How might we assist foragers in feeling safe and confident while identifying and sharing information about mushrooms through an intuitive and supportive app?
VIEW PROTOTYPE HERERole
UX designer
Duration
Feb - June 2024
Tools
Pen & paper
Balsamiq
Figma
Lyssna
Optimal workshop
Miro
The Challenge
Foragers often struggle with identifying mushrooms accurately and finding reliable and verified safety information information. The problem is exacerbated by the lack of community engagement and expert resources in a single platform.
The Process
I followed the Design Thinking Process to create Fungi ID. This solution-based process allowed me to iterate the design to meet the needs of the user with well-designed, technologically feasible solutions.
The Goal
To create a comprehensive and user-friendly mobile application that assists foragers and mycologists in accurately identifying mushrooms. The app needed to address the pain points of both novice and experienced users, facilitating community engagement and providing expert consultations
To understand current market and users expectations, I analysed two competitors that also provide assistance with Mushroom Identification, Mushroom Identification and Mushroom Observer.
Method
I created SWOT Profiles to identify strengths and weaknesses and conducted a UX analysis to find out how Fungi ID could improve on what is currently on the market.
Main takeaway
The competitor analysis revealed that there is space in the market for a well designed foraging app that assists with mushroom ID’ing not only with AI but by connecting users with mycologists and the wider community..
To understand user needs, goals, behaviours and frustrations I conducted interviews with 3 participants, including experienced mycologists and amateur foragers. I created an affinity map to analyse the interviewees’ comments where the findings, insights and solutions were clustered based on theme.
Community is at the core of foraging for all foragers. It is an activity that many do with others to share the experience. There are official forums and groups that foragers are drawn to either to join or to seek guidance or more information.
Amongst all three participants there was a desire and typical pattern of consulting another person who has more experience or expertise to confirm an unsure identification.
There is a shared concern among the interviewees regarding the safety and security of mushroom foraging, particularly in relation to the risk of misidentification and consumption of poisonous mushrooms.
Personas & User Journeys
Method
From the interview findings two personas were created highlighting two groups of Fungi ID target users; Novice Forager & Dedicated Fungi Enthusiast. This articulated the different goals, motivations and frustrations with the foraging process that Fungi Finder aims to address. Further understanding of how the two personas will interact with Fungi ID was derived from user journey maps.
Main takeaway
The expert consultation will be significantly important to the Novice Forager who lacks experience and confidence foraging. A seamless user experience contacting them is a priority. For the Experienced Fungi Enthusiast the community knowledge exchange is a highlight, ensuring they can access and share content efficiently is important to them.
To visualise what the personas will need from the app I wrote Task Analyses and drew User Flows for a few of the core features which led to the development of a site map of Fungi ID.
Method
From the interview findings two personas were created highlighting two groups of Fungi ID target users; Novice Forager & Dedicated Fungi Enthusiast. This articulated the different goals, motivations and frustrations with the foraging process that Fungi Finder aims to address. Further understanding of how the two personas will interact with Fungi ID was derived from user journey maps.
Main takeaway
The expert consultation will be significantly important to the Novice Forager who lacks experience and confidence foraging. A seamless user experience contacting them is a priority. For the Experienced Fungi Enthusiast the community knowledge exchange is a highlight, ensuring they can access and share content efficiently is important to them.
Method
The user flows led to an initial sitemap of Fungi ID. To refine the sitemap, I conducted remote card sorting sessions on Optimal Workshop.
Main takeaway
This user input resulted in a clearer layout and order within the sitemap. Specifically, combining all educational articles and safety guidelines under resources.
To begin, the navigation of the app was sketched, then low-fidelity wireframes designed for three features based on the user flows using balsamiq. I used Crazy Eights and voting dots to rapidly iterate on the designs. Once the basic layout of the app was created, I designed a high fidelity clickable prototype on Figma. This was in parallel to creating the design system including colour scheme, typography, iconography, grids following material design guidelines.
Six remote moderated usability tests were conducted where participants were asked to complete tasks using the high-fidelity prototype in order to assess the learnability for new users interacting with Fungi ID for the first time on mobile.
Method
Tasks assigned to participants:
1. Create an account on the Fungi ID application.
2. Choose a mycologist to connect with for expert advice.
3. Call your chosen mycologist to assist with identification.
4. Find foraging spots near your location.
5. Upload photo to community channels.
Notes were gathered from the tests and the comments organised as observations, errors and positive or negative quotes through affinity mapping.
The findings were recorded in a Rainbow Spreadsheet with Jakob Nielsen’s Scale applied to decide which issues should be prioritised and adjusted.
Main takeaways
Prioritised issues:
Issue 1: Unclear pricing structure and packages (high)
Issue 2: Navigation bar functionality and icons not clear (high)
Issue 3: Lack of reviews and number of ratings (medium)
Issue 4: Lack of clarity on how users can contact a mycologist immediately from a forage (medium)
Issue 5: Ambiguity around the onboarding and sign up flows (medium)
These issues were all addressed and informed the next iteration of the prototype.
Responsive Frameworks
Many elements within the Material Design framework were applied to the responsive design. Elements like the tab bar, image cards and search bar were all taken from the framework. Other elements that were more specific to Fungi ID’s requirements were take from the design system keeping in mind the principles and values of material design.
Design Documentation
The UI elements were refined and the style guide was updated.
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If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
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