Pathkeeper Mobile App Case Study
Goal: Gamify an Earth Caring Activity, Team Project
TIMEFRAME
Two Weeks
MY ROLE
UX Researcher
UI Designer
Presenter
MY TOOLS
Miro
Figma
User Research
Proto Persona
After creating a proto-persona, my team and I got to work conducting a survey and interviews.
User Interviews
Some of our favorite quotes tell us more about our users.
“It’s better to do than to watch.”
“Everyone is a stakeholder in this.”
“Plastics are everywhere, they are everywhere and are in everything.”
Survey
Most of the people who took the survey would like to have a community to share in Earth friendly activities, but not everyone. Pathkeeper should offer a sense of community, an opportunity to organize, but also maintain privacy for users.
People responded that they probably have up to 5 hours of time available to work on Earth friendly activities, so in response we decided that Pathkeeper should offer something easy to fit in to a user’s schedule.
From both the surveys and the interviews we gathered a general sense of feeling overwhelmed, not knowing where to start, and wondering if what they are doing is even helping. Pathkeeper should make Earth friendly activities visible, provide a supportive sense of community, and easy to get started with simple direct actions users can perform in their own neighborhood.
Persona
Meet our Persona, Mike Fields. He helped us understand our user’s goals and pain points more fully.
User Insight
This is the user insight statement developed after analysis of the interviews and survey results.
Hard-working and environmentally-conscious people like Mike need to feel encouraged and informed about their everyday efforts to minimize their impact on the environment, as well as supported in finding ways to improve the environmental health of the planet. Mike enjoys being outdoors, has some wiggle room in his busy schedule for performing acts of Earth care, and wants to feel like he is making a difference with a community of Earth minded individuals.
Problem Statement
How might we help busy people who enjoy outdoor activity feel encouraged to engage in Earth care activities along with a sense of community support and results they can see?
With a problem statement based on our analysis of the user research, we continued to ideate.
Competitor Analysis
Direct and Indirect competitor analysis inspired the design of Pathkeeper. Here are select observations.
Wren.co – Direct Competitor
Clear cut education on the topics and what you can do to offset carbon emissions, project-based solutions that are shared with the audience
Sugi Project – Direct Competitor
Beautiful design. Compelling stories. Feels intellectual. Keeps track of projects into fruition. Partners with global universities with forestry programs. The effects of monetary donations can be visualised.
Duolingo / Pokemon Go – Indirect Competitors
Clear gamification that doesn’t overwhelm the user. /Playful interface that is enjoyable to look at.
User Experience Design
User Journey Map
A user journey map helped with visualizing the user flow.
User Flow
Creating a comprehensive user flow gets the project going and gives the team a better idea of how the app will work for the user.
User Interface Design
Style Sheet
Along with my team, I formulated a style sheet and components to refer to. This style sheet became the guide for our project design. This tool helped us collaborate and keep the app aligned to one aesthetic.
Wireframes
After creating a clickable wireframe prototype it was time for design and more testing!
Iterated Design
User Testing
Some feedback from testing:
- Reformat home screen to bring more emphasis to the map and overall declutter
- More of an indication that badges are clickable
- Fix wording in tutorial
- Back button on home screen is confusing
- Make onboarding more clear
Prototype
Takeaway
Future iterations of Pathkeeper might include:
- Follow other users and create groups
- AR feature with tree and plant identification
- Sponsored community clean ups with experience prizes, i.e. enough points wins a free kayak rental
- Users can create a “Litter Alert” and drop a pin to alert others about an area in need of clean up