Ecotour Mobile App
Designing a mobile app for educational field trips
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64% of wetlands in US have been degraded
It is speculated that more than half of the world’s wetlands have disappeared since 1900, despite their value to the human population. Wetlands helps in water purification, flood control, & food supply.
THE PROBLEM
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Improve the overall field trip experience for students, making them understand the importance of wetlands.
THE CHALLENGE
Prototyping
Testing
Ideation
Research
Development
My Role
I was the Product Designer for this project and my responsibilities included understanding overall landscape, ideating solutions, prototyping UI, business assessment and concept validation.
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2
1
Scoping
Research
Ideation
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4
Prototyping
Evaluation
The Process
Understanding Domain Space + Users Needs
PRODUCT DISCOVERY
Who are Users?
Primary Users: High school students studying environmental education
Secondary Users: High school teachers who conduct environmental field trips
TARGET AUDIENCE
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Students
Teachers
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Comparative Analysis
We conducted a comparative analysis using different AR & environment based applications. This helped us to identify industry trends, technologies, features, opportunities, strengths / weaknesses of competitors and come up product strategy.
Education Apps
AR/VR
Apps
Nature Apps
Gaming Apps
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User Interviews
Conducted semi-structured interviews with 7 individuals (4 students, 2 teachers, 1 ranger)
“Don't just drag us anywhere to give tons of info about just ONE tree, tell us what to do, and how to do it”
QUOTE
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Field Observations
Our team visited the Muscatatuck Wildlife Refuge in Indiana State to observe a real field trip with school students and talk to rangers and the staff members working there.
User Persona
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The Student
The Teacher
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Journey Mapping
Our Research Findings & Design Directions
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
Lack of trained instructors in park
During the recent years, the National wildlife refuges have been underfunded by the government. Thus, there is a lack of well-trained instructors to assist all school field trips.
PROBLEMS FOUND
Unable to see everything due to time constraint
PROBLEMS FOUND
The school trip is typically too short to cover all the content in the wetland. A field trip normally lasts 2 to 3 hours and the wetland study is just a small part of the whole trip.
Traditional teaching method are less effective
PROBLEMS FOUND
Students get bored by just listening to the tour guide because they only talk about environmental concepts instead of letting the students actively participate in field trip activities.
Hard to manage large group of students
Students lack discipline and it is difficult hard for teachers to regulate their behavior. Students get distracted easily and often Play with phone during or talk to each other during the trip.
PROBLEMS FOUND
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Design Goals
Management
How might we help teachers to organize and manage field trips more efficiently?
Engagement
How might we create an immersive & interactive experience for students?
Education
How might we enable students to explore, find and learn about nature?
Safety
How might we make sure that students are safe in the wetland areas?
Job Stories
“When I’m conducting a field trip I want make sure that all students are engaged so that they become more aware about the nature”
Teacher
Student
Situation
Motivation
Outcome
Job Stories
“When I’m in a school field trip I want to see animals in real and participate in the activities so that I learn more about how they live”
Situation
Motivation
Outcome
Teacher
Student
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Big ideas emerged during brainstorming session
IDEATION
AR Mobile App
Mobile App for students to search different animals and plants in the wetland area
Virtual Reality Classroom
Show students how the environment is changing and showing immersive content
Treasure Hunt Game
A game where students are asked to find different things in the wetland using a map
AR based Visualization
Showing students how the wetlands have been destroyed and animals became extinct
Feature Selection
How might we help teachers to manage field trips more efficiently?
How might we create an immersive & interactive experience for students?
How might we enable students to explore, find and learn about nature?
How might we make sure that students are safe in the wetland areas?
Guide & Tour Mode
AR based Learning
Search & Explore
Location Tracking
The Solution
FINAL OUTCOME
Ecotour App
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Use AR to learn about wetland in real time
Start a new tour or join an existing tour
Explore activities and wildlife in the wetland
Find places of interest and directions on map
Sign In + Map
Sign In / Sign Up
Select Location
View Information
Explore Wetland
Explore
View Details
AR Object Scan
Camera Scan
AR Info Overlay
View All Details
AR Features
Fun Facts
Play Quiz
AR Features
Timeline
AR Artifacts
Highlight Area
Start Tour
Guide Mode
Select Tour
View Tour Details
Map View
Map & Places
Place Details
Students Connected
Join Tour
Join Tour
Select Tours
Map & Stats
Map & Places
Your Stats
Iterations + User Testing
UI DESIGN PROCESS
User Testing of the App
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03
Sessions
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Participants
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Mins / Session
Conducted user testing with low fidelity, mid fidelity and high fidelity prototypes
We tested the app with 3 school teachers, 7 students, 1 park ranger and 1 expert user
Participants were given tasks to complete and were asked to think aloud while doing that
Low Fidelity Iterations:
Navigation
ROUND 1
Tools Used:
Balsamiq, pen & paper
v1: Explore
v2: Explore + Map
v3: Separate Explore & Map
ROUND 1
v1: Explore
v2: Explore + Map
v3: Separate Explore & Map
What should be the ideal entry point & app navigation structure?
Mid Fidelity Iterations: Layout
ROUND 2
v1: List View
v2: Tile + List View
v3: Curated Card View
Tools Used:
Sketch and InVision
Which layout is makes it easy to explore new things during the trip?
ROUND 2
v1: List View
v2: Tile + List View
v3: Curated Card View
High Fidelity Iterations:
Map & Tours
ROUND 3
v1: Places on Map
v2: Places in Menu
v3: Places with Time
Tools Used:
Sketch and Principle
v1: Places on Map
v2: Places in Menu
v3: Places with Time
ROUND 3
What kind of information is valuable to navigate in a wetland?
Tools Used:
Sketch and Principle
High Fidelity Iterations: Select Tour
ROUND 3
v1: Spots + Length
v2: Length +Review
v3: Spots + Length + Review
v1: Spots + Length
v2: Length +Review
v3: Spots + Length + Review
ROUND 3
What are the key decision factors for teachers to select a tour?
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Testing Results Summary
EVALUATION
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User Quotes
EVALUATION
Design Decisions
REFLECTIONS
Defining AR interactions
DESIGN DECISIONS
Static & Locked in the Space
Static & Fixed on the Screen
Gamification to increase Learning
DESIGN DECISIONS
Tracking your activities
Trivia & Quiz in real time
Designing for Edge Case Scenarios
DESIGN DECISIONS
Download for Offline
Low Battery + Location
Immersive Content to create Awareness
DESIGN DECISIONS
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What I could have done better
REFLECTIONS
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Next Steps
CONCLUSION
Currently the prototype app is being developed using Apple ARKit and Unity. We are also pitching this product idea to Indiana state government and trying to receive funding for this project.
Thank you!