This project is a proposal for an integrated experience mobile app to support fishermen/fisherwomen of all levels around the Illinois area. The below highlights the user experience design process of my teammates and myself throughout this project.
Client
Personal Work
Created at
DePaul University
Project Team
Rodolfo Gomez
Stephanie Graf
Akash Singh
iFishIllinois seeks to support all levels of fishermen/fisherwomen when they take part in the activity of fishing, seasoned and novice anglers alike. It seeks to improve the experience of fishing and make the activity more enjoyable for all. This project hopes to accomplish this by giving immediate answers to questions about all bodies of water throughout Illinois and create an environment in which all people are able to gain more knowledge on the subject. The goal is to provide one convenient integrated experience which will prove invaluable to all fishermen/fisherwomen in Illinois, so they can stay focused only on the activity and be able to otherwise relax.
A contextual inquiry was completed with six individuals from a variety of backgrounds and levels of fishing experience. We observed potential users while they performed tasks similar to those connected with an integrated experience of the activity. The goal of this is to determine how the subjects actually perform tasks now, what their goals are for doing these, and what things work and do not work for them using their current approach.
An inquiry protocol was created as a guideline for our subject observations. Here is what this consisted of:
There are no right or wrong ways to carry out an activity, or right or wrong answers to my questions; I just want to watch what you do and hear what you have to say. As you perform the activity, your actions and comments will be noted and you will be asked to describe what you are doing. You may be asked questions before, during, or after performing the activity. This meeting should last about 30 to 45 minutes.
This activity is voluntary. You have the right not to demonstrate any activity or answer any question, and to stop the inquiry at any time or for any reason. Your actions and responses will be confidential and used only in connection with this class assignment. Only your first name will be used to identify you. If you wish, you can use a pseudonym rather than your real name.
Is it OK for me to begin with my requests and questions?
Stormboard was used to compile our team’s findings and gain insight.
Using the information gathered in the conceptual inquiry, the team developed several design-informing models and established a baseline set of requirements for our integrated activity.
Name: Jeff
Tagline: “Fishing is a new relaxing hobby of mine”
Background
Age: 25
User role(s): Novice Angler
Education: College
Level of computer expertise: Adequate
Goals/motivations:
– Fishing is a relaxing activity that takes away the stress from being at the office
– This is a new hobby of mine and I want to learn more about it
Frustrations and pain points:
– Jeff wants to really try fishing, but is unsure on where to get started on it
– Being overwhelmed with the amount of information out there related to fishing such as an array of tactics in catching certain species of fish
– Not really knowing how to do some of the techniques related to fishing by his own
Narrative
Jeff is a 25-year-old male who works at an office job in the city of Chicago. Jeff did not really do much fishing growing up, but now that he lives in a very urban environment and the stress of work catching up to him, it is now time for him to get away from city life and enjoy the outdoors more. Always liking to challenge himself, Jeff decides to take up the hobby to see how well he can do with minimal knowledge of fishing.
Name: Bob
Tagline: “There is nothing like hearing the drag screaming while you are reeling in something that is pulling on your line!”
Background
Age: 68
User role(s): Seasoned Angler
Education: High School
Level of computer expertise: Minimal
Goals/motivations:
– Fishing is a very fun and relaxing hobby
– Would like to help other anglers out if they are having issues when they are first starting out with fishing.
– The need of preserving the art of fishing needs to be taught to younger generations whenever possible.
Frustrations and pain points:
– Going to a new lake and seeing that the facilities there are not up to par such as poor bathroom facilities or the docks are poorly maintained for launching a boat
– Possibly losing fishing tackle due to some new underwater hazard in the body of water he is fishing in (such as losing an expensive lure from some debris after a storm went over a lake the previous day)
– Fishing a lake with a boat and not knowing some of the very shallow parts of a lake where he might damage the propeller of his boat engine
Narrative
Bob is a 68-year-old retired blue-collar worker who spends most of his retirement fishing the big lake near his place of residence weather permitting. Since he has been fishing since his childhood, he has gained a plethora of fishing experience. He is pretty well acquainted with various fishing techniques for targeting various species of fish. He also owns a fishing boat which he uses to get to other parts of the lake that a shore-bound angler might not be able to get to. With a vast array of knowledge, Bob would like to share to his knowledge to the world to novice anglers and to the next generation of younger anglers whenever possible.
A user journey map was created for the persona that faces the most challenging journey, the novice angler. Essential elements included are timeline, indication of persona’s emotions, touchpoints, and channels.
This diagram visually represents the activity-related concepts and the relationships among the concepts.
Based on the information gathered up to this point in the project, these were some of the requirements we decided on:
– Find and save fishing locations
– View beginning and advanced video tutorials
– Learn more about or locate a specific species of fish
– Research the forecast
– Purchase and view/show a fishing license
– Connect with friends and others around me
– Examine rules of the body of water visited
– Search for the identity of a fish based on photo/description
– Record and save a fishing log
– Read and share reviews
. . .
A card sort was completed by the team to inform us on the types and names of application content. This information was used to create the navigation map.
The team focused on two conceptual task scenarios while creating the conceptual mobile app design: (1) User looks up tutorials on fishing techniques and (2) User looks up a terrain map of a lake.
A navigable prototype was then created using Adobe Illustrator and Balsamiq to carry out the two focus conceptual task scenarios to completion.
Usability evaluations were performed using the interactive prototype and six different subjects with a variety of experience in fishing and using mobile apps. An evaluation script was created beforehand, and afterwards the gathered data was analyzed and interpreted. Measurements were also collected, such as total time to complete each task, the number and type of errors committed per task, and number of times a question was asked to the facilitator during each task.
