Project Goal: Improve the current ISO app to increase use frequency and user satisfaction.

Project Duration: 2 weeks. I collaborated remotely with three UX designers.

Jump to a section in this case study!

Research: Explore & Empathize - delta/plus and journey map

Research: Prototype & Test - usability test plan and research report

Conclusion

Explore & Empathize

Let’s walk through why I conducted each research method and some of the deliverables I created.

I conducted

• delta/plus

• user interviews

• usability test

I created

• journey map

• user research report

• usability test plan

Delta Plus

The first step of my research was to look at the app and document my initial thoughts. I wanted to get a high-level understanding of the app’s features and functions.

Positives

• in-app messaging

• easy to find menu options

• easy-to-use interface

• cache photos

• has link to driving locations on the cache description page

Negatives

• can’t filter map on free membership

• can’t browse other members in messaging function 

• can’t create list/favorites on free membership

My biggest takeaway from this was that the app lacked some messaging and communication features that users might expect from a fairly social app. This was an assumption, but I kept it in mind as we conducted our user research that connected us with actual Geocaching users.

User Interviews

I interviewed users who use the Geocaching app regularly. I wanted to learn about their experience being geocachers and understand how they feel about the current app. As a team, we organized over 100 pieces of data.

Here is a snippet of our affinity map, my insights are the orange and green sticky notes.

A few areas that stuck out to me and validated our other methods, including the Delta plus were:

• community engagement

• draws (what made people start geocaching)

• use frequency

The affinity map helped us group common ideas, statements, concerns that the users faced while using the app, and being a geocacher in general. This data helped us create our problem statement and personas.

Journey Map

I created a journey map to illuminate a geocacher’s emotional journey while they are finding a geocache. It uncovered a few areas that could be improved.

This journey map helped our team understand how the user feels as they complete a common task while using the current app. These insights gave us the direction our designs would follow.

The user research that I conducted greatly helped the group understand geocacher’s pain points. This informed our problem statement, which was how we knew what solutions we needed to design.

Prototype & Test

I conducted

• usability tests

I created

• test plan

The usability test plan was used in all four of our user tests. I created this to ensure all user tests were conducted under the same conditions.

The focus of our test was to gain qualitative insights from geocaching users about the new features we implemented.

Here is a sample of the data points.

I grouped data points that were alike and determined takeaways and next steps as a group.

Research Report

I created a report to summarize and communicate the research findings.

Check out the report

Conclusion

Before working on the Geocaching app, I had never heard of the activity. It was really fun to get a peek inside of the community. I learned it’s really all about exploring, having fun, and spending time with friends and family. It was a rewarding experience to improve the community features of the app, so that people can make more connections.

The most “difficult” part of this research process was conducting interviews. Geocaching users LOVE geocaching, so I heard a lot of interesting stories about their favorite caches and experiences. It was a task to keep them on task and answer my questions, but I enjoyed hearing about it all.

What’s it like working with me?

It was a great learning experience working with a team! Here are a few testimonials from my teammates.

“Sara is a research monster. She took charge of that aspect of the project and produced amazing results.”

“Overall a great teammate and would love to work with Sara again.”