The Challenge
Make Parents' Lives (Just a Bit) Easier
For this project, I explored a mobile app to help parents research and compare parks and playgrounds. My goal was to discern the factors that are most important to parents when they visit a park with their family.
My role: Product design, UX design, UI design, research
I built out an interview guide and spoke with six parents of different ages and demographics, all with young kids. Unsurprising to me, the responses I got were pretty closely aligned with my assumptions when I kicked off the research phase.
Top insights gathered after interviewing 6 target users
I took this information and built out an empathy map, user persona, user journey, and more to help guide my decision-making process as I began ideating on the app's core features.
Olivia represents the target user of a busy parent with young kids
It became clear the biggest opportunity was for a smoother experience early in the user's journey
The Brainstorm
Defining Features and Building Wireframes
I distilled from my research three core features that would be the most valuable to target users:
• Features and Amenities
• Search/maps
• Friend messaging
Before jumping into those key features, I drew a rough sketch of the app's page structure.
For Features and Amenities, I knew iconography would play an important role. Using easily identifiable icons would help with the visual hierarchy and allow users to quickly scan a list and easily retain the information.
Sketch of list item structure
For the Explore (search) page, search radius selection would default to the user's preference they picked during the onboarding process. It could be expanded up to 50 miles. Users could also filter by specific features to narrow down results to their liking.
I had in mind two primary functionalities within the Meet up feature: an easy way to select when you planned to go, and the ability to invite individual friends or an entire group.
I also wanted to give users the ability to send a Meet up from multiple spots within the app's pages, so I included a button on every card, and as an anchored call to action on the park details page.
Select wireframes of the onboarding process
The Design
A Systematic Approach
I built Parkscout's design system in Figma using components, variables and tokens. This system ensured I could maximize my efficiency and remain consistent when prototyping for a number of different flows and scenarios.
Variables and tokens streamline prototyping and ensure widespread consistency
Selection of reusable components and iconography
I also designed the Parkscout logo and chose the typeface Sora for the app's entire interface. Sora offers a unique look while maintaining excellent readability and flexibility even at small sizes.
The Finish
Tweaking and Refining
Now it was time for some usability testing. I conducted a mix of in-person and remote sessions and asked users to complete a number of tasks, conduct a few preference tests, and provide their overall feedback.
I heard from several users the 'View' filter for the Favorites and Saved containers weren't clear — one thought tapping it would collapse the entire section. So I went back and added more descriptive text and made the iconography a bit clearer.
Most of the users preferred to see the 'List view' by default on the Home page, feedback I expected to hear. Because these were parks users deliberately 'Favorited' or 'Saved', they didn't feel it was necessary to see a large card view — instead, the condensed list view meant less scrolling.
The last change was to the Privacy section. Users could go through various personal information and set it to show publicly, only to friends, or only to themselves. My initial concept didn't make it clear enough, as I only included a "Show to:" header in the top row.
Users preferred to have "Show ___ to:" specifying the action in each column. They cited confusion and a sensitivity to private information, so they didn't like the ambiguity.
As a parent myself, I had to work hard throughout this process to put my assumptions and biases aside and remain focused on user needs. Though some of my assumptions were validated in the end, it was a great reminder how important user-centered design principles are in UX.
Final mockup of the Features and Amenities section on the park detail page
Explore page search results
Users see Recent and Popular searches
Predefined times available for "I'll be there soon" option
