Locale App
Mobile Design + UX Design + UX Research
Timeline: 3 Months | Team: Cameron Fahsholtz, Lyle Hamm
Introduction
This project was created during the COVID pandemic and the 2020 presidential elections. This was a time of extreme loneliness and reflection. People desperately needed connection. Social distancing prevented friends from interacting in physical space and creating memories together. The outdoors provided one of the only opportunity for people to safely adventure and reflect in new environments. This project focuses on helping people experience shared outdoor exploration in a distanced and safe manner.
What is Locale?
Locale is a mobile app that encourages outdoor exploration and socialization whilst observing pandemic restrictions. Locale users can “pin” their favorite spots on a map with personal audio and visual content. They then can share their spots with friends. Their friends can only access this content upon arriving at their friend’s secret spot. This encourages shared exploration.
How can we fosters safe and distanced outdoor connection through shared exploration?
Competitive Analysis Findings
Many products exist for inexperienced hikers, but few target urban exploration.
Interviews
We interviewed eight university students about outdoor activity barriers, desires for community, and personal experiences.
Interview Findings
Students lack the resources to explore outside of cities but are interested in urban exploration with friends. They enjoy discovering and sharing unique "secret spots" with friends. However, students have varying comfort levels and experience with exploration.
Persona
Helped to define the target user.
Persona Findings
The user experience depends on one’s urban exploration knowledge. The project focuses on users with minimal urban exploration knowledge and experience.
We can help friends share their feelings of discovery and excitement when they uncover a new spot.
People feel connected to the natural world when they are curious, confident, and present.
User Journey Map
The user journey map included Jamie’s bike ride to a recommended coffee shop. The user journey map exposed high and low points of curiosity, confidence and stress in the target user. These points of interest guided our design requirements.
Findings
Discovery sparks curiosity, exploration boosts confidence, and presence in nature reduces stress.
Our design process resulted in a prototype that encourages people to participate in urban exploration.
Design Requirements
Prompt users to explore outside.
Motivate users to observe audible and visual surroundings.
Provide users with the option to document their experience.
Not include the "liking" feature of social media.
Design Direction
Storyboarding cemented the need for a user to be able to record their location discoveries in our app.
Storyboarding led to the realization that users should be able to share locations of interest with friends to guide their friends on journeys.
Storyboards
User’s journey in their city with potential design of haptic navigation device.
User’s journey in Magnuson Park with potential application for urban exploration
Information Architecture
High-Fidelity Interactive Prototype
Add a pin (which can only be accessed at that pin’s geographical location) to a global map that represents a point of interest.
Add additional details, such as photos, soundbites and a description to the pin to incentivize other users to visit it.
View the Main menu.
Check out the Messages and Notifications screens.
Explore a pin that a friend sent you.
Send pins to your friends.Find, save, travel to, and explore the pins of other users.
Credit: ESB Professional on shutterstock
Reflection
The application concept effectively addresses urban exploration user needs, but the UI requires significant refinement to ensure usability.