Using the Washington Trails Association mobile app, how can we improve hikers, nature lovers, runners, and athletes hiking experiences? In this project, I focused on improving the existing WTA mobile app to make it safer, and accessible for WTA users. This two-person, self-driven project allowed me to consider how I can design a product/service that is safe, relevant, and community-oriented for people who like to spend time with nature.
The current WTA mobile app allows users to search for hikes and trails throughout Washington state. While the app offers many useful features, it lacks a few key ones, such as the option to alert family and friends, optimized search results, the opportunity to connect with other hikers and form groups, and the ability to journal hiking adventures.
The mobile app was able to be transformed into a more informative and user-friendly app by incorporating features such as a community page, an offline map, and an alerts page. These new features enhance WTA users’ experiences by allowing them to hike safely while also including their loved ones in the process.
We consolidated our findings after conducting a semi-structured interview with six people from varied backgrounds. We discovered several recurrent behavior patterns in terms of pain points, interests, and goals which are significant to our design inquiry. With that, we established two personas based on our results.
We developed series of low-fidelity prototypes using whimsical to help guide our design. We created our low-fidelity prototype with new features such as a profile page, optimized search options, and emergency alerts page.
Overall 100% of our users preferred to use this new version over the original WTA app but they had some additional feedbacks.
By searching “hikes near me” users can find lists of parks near them. The corresponding search result includes ratings, distance, levels of difficulty, and the option to add each search result to their backpack. In these search results, users are able to view maps as well as apply filters, and sort to their preference.
After adding trails they want to go on to their backpack, users can view hike alerts, hike maps, hike descriptions, local emergency services, and create their hiking checklists.
Users can share their whereabouts with family and friends and alert them in the event of an emergency. Users can notify their emergency contacts once they've started their hikes if they have any concerns.
Hikers can create profiles, add/find friends, and make connections with other fellow hikers. Users can also form groups and plan their next hike.