Conducting User Research

The team conducted 18 user interviews and 6 contextual inquiries. While online user interviews focused on users' experiences with the NParks website, contextual inquiries provided more insights into users’ lifestyle and needs when hiking. These observations were mapped to generate valuable insights which we used to create our personas.

Some of the key insights include:

Testing the Prototype

Usability testing was conducted with 5 participants, who generally responded positively to its features, finding them fun and interactive. Additionally, they expressed that the feature would be useful for many individuals including themselves. Most users encountered no significant issues completing most tasks. Our first prototype received an average SUS* score of 69.5.

Dissatisfied with the initial results, the team opted to iterate the prototype to address identified usability issues and subsequently conducted a second round of usability testing. This iteration resulted in a notable increase in the SUS score to 83.5, indicating significant improvement in user satisfaction.

*The System Usability Scale (SUS) is a simple, ten-item attitude Likert scale giving a global view of subjective assessments of usability.

Key Learnings

Collaborating with outstanding teammates - Jeremy, Aloysius, and Joyce - was a pleasure in my first UI/UX group project. This experience underscored the importance of leveraging individual expertise within the team and the crucial element of trust in achieving our shared objectives. Additionally, it taught me the vital role of effective communication, the importance of managing timelines and tasks, and the necessity of keeping everyone updated to ensure smooth and efficient teamwork.