An Information- Sharing Platform
for Outdoor Enthusiasts
Problem Statement
How might we encourage people to participate in outdoor exercise activities more often and socialize with people who tend to share the same interests?
Our Motivation and Questions
By reviewing the current App, we found that most of them are designed mainly for trail recommendation and GPS navigation purposes (e.g. AllTrails). There is few social networking function implemented within the system. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, people are getting harder to socialize safely. While among the five activity segments measured (team, fitness, outdoor, individual and racquet), outdoor saw the lowest impact due to COVID shutdowns, as just 34% of respondents said they could not participate in outdoor activities due to pandemic restrictions. Team sports were hardest hit at nearly 69% followed by racquet at 55%. At this point, we're trying to figure out an effective way to help people connect with different outdoor exercise community and find their ideal partners.
Research & Analysis
Literature Review
A Study of Outdoor Recreation Motivation & Activity Preferences
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Results showcase that being social and learning new things during the outdoor activities contributed the most to the individuals’ motivations to be active.
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Perhaps our app can include some sort of learning/informational section
Personalized Time-aware Outdoor Activity Recommendation System
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Conclusion section: “The proposed methods provide useful recommendations for the outdoor activities regarding a specific time of the day within a specific day of the week.”
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This is helpful when we conduct our interviews. We can ask questions like what’s the specific time of the day, or, the specific day of the week do you prefer to participate in outdoor exercise?
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100000 Reddit post analysis to prove the importance of social features in hiking activities
Towards Understanding Hikers' Technology Preferences
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Different groups of people (e.g. Tourists, Enthusiasts) have quite different goals (i.e. fun, social, health) and preferences (i.e. alone, group, tech devices) for hiking.
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That can be one of our interview questions. We can interview users whether they like to carry their mobile phones in hiking and what hiking program they look forward to participating?
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We can also use the research result to customize the recommendation and the socializing features.
Unexpected Journeys with the HOBBIT The Design and Evaluation of a social Hiking App
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Some people might not be willing to meet others while doing the outdoor activity (i.e. they prefer to do that alone).
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Provide useful survey data. (If we don’t have time to send out surveys.)
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Support our idea “social + hiking”
User-centric radio power control for opportunistic mountain hiking networks
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From the technology side, this article can help us understand that people perform outdoor social networks while using our application, the power consumption of the program is also an aspect that needs attention.
Conclusion:
A good outdoor social networking app should consider the motivations of various types of users (i.e. occupation/health condition/age/etc.)
User Interview
We conducted a user interview to better understand their needs and goals. Below are our interview questions:
Opening Questions (check interviewees’ preferences towards the outdoor activities)
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How do you feel about outdoor exercise activities?
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What motivates you to participate in outdoor activities?
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Would you tell me about your favorite outdoor activity?
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Do you have any bad experiences with any outdoor activities, especially hiking?
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Do you enjoy outdoor activities by yourself? If not, how do you find friends or partners with the same interests and invite them to go out?
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Do you like to use mobile apps when you are doing outdoor activities? Which kind of app?
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Do you like to use social media platforms? If yes, will you use social media platforms to share your outdoor experience? If yes, do you get an active reply or do you get in touch with any online community?
Middle Questions (lead interviewees in discussing the topic related to the outdoor social apps)
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Have you ever used an app to search for outdoor exercising locations such as trails or parks? Be specific
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What are some challenges have you encountered before while participating in outdoor activities?
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How do you find trails/route/site?
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Any info you are looking for in the mobile app?
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What are some troubles/positives you’ve had during a hiking trip?
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What features do you think that need to be improved in current outdoor activities applications?
Ending Questions (specific suggestions to our outdoor activity app design? If any)
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Do you feel like the design was made for you? Why or why not?
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Based on the design we have had so far, which parts really impressed you? Which parts did not?
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What other features would you recommend to be implemented in such an app?
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Would you recommend this app to your family or friends?
Here are our interviews notes.
Competitive Analysis
To understand the market opportunity and identify an optimal solution, we analyzed the features of six applications for outdoor enthusiasts. Through our analysis, we found that they all provide some basic features for outdoor activities, such as trail description, activity record, or community interaction. But few of them contain all these functions. They all have their own cons and pros.
The app "AllTrails" is used for finding new trails and routes. Guthook almost has everything that AllTrails does, but it has less trail information. When users want to find a specific location, the best choice should be Gaia GPS or Google Earth, as they provide dozens of map sources, including satellite and geospatial data. Hiking Project provides a comprehensive guide to find hiking trails nearby using GPS info. However, no comments on the trail's situation were provided, so users cannot obtain much insight into the trail info. One advantage is that it is free and does not have any ads, which would not distract users' attention.
Among what we have mentioned earlier, neither AllTrails nor Google Earth has socializing features. Although apps like Guthook, and Hiking Project support some community interaction, none of them has an in-app chatting feature. In this case, users cannot communicate with each other. There is one platform that focuses on community interaction, which is Huck Adventure. The developers of this app devoted to connecting users with other outdoor enthusiasts, and they allowed users to communicate with each other on a more personal level. However, it does not have much trail information with a low searching functionality. Therefore, we want to design a platform that could contains all these features.
Key Insights
1. Some participants indicate that they are reluctant to share their outdoor activities on social media, while some participants are willing to do so.
Participants who prefer to use social media feature in the app while doing outdoor activities:
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Both participants show an interest in using social media to find pals. Users tend to stick with a fully functioning app instead of using multiple ones. In particular, many Chinese people prefer using WeChat as an info-gaining tool in daily life. This is equivalent to American users using Facebook Messenger since they both are social media. This is a good sign that outdoor participants are actively looking for opportunities through social networking.
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Pieter: “I have to reach out to people on another platform since AllTrails does not provide a user chatting option to us. I believe that definitely is something many users have demanded.”
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Sky: “If you’re able to develop such a 3-in-1 tool just for the outdoor activity purpose, I would say I’ll definitely give it a try!”
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One participant said she likes using social media to share experiences when doing outdoor activities.
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Alex: “I am kinda addicted to social media and cannot stop checking my iPhone even when I'm going out with my best friends…and I like posting photos about my outdoor experience.”
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Participants who do not prefer to share their outdoor activities on social media:
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Only one participant indicated they would share their outdoor activity experience on social media.
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Both participants indicated that they don’t like to share their outdoor activities experience on social media due to their privacy.
2. Most interviews show that the information on current applications lacks details.
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Participants show some desires about what can be included in the app design:
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Participants want a way to find the location of the restaurant and the parking location.
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Lan: “restroom locations, specific entrance location, and parking instructions.
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Participants want a way to communicate with people but currently does not include this feature.
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Lan: “The social function that people can invite others on hiking”
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Participants want a feature that includes a "recommendation bottle of water for this trial" but currently does not because of the lack of details.
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Yang: “I am looking for an application that can include water location, and also it will be cool that the application can show bottles of water users need to carry.”
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An application that provides detailed information on vital resources would be a helpful guide for users.
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“I went on a beach clean-up last year on a hot day and I was ill-prepared because I did not bring water. Adding a nearby resources feature would be very helpful.”
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One participant indicated that the filter function for current outdoor applications should be more precise and have more options. Two participants suggested that we should include weather-related functions in our design because it is exactly what is missing from the current outdoor activities apps.
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Participant #2: “...for example, suggest different trails based on weather.”
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One of my participants shares his hiking experience in Hawaii. He said that he got the hiking spot recommendation from one social media platform RED but the trail's information was lack of details and brought him a bad experience
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Richard: “I only know the trail location but have no idea about how difficult it was...The trail was eroded seriously but the app did not remind me of that so that I did not prepare enough.”
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3. Most interviews indicate that people like to go outdoors with their friends instead of doing alone, but some interviewees suggested that it may depend on what activities.
Participants who say it depends on the activity:
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One participant mentioned how they prefer participating in outdoor activities in a group only when safety is a concern. For example, the participant prefers hiking with others but prefers walking in the neighborhood alone.
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Both my participants said that they prefer conducting outdoor activities with their friends. However, one interviewee mentioned that when he goes fishing, he prefers fishing alone and does not like others with him.
Participants who prefer to go outdoors with friends:
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All participants indicated they usually don't like to conduct outdoor activities alone and prefer to go out with friends.
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All participants also said that invitations from others are a major incentive for them to conduct outdoor activities.
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Both my participants stated that it depends on the situation, but they tend to go outdoors with friends.
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Sky: “I started exploring some farther locations by myself recently. But sometimes if I feel like I don’t wanna be alone, I will reach out to the group opportunities I saw in WeChat.”
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Pieter: “It depends. I went hiking to the nearby trails by myself more often, especially due to the COVID. But if I go somewhere pretty far, like long-trip hiking/camping to Zion, Yosemite, etc., I would find some tour pals in advance of the trip.”
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Both my participants indicated that they enjoy outdoor activities but they don’t hike alone.
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Lan: “I enjoy outdoor activities by myself. But for hiking, I never act alone, I prefer hiking with my friends.”
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Yang: “I usually hike with my friend, I am not interested in hiking alone because I feel dangerous.”
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4. Some participants show a desire in tracking their outdoor activities with health statistics, as their motivation is to keep in good health.
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Both participants think using the stats data can stimulate their motivation for exercising. One participant even suggested that implementing a leader board function in connection with social media so that people who have similar physical activity can interact and make friends.
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Both participants mentioned that a feature that tracks distance mileage and keeps a history of data is useful in analyzing growth.
5. Some participants indicate that they haven’t used any application designed specifically for outdoor activities.
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All participants mentioned that they have not seen any advertisement for the outdoor app. Two of the participants never used the outdoor apps.
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Jack & Mars: “I literally never use any outdoor apps, though I download many useful apps on my phone. If I’ve seen any advertisement, I will download the app no matter whether I will use it later on.”
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Only one participant indicated that they have used an application dedicated to outdoor activities, which is Alltrails. Other participants only used general applications like Google Maps and Tripadvisor for their outdoor activities.
Design Ideas
Persona
Before brainstorming for our platform design, we focused on the targeted users and tried to understand their needs. We utilized our interview data to create the persona, including their background information, behavior patterns, goals, and pain points. Here is the persona:
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Journey Map
To better understand our users, we imagined how users discover platforms from their perspectives. We created a journey map to visualize their interactions with the outdoor application platform.
Storyboard
After identifying our user patterns, we started to narrate our user story. We created two storyboards to illustrate ideas about how users' problems arise and how a new platform can meet their needs. These scenarios are inspired by the interview we conducted. The first storyboard shows the user's pain points and how they might find the new platform. Sara fails to invite her friend John to go hiking together. At the suggestion of friends, she decides to look for somebody through an online platform. She finds “LetsHike” that our team designed and starts her new journey. Then comes the second storyboard. She used the app “LetsHike” that our team designed and successfully found a suitable match, Lizz. Lizz posted her recent hiking plan under the trail detail page. They connected mutually in the app and chatted about the meetup details.
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Sketches
After brainstorming and discussion in our group, we used the sketch to design which functions or features should be included in the prototype of this program.
sketch of home page, which include trail search, partner information, and past activity
sketch of a list of favorite events with detailed description
sketch of activity record,
which includes walking speed, max speed, distance data in details
another sketch of home page, which includes types of activities, popular communities, and user's outdoor plan
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Here are our wireframes based on our competitive analysis and interview insight. We first decide our main functions on the navigation bar, which includes "Home," "Find," "Community," and "Profile," based on our competitive analysis, and then add some typical features based on our interview insight.
On the home screen, We want users to have insight into anything they can do with this app on the home screen, so we included entries and quick looks for each part of our app. "Popular" is a quick look for the "find" tab, where the user can view more trail information and local resource for different outdoors.
On the "Find" page, we include the "recommended" function as many applications did. It can quickly help users to find what they want based on their interest collection. Based on our interview result, we provide many useful nearby resources for the user when they are conducting outdoor activities. For example, we add "interactive map" in the "find" section because some interviewees reported that they hope the application could include specific locations of nearby resources, such as restrooms or restaurants. We also add a feature called "Ask an expert" that allows the user to get helpful advice when they get into trouble in the wild.
HOME
FIND
Then back to the home screen, "Find a partner" is a quick look for the "Community" tab, where the user can find partners and communities. Our interview reports that people are preferred to go outdoor with friends instead of doing it alone. Therefore we make partner recommendations for the user to find one another quickly. The interview also reports that most people like to share their outdoor experiences on social media. So we also provide a space for users to post and share photos. In addition, because the interview is conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, some interviewee reflects their worries to the COVID-19 situation. Considering this, we add a real-time COVID-19 response to the bottom of the page.
Most importantly, we include an in-app chat function. Based on our competitive analysis, few applications have direct message features, which is very important for the user to communicate with others. On the right top of each page, a message icon would navigate the user to the direct message screen. Through this feature, users can chat privately with others and expand their connections.
COMMUNITY
CHAT
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The Profile page contains basic information about the user's account. Users can set and change their profile on this page, find their friends, view their saved events, and review their shared posts. The stats/history function provides sports information about the user's activities. Users can also get system support through this page, and users can find problems frequently encountered by other users and how to solve them. Users can also initiate questions via email.
We also create an additional page design for the details of activity tracking. The overall idea is to connect the app to wearable devices, like Fitbit, Apple Watch, etc.
PROFILE
Activity Record
Initial Prototype
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In addition to our wireframe, we added some features when designing our prototype. Some features are visible from the prototype, while some happen outside the prototype.
We designed a login page that would lead the user to the preference selection page. The user can select their favorite outdoor activities, and the App will recommend content, such as activities, travel guides, and partners.
The user can click the activity card on the homepage and Find page, and they will be directed to a detail page of that activity. The detail page includes descriptions, photos, user reviews, travel guides from the App, etc. The guides will be presented in the interactive map.
The search function on the Find page allows the user to find outdoor activities using filters and sorting, such as difficulty level, distance, duration, etc. They can also browse by categories.
"Local Resources" will also be displayed through the interactive map. For the Find page, we also added a switch for the interactive map to allow the user to choose whether to open the map based on their needs like privacy and phone battery level.
By clicking another user's avatar, they can see their profile, such as their favorite activities, activity record, and photos and guides they posted. Nevertheless, the user can choose what to show in public in the setting. They can also set a screen (like questions) for the direct message to avoid spam.
Photos and Travel Guides on the Community page are posted by users. Unlike the built-in travel guide displayed through the interactive map, a user-posted travel guide is more like a blog post.
We add a map for the activity record so that the user can view their track on a map. They can also see their partner in an activity, as long as they start the activity from the interactive map and choose each other.
Evaluation: Usability Testing
Objective
We will be testing our prototype on our outdoor social application. By showcasing a prototype to test subjects, we can better understand how the usability of the app works in regards to maneuvering through pages as a user. Our focus in our user testing is the user’s ease in navigating through the site and finding key information.
User Profile
We will recruit users who are currently using outdoor apps, such as AllTrails, Gaia GPS, etc. The users will be outdoor enthusiasts who like to use mobile phone during outdoor events.
Method
The evaluation sessions will be conducted virtually via Zoom. In each test, we will first show our high fidelity mockups to the user with brief descriptions of each page view. We will let the user provide feedback and suggestions about the layouts of the features. Next step we will be asking the user to interact with the prototype that we made on Figma. In this way, we may figure out if our interaction design is consistent with normal user behaviors. We will test it with 5 people for evaluation.
Click here to interact with our prototype:
https://www.figma.com/proto/z6BasMCz4mdoUJxPKFoXoc/Prototype?scaling=scale-down&page-id=0%3A1&node-id=2%3A292
Task List
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Task 1:
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Description: Find tips and advice on outdoor activities
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Machine State: Make sure travel guides are showcased on the community page
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Task 2:
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Description: Browse the home page and find useful information about your favorite outdoor activities.
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Machine State: Make sure the “find” page is displayed for the user which allows him or her to choose types of outdoor activities
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Task 3:
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Description: Locate your activity history and find the distance traveled on your last activity
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Machine State: Make sure “Activity Record” appears on the profile page when clicked, ensure details of the latest activity are shown
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Task 4:
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Description: Find a potential partner and message them
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Machine State: Make sure the community page has potential users/partners they can choose from
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Result
We tested 5 potential users and learned some insights from their interaction with our prototype.
Firstly, they all have a positive impression of our overall layout and show interest in it. But they also suggest that we can improve some details and make some instructions more clear.
Some potential improvements could be:
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Displaying a brief bio for each user so that the user can quickly find their ideal partner and distinguish them from one another.
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Improving search and filter function
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Making the interactive map as a separate page to access more easily; also providing options for different types of maps.
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Moving the part of "Travel Guide" to the "Find" or Home page as it looks confused in the "Community" section; also categorize travel guides based on location.
To get the detail of our evaluation measures, please click here.
Final Prototype
Login
Preference
Home
In addition to our initial prototype, we modified our prototype based on the user evaluation and our discussion
The user can have a peek at the App as a guest, while there will be some limitations such as no direct message and favorite features.
We added an entrance for travel guides on the homepage, as suggested by the user.
Find
Map
Community
We add a tab bar item for the interactive map so that the user can navigate to the map more quickly and easily. The map will auto-suggest nearby outdoor locations if the interactive map is not used by other functions (like build-in travel guides and activity records). We also categorized the travel guides into groups based on locations. The user can see how many guides a location has.
Chat
Profile
History
![[Static] Stats.png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e65610_86cb6303362547ea92aadf6363015abe~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_280,h_887,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/%5BStatic%5D%20Stats.png)