Seamless Adventure Planning: Prototyping a Camping Reservation System
Designing a user-centric mobile experience to improve the reservation systems for WA State Parks
Project Overview
As a UX designer, I took on the challenge of creating and testing a prototype for a new concept for the camping reservation website for WA State Parks. The primary goal was to design a user-centric platform that simplifies the camping reservation process, enhances the overall user experience, and encourages more people to explore the beauty of Washington's state parks.
My Role
As the sole UX designer and researcher on this project, I spearheaded the design process from initial ideation and wireframing to prototyping and usability testing, collaborating with potential users and stakeholders from WA State Parks.
Objectives
User-Friendly Design: Develop a prototype with a focus on user-friendly navigation and an intuitive reservation process.
Visual Appeal: Design an aesthetically pleasing interface that aligns with the natural beauty of the state parks, inspiring users to plan camping trips.
Mobile-First Design: Ensure the prototype is effective on mobile screens with intention to scale up functionality to larger devices.
Challenges
- 1
Outdated Reservation Process: Users found the existing reservation system cumbersome, time-consuming, and confusing, leading to frustration.
- 2
Limited Visual Appeal: The current website lacked visual elements that captured the essence of Washington's diverse state parks.
- 3
Accessibility Concerns: Users experienced difficulties navigating the website on mobile devices, limiting their ability to make reservations on the go.
Design Process
Research Approach
Identify Test Participants: I met and talked with a small range of users that self-identified as outdoorsy, liked to camp, and may or may not have used the WA State Parks camping reservation system before
Participant Interviews: I wanted to understand pain points and positive findings with users' experiences using the existing reservation system in order to identify opportunities to improve the major workflows
Workflow Observation: I observed the participants attempting to complete predefined common tasks including searching for a campground and campsite and trying to make a reservation for certain dates
Usability Testing & Prototype Review: I asked users to then try the same workflows using various prototypes I came up with to test new ideas and gain better understanding of user needs
Post-test Interview: I recorded additional feedback from participants after completing the workflow and prototype exercises to ensure they had shared all pain points and positive interactions
Usability Testing
Study Participants
As part of the initial interviews I had each participant tell me a little about their frequency of camping, whether or not they had used the WA State Parks camping reservation system before, and how they rated the current experience on a scale of 1 to 10 with any suggestions for improvement.
Existing Reservation Workflow
Many aspects were reported as outdated or confusing during initial usability testing.
Participants noted that the experience was fairly text heavy with little to no imagery to help them decide or learn more about campgrounds they were interested in camping in.
Sketching
Taking what I had learned from the initial round of interviews and usability testing, I started creating rough sketches to explore new ideas and continue testing.
Wireframing
I created initial rough wireframes and asked my research participants to again walk through the camping reservation process.
I created a simple clickable prototype using Adobe XD and had users speak aloud as they completed the same search and reservation tasks.
Final Prototype Features
Intentional Navigation
I changed the primary landing experience to include calls to action to complete the most common tasks that users visit the site for.
The expandable mobile menu also reflected the updated information architecture and allowed users to complete tasks from any page on the site.
Improved Search & Discovery
I made updates to the search interface and filters including condensing the search elements to maximize mobile screen real estate and making small yet impactful updates to the datepicker component.
Campground and campsite detail pages were updated with more imagery and compact information that only initially displayed the most important data such as site and occupancy details.
Visually Appealing Details
I reworked the design of the regional, state park, and campground detail pages to include maps and images to aid in the education and discovery when researching which places to camp.
This was one of the most impactful small changes that research participants responded favorably to.
Results & Impact
Research Participant Feedback
Final Usability Testing Results
Across the board all research participants reported that the changes and design updates I suggested greatly improved the user experience of making a camping reservation through Washington State Parks.
Based on my initial observations, participants upgraded the overall experience from an average 5.2 rating to 9.4.
Impact
Although this project was initially started as an exercise in better understanding user research and usability testing, part way through the process I reached out to representatives from WA State Parks and offered to present my research and prototypes for consideration, and they agreed to meet with me.
I shared my findings and updated designs, and they were received with great appreciation. The WA State Parks team was highly impressed but ultimately didn't have the funding at the time to undertake redesigning the camping reservation system.
Reflection
Prototyping the new concept for the WA State Parks camping reservation website was an inspiring journey that highlighted the transformative impact of user research and how technology can promote outdoor adventures. As a UX designer and researcher, this project allowed me to contribute to the creation of a platform that aims to make camping in Washington's state parks more accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
It was an especially eye-opening experience for me to listen to others' points of view and either confirm or deny my own personal biases that I have when taking on design or development projects.
Lessons Learned
Interactivity Goes a Long Way: Adding simple interactivity such as a map or image gallery can really take simple, boring data to a more consumable and ultimately enjoyable level
Listen: Taking the time to gather opinions and feedback from others is essential
Don't Be Afraid to Reach Out: I was pleasantly surprised how excited the WA State Parks team was to hear new ideas, and it invigorated me to take the same chances with other projects
Future Recommendations
If I were to continue this project, I would recommend continuing to modernize and update other major aspects of the reservation website including managing existing reservations and other user profile features.
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