The project itself :
Project Overview
Placever is a startup project centered around a mobile application with the core concept of "Discoveries During a Walk." This allows users to explore their surroundings and learn about the city as they stroll. The main objective is to provide users with easy access to information, enabling them to discover everything about a location or object.
Problem:
Most map-based projects require constant interaction with the app, which can be interesting yet stressful for the average traveler when searching for information. Many people simply want to know where to go and follow the map without additional distractions.
Goal:
Design an application that enables users to effortlessly explore the city while receiving information without needing to take any action; the app should automatically display everything on its own.
My role:
UX designer leading the Placever mobile application design.
Responsibilities:
conducting research,
storyboarding,
paper and digital wireframing,
usability studies,
iterating on designs,
making high-fidelity prototype
All about the user :
User Research
I conducted user interviews with several city travel enthusiasts to understand their preferences for exploring new places, discovering city attractions, and using travel mobile applications in general. The insights revealed their preference for a calm, exploratory travel style, which guided me in designing an app that prioritizes convenience and enhances user satisfaction.
Pain Points
Approach to routs:
Most applications are focused on building routes, when this is often not necessary.
You need to find all:
You always have to look for everything: the place where you are, the sights nearby.
Too little info:
Information about places is often brief and wiki-based, you have to google it and find out more.
User Personas
Personas were selected by conducting user research and identifying common pain points, that frustrate and block the user from getting what they need from a product.
User Journey Map
It is the series of experiences Carlos has as he achieve a specific goal. It was built on the his experience.
I developed a user journey map of Vlad's experience with the app to identify potential pain points and areas for improvement.
Goal
To explore city attractions without constantly looking at a map and receive engaging descriptions of each location.
The project schematically :
Starting the Design
Here I built some schemes and storyboards to clarify and understand information and architecture of the app. After I created paper wireframes and than proceeded with building digital wireframes with a low-fidelity prototype in order to conduct first usability studies with stakeholders.
Appmap
It's a structured scheme that outlines the pages and content hierarchy of the app.
Next step: creating the application map. My goal here was to make strategic information architecture decisions that would improve overall app navigation. The structure I chose was designed to make things simple and easy.
Paper Wireframes
They initially oriented on the basic structure of the homepage and highlight the intended function of each element.
Here I drew the most important pages of the Placever app – list of cities to choose, map of selected city, list of sights, page of a sight and so on. The goal was to explore different ideas with wireframes.
Digital Wireframes
More "clear" version of wireframes in a digital form. Also all the important pages are added
in it.
On this step I used the Figma design tool to create digital wireframes of all the pages. Then I bonded all of them into the clear and smooth structure.
The goal is to show how all the pages and things interact with each other.
Usability Studies
This is an examination of users and their needs, which adds realistic context to the design process.
Initially, I conducted unmoderated usability studies with several participants, who answered various questions about the app and shared their observations while interacting with the initial low-fidelity prototype. After collecting the data, I analyzed and synthesized the findings, ultimately identifying key themes and generating several insights. The goal was to identify pain points that the user experiences with the app designs so the issues can be fixed before the final product launches.
Radius in settings:
Add the ability of radius selection from the Settings, not only from the map interface.
Place sharing:
It's needed to add the ability of sharing an interesting place from the place card.
City loading:
It would be grate to animate a process of city loading, to know how much is left.
The clear version :
Refining Design
On this step, first I created a static, high-fidelity Placever app design (keeping in mind all the conclusions from the previous phase of usability studies) that is a clear representation of a final product called design mockups. After that, I created a high-fidelity prototype of the app.
Mockups
These are a high fidelity design that represents a final product
I created all the app pages mockups, incorporating the right design elements such as typography, color, and iconography. I also included all the necessary components and elements. The goal was to demonstrate the final Placever app in as much detail as possible.
High-fidelity prototype
It's the detailed, interactive version of designs that closely match the look and feel of the final product.
I turned my mockups into a prototype that's ready for testing, using gestures and motion, which can help enrich the user experience and increase the usability of the app.
Choosing a city to download
Map, scaling, my place, radius selection
Places menu: nearby, favourites, rating
Adding to favourites, place selection
Separate place page, show it on the map
Main menu
Updating city info, deleting a city
Other menu sections
The project schematically :
Outcome
Now, finally, it remained to pay attention to several takeaways and plan some further steps.
Impact:
Our target users have described the Placever app's design as intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to navigate. They can effortlessly select a city, quickly access information about different locations, and read engaging descriptions.
What I learned:
The main thing I learned that even a small change can have a huge impact on the user experience. The most important takeaway for me is to always focus on the real needs of the user.
Next Steps
The series of hand-drawing frames that visually describe and explore a user's experience with a product.
Conduct follow-up usability testing on the new app iteration.
Identify any additional areas of need and ideate on new features.