AQUALAB IS AN APP THAT ALLOWS WATER SPORT ENTHUSIASTS TO EFFICIENTLY CHECK THE FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS FILTERING AND DISPLAYING THE DATA STRICTLY RELEVANT TO THE USER’S ACTIVITY OF INTEREST. THE APP SUPPORTS USERS IN PLANNING WATER ACTIVITIES BY OFFERING A RANGE OF RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON USERS PLANNED ACTIVITY.
Project details
Context
The allure of water sports is the thrill of the open water, but it's essential to prioritize safety to ensure an enjoyable experience. Checking the wind, waves, and weather conditions is critical for any water activity, whether it's sailing, diving, or surfing. Unfortunately, many weather apps fail to provide accessible, easy-to-understand information for water sports enthusiasts. As a result, they're left struggling to interpret complicated weather data, which can lead to stress and potentially dangerous situations on the water.
Hypothesis
Watersport aficionados such as sailors, surfers, and divers need a way to receive accurate weather data presented in an easy to comprehend and visually attractive way, so that they can make informed decisions about participating in water sports.
Users need a way to access all relevant and up-to-date information on the weather conditions, because they want to safely plan the free-of-unwanted-surprises outdoor water sport activity.
Goal
Provide the users with an app for weather forecast, wind and tides visualisations and with an engaging content relevant for water sports enthusiasts. The app should be fast, intuitive, visually pleasing and should provide accurate and sufficient data for professionals and leisure lovers.
solution
A weather activity planner, that allows user to filter the forecast graphs and data based on selected activity, plan activities taking factors in consideration such as weather conditions, proficiency in specific activity, and available locations and access an interactive map with alerts and events.
Process
1. Understand
Competitive Analysis
2. Empathize
Surveys,
User Interview,
Affinity Mapping
3. Define
User Personas
4. Ideate
User Journey Map,
User Flow,
Sitemap
5. Prototype
Sketching,
Wireframing
6. Test
Usability Testing,
Iterations
1. Understand
Competitive Analysis
To gain insight into the market for my project and identify potential opportunities, I conducted research on two competitors, Surfline and Windfinder, who offer similar features. By developing marketing profiles and conducting SWOT analyses, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of each company's strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, I performed a UX and features analysis of both competitors to identify any areas where my project could differentiate itself and offer a unique value proposition.
Check out the analysis here.
Key Findings
Overwhelming majority of users are from United States, Australia and Germany, from demographical group 25 - 44 years old, with an above average income
Most of social media traffic comes from Youtube (52%), then Facebook (17,9%) and Instagram (11,5%)
The most popular content on the weather apps, apart from forecast, is news and media
Great visuals and accurate live updates are probably what brings users to the app
There is a room for improvement regarding better, more new-user friendly UX and better marketing strategy, reaching this way more potential users
Sites that provide not only live forecasts but also engaging user stories, The versatility of the content and access to relevant water sportarticles and more inclusive coverage of all kinds of water sport could prove to be a solid competitor on the market
Overwhelming majority of mobile app are Android users, surprisingly the app in both cases has much better optimisation for IOS. Better optimization for Android could be an opportunity for AquaLab.
2. Empathize
User Interviews and Surveys
I kicked off with user surveys. Having an insight from much larger audience helped me understand my target audience and their feelings towards the problem space.
Another type of research I conducted were user interviews. As a generative and qualitative sort, talking to my potential users provided me with valuable and deep insight on what they think and believe in and what’s their approach and attitude towards weather check and solid preparation to planned outdoor activities with impact on the ones by water reservoirs. Having direct eye-to-eye contact with them also gave me a chance to observe their behaviours and most importantly the problems they face in relevant situations. I was able to learn about their current methods as well as methods and apps that failed them. Interviews helped me verify my problem statement and my user stories.
User interviews and surveys provided the valuable data necessary to properly kick off my design phase. Combined they validated and updated my hypothesis, and verified my user stories, which is necessary to create the features and functions, that will truly address the problems of the users.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target group comprises individuals between the ages of 20 and 44 who are habitually involved in water sports and have a passion for vacationing and spending time near various water reservoirs.
As individuals who actively engage in water sports at any proficiency level, they rely on weather forecasts and numerous sources to plan their activities and ensure their safety. By providing tailored weather forecasts for their specific activities of interests and locations as well as assistance with planning, the app can help them make informed decisions and avoid potentially dangerous situations.
Affinity Mapping
Key Insights
Users tend to rely more on graphs, but check the interactive maps for additional info (relevant for wind, tides and cloud movements).
According to survey, 66.7% relies more on graphs, 33.3% picked interactive maps.Interviewed admit, some activities require extended planning and preparation that goes beyond weather forecasting. Organising an activity often includes gear rental and right safety measures, about which our app could potentially inform the users.
Users need different sort of information for different type of activity. Some data is more relevant to specific activity while other is trivial and/or unnecessary.
Active with different skill level can handle different intensity of weather conditions.
Interviewees are more or less engaged in social media. Majority follows relevant profiles, some actively post and share their experiences (photos from hiking, surfing, etc).
3. Define
User Personas
4. Ideate
User Journey Map
User Flow
Card Sorting
Before moving onto wireframing, I conducted a card sorting exercise with participants to finalize my sitemap.
Information Architecture
5. Prototype
Wireframing
I kicked off the process with paper sketches of mobile and desktop version of the app, testing and organically iterating my ideas, revolving mainly around an activity planner as the core feature. Having figured out the “big picture” regarding the layouts and proposed navigation system, I then moved to mid-fidelity wireframing, through which I polished the selected solutions. Finally, planning ahead for the usability testing, I moved to high-fidelity wireframes, making the prototype look as authentic as it can get at this stage of the process.
Style Guide
The AquaLab weather app is designed to be a helpful guide for planning outdoor activities, especially water-based sports, by taking into account weather conditions. Its color scheme reflects the beauty and serenity of the outdoors, specifically the allure of water, to embody the joy and passion that users have for the water activities and outdoors. This nature of the app should be apparent to users from the moment they launch the app.
Check out the complete Design Language System.
Prototyping
LOW-FI
MID-FI
HIGH-FI
V2
CURRENT
6. Test
Usability Testing Report
Goal
The goal of this study was to determine the ease and efficiency of the app navigation, when trying to access the core functions of the app, as well as finding potential pain points. I observed and measured if users understand the app, its value, and how to complete basic initial tasks such as creating an account and planning a watersport activity.
Objectives
Determine if participants understand the app and the value it provides, as well as easiness of the navigation within core features and identifying pain points, frictions and design flaws.
Methodology
Combination of moderated in-person and moderated remote testing (via Skype, Discord).
Take a detailed look at the Test Plan and Test Script.
Results and Recommendations
Final Design
Responsive Design
Mobile
Tablet
Desktop
Features
Activity Planner
This feature guides user through a process of decision-making regarding the planned activity/gateaway, by offering recommendation of place based on factors such as preferred activity and proficiency, weather forecast and season. The finalised plan can be accessed at later time and shared with others via social media.
Forecast for specific activity
It A way to filter a forecast data based on selection of particular activity. User can quickly jump between different graphs, or create their self crafted board of relevant graphs.
Interactive Map
A map that displays alarming events such as hazardous conditions, notifications, as well as recommended activities.
1st Onboarding
The first encounter of a user with the product. A brief experience of familiarising a user with the app, and setting up a customised experience.
try the prototype
Conclusion
Since the beginning of the project, Aqualab has experienced various changes, ranging from subtle adjustments to significant transformations. Originally designed to provide users with forecasts tailored to specific activities, the focus of the app has shifted towards assisting users in planning their activities.
With a dedicated focus on a particular area, AquaLab can become the go-to solution for users seeking specialized services and information. By excelling in this specific niche, we can build a reputation for excellence, attracting more users and solidifying our position in the market.
As the lead UX designer for the AquaLab project, I faced several challenges that taught me the significance of prioritizing accessibility during the design process to create an inclusive product that caters to a diverse user base. While I did invest considerable effort in researching and understanding users' motivations and pain points, I realized that I could have gained more valuable insights by studying their behaviors through ethnographic studies and intercept surveys.
I think the next steps for the app is introducing it in several other languages, AquaLab is meant to be an app encouraging users to stay active and travel to beautiful destinations around the world, that allow users to dive into the active vacationing. Therefore the target group is an international crowd. While the app was initially developed in English, incorporating alternative language options would significantly enhance its accessibility and appeal to a wider range of users. This is particularly important for older demographics who may have less familiarity with English as a foreign language. By offering localized language options, AquaLab can ensure that users from various regions can easily understand and engage with the app's features.
I believe implementing alternative language options in the app can increase user’s likelihood to download the app and join the membership experience.
new hypotheses
User testing can validate these hypotheses or launching a beta version and analysing the data from users interactions within the app. Also, conducting a survey could serve as an additional source of information.
How will these hypotheses be validated?
Are there any areas of your product you believe need specific improvements?
I would like to implement more fun things to explore within ‘Explore’ section. It has not been my core focus during the development process, hence in the current version it still remains more of a draft of an idea, rather than a perfectly executed vision. Therefore, in the upcoming steps this should be iterated and tested.
How might your user testing evolve as you begin to polish your application?
Focus on completing specific tasks to narrow down the improvement needed. Moderated user testing as well as remote testing may be worth the time and money at this “polishing” stage of the design. To better understand how users interact with the product in a non-scripted, natural environment, a long-term testing may prove to bring a major insight. Input from users can inform beyond usability, it can inform user’s emotional engagement and therefore user’s devotion to your product and services.
What is your timeline for your improvement & implementation?
The aim is to complete the first version of these improvements ready for user testing in the first week. For user testing, since the app revolves around activities that are often done seasonally and are affected by seasonal change, ideally a period of 6 months is the time needed to gather a sufficient insight, analyse the data and execute improvements.