Kindling
A social platform for campers to acquire information, make friends and plan trips
Nature is Beautiful. Find a group and explore!
Project Type
Full Product Design from ideation and research to implementation
Role
UX Researcher and Designer
Duration
September 2023 - December 2023
Design Tools
Figma
After looking at our key findings and determining who the true demographic was, we created five User Personas to imitate both the targeted demographic and edge cases to help us start to think about our design process
Our conversations with firefighters provided essential input on safety features and emergency preparedness, while engaging with students offered valuable perspectives on the technological preferences and accessibility considerations of the younger demographic. Furthermore, discussions with seasoned campers informed us on the nuanced and specific needs of experienced outdoor enthusiasts, enriching our understanding of the features that would truly enhance their camping experiences. Equally important were the insights gained from prospective campers, as their viewpoints guided us in creating an intuitive and inviting user experience for those new to camping.
User Personas
Design Process
Upon completing our research, we came up with a design statement to guide us through our design process and explain the purpose of our app.
Design Statement
Our design aims to address climate impact created by campers. Our design encourages users to camp in groups, which reduces their carbon footprint, through user incentives, the ability to connect with others, and statistics about their reduced impacts on the environment. Camping in groups also reduces the individual risk of starting wildfires.
Lofi
To start planning out our designs, we used Lofi prototyping to ensure a smooth user flow and ensure that all of the necessary barebone components could be placed in before diving into a High fidelity prototype with better UI and functionality
Hifi
Research Methods
Interviews
Survey
Personas
Usability Testing
Storyboards
Team
Neha Kotagiri, Alex Mah, Meera Agrawal, Sarandia Papanstasopoulos
After prototyping with Lofi models and ensuring that our user flow was friendly and smooth, we started to create our final hifi prototype blending the key features with functional and aesthetic UI
Research Process
Upon deciding that we wanted to create an app in hopes of addressing the climate impact created by campers, we quickly dove into our research to determine competitors, if there is a real niche in the industry and if our product would have an impact. To do this, we started by doing a comparative analysis of direct and indirect comparators alongside interviews with both our targeted and non targeted demographic to see if this is something they would want to see produced. Upon completion, we created a survey to ask people what they were looking for to see if our design prospects were feasible.
Surveys and Interviews
This pivotal process of conducting interviews and gathering survey responses involved engaging with a broad spectrum of individuals, including firefighters, students, passionate campers, and individuals considering camping for the first time. By leveraging a variety of perspectives, we conducted over 15 in-depth interviews, enabling us to gather diverse insights that shaped the direction of our app's design and functionality.
The comprehensive nature of our user interviews and survey data has proven instrumental in informing our app's user interface, content structure, and feature set. By grounding our decisions in real user feedback, we have ensured that our camping app is truly designed to meet the needs and desires of our diverse user base, thereby enhancing their camping experiences and fostering a sense of community within the outdoor enthusiast demographic
