that can provide detailed information about camping all in one app., campers are usually required to open up several tabs and apps to look for the information they need. We saw an opportunity to create an application that serves as an all-inclusive platform for both beginners and experienced campers.
Frustrations
Some of the biggest concern for campers are preparation before camping, and running into technical problem during camping such as “how to set up tents properly”, “what to do when I encounter a bear” and such. Although there are many existing applications for camping, most of these focus on certain campgrounds in one region. Campers are left to find solutions on several browsers and apps when they encounter issues in their camping trips. (see below for users' comments on existing applications)
“Naturally, I do not enjoy some camping
apps since I can't filter out campgrounds
who cannot accommodate
my requirements.”
apps since I can't filter out campgrounds
who cannot accommodate
my requirements.”
Research
We began researching for insight on this issue by researching the challenges these existing applications pose. We then took these insights and created our own application interface that could better guide campers on their trips.
Insight: Information does not have a clear hierarchy?
With the current travel applications designed camping, we noticed they lack hierarchy in information, and the applications do not interact with users enough to keep them motivated and continue using the app. While most campers camp in groups, most of the application consists of banal and tedious interface that does not allow collaboration on apps for trip planning. Plus, a lot of apps are not accessible while the internet is poor.
Proposal
Camping has been growing in popularity, however none of the current applications provide trip planning and skill learning all in one application, hence we came up with the idea where users can search up campsites and learn about camping at the same time.In addition, according to (Gursoy, Chen & Y.Lu, 2012), only 2% of the population in the United States camp alone, for that reason, users could use our application to create and customize checklists and share information among contacts who are also taking part in the camping trip rather than relying on endless struggle of group texts.
With goCamp, both beginners and experienced campers can learn about all the information they need to prepare for their trips. Campers can also view the saved articles offline and use the AR camera to detect plants in the wild. The articles provided by our app will assist in addressing the frequently asked issues and information.
Our Goal
We have concluded the following common goals you want to achieve through our app:- All-inclusive information for users to learn about camping is just one-click away
- Explore different campsites with activities and facilitates filter
- Shareable camping checklist and articles with friends
Wireframe
Our team started designing the product by Making user journal map and asking “How might we?” question depend on the pain point and hign point which we found from the Kind Cafe customer.
-How might we to create a sense of understanding & community for new infrequent customer who are uninformed & misinformed about what it means to practice Zero Waste?
-How might we create space for more digtal interaction? ...
Reflection
Planning a camping trip should be a fun, exciting experience that flows smoothly into the camping journey itself. The proposal of goCamp aims to offer that with a friction-free user flow. I was satisfied as to how far we went with our project. As the was one of the first user experience courses I have taken, it was an intense experience to be thrown in the deep end of integrating design thinking with real business problems that were also drawn from my own experiences. This project also made me realize the importance of communicating an idea and executing it at a high level.
However, in hindsight, one part I would have wanted to improve is to consider the overall mobile experience. For example, the body text on the content pages (Places and Camping 101) is too small and may not be legible on mobiles. I learned that it is important to create a mobile-friendly application that allows the user to accomplish their goals efficiently.