CHALKBOOK

App Design
View Prototype

Project Overview

BackGround
Climbing as a sport has always been known as low tech in that one does not need much more than their hands and feet to start climbing. But as climbing has become more popular that includes an increase of tech savvy individuals in the climbing community. There are obvious benefits of integrating tech into climbing but it is important to do so without polluting climbing’s low tech heritage. With that in mind, an app that focuses on providing accessibility could greatly benefit the climbing community.
CHallenge
Guidebooks are typically heavy and not always up to date on new climbs that have been established post publication. They are mostly used as a map to find climbs in nature. Mountainproject.com and 8a.nu are widely used websites that serve as a logbook but do not have every climb on their website/app so it can be frustrating to log climbs that are not on there or having to log their climbs on both sites.
My Contributions
MY ROLE
‍UX Researcher
UI/UX Design


TIMELINE
80 Hours


TOOLS
Figma
Adobe Ps
Whimsical
The Noun Project

Research

  • Free Community driven resources are important

  • Guidebooks are the primary use case.

  • Simple UI will maximize usability without distracting from the content of actual guidebooks.

User Interviews

The first round of research consisted of gathering thoughts and opinions from climbers. After interviewing several climbers of different backgrounds and levels, I discovered there was a genuine interest in the digital guidebook. I have a compiled list of questions for the climbers that can point the design of this app in a clearer direction. The research goal was to understand the user needs when using guidebooks and logbooks for outdoor climbing.

  • User Needs: How will the design help the users?

    Paperless, convenience, portability.

  • Business Goals: How will the design support business objectives?

    Subscriptions, digitally published guidebooks for purchase.

  • Technical Limitations: What technical obstacles need to be overcome?

    Downloadable content, some areas do not have service.

User Persona

User Flow

Design

Logo Explorations

There are many ways to describe climbing, nature and adventure are just a couple.

  • Carabiners were used in initial logo explorations due to their indispensability.

  • A compass overlay was added to symbolize a climbers desire for adventure.

  • Mountain goats were later added, iterated, and isolated. The animal is an aesthetic symbol that represents a climber's obsession with adventure in nature.

Logo Iterations

Often times climbers are perceived to be grungy, but they are equally laid back and simply out to have a good time. So out of the many goats, this goat was chosen for its more light hearted aesthetic.

  • Line weight was explored but a silhouette was evaluated to provide better contrast and a cleaner aesthetic.

  • Color exploration led to a darker pastel green that conveys the greenery found in nature.

Low Fidelity Mockups

Simple screens that represent a general layout of the app. Considerations for the low fidelity lay out were:

  • An offline section:

    Resources need to be usable offline because many outdoor climbing areas are far from mobile data service.

  • A digital library:

    Users revealed that physical books are bulky to carry.

  • A progress log:

    Users would like to be able to record their ascents and log them for a visual representation of progress

Style Elements

Logo
Color
Typography
Noteworthy (Logo)
SF Pro Rounded (Content)

High Fidelity Designs

All the visual design elements presented in the low-fidelity wireframes as well as logos, typography, color palettes and overall mood are applied to the high-fidelity designs. Ready for usability testing and prototyping, the ideas, research and strategy behind ChalkBook starts to come together.

Usability Testing

Despite the app still being in development, as a MVP, all of my users enjoyed the app without any frustration. Users stated that it was simple, straightforward, and easy to navigate. They are excited for the development of the logbook features and some accessibility improvements. Constructive results of the usability tests revealed that the user’s ability to upload their own visual content is desirable. Current payment options are limited to Apple Pay, but alternative payment options will be required for beta testing.

Priority Revisions

The results of the usability tests affirmed that the app has accessibility issues. Apart from the introduction of the Logbook feature, the priority revision will be to improve those accessibility issues:
  • Option for users to upload their own content in the community resources.
  • Altenative payment methods.
  • GPS cooridinates for specific boulders.
(Before)
(After)

A major revision users requested was the addition of GPS coordinates for specific areas. Often times boulders that see less traffic have scarce information and are hard to locate, by adding GPS coordinates users precisely navigate to the area.

Although the app was built primarily with iOS, not all users have iOS or partake in Apple features such as Apple Pay. With that in mind, the revised payment screen offers the option to input billing information alternative to Apple Pay.

Next Steps

Prototype

Continue to test prototype on larger scale. A larger sample size will better reveal the small pain points that were missed in initial testing.

Revise

With pain points revealed by testing a larger sample size, revisions can be made to make sure the app as a whole is ready for open beta testing.

Handoff

After final revisions are made, handoff to developers and work in conjuction with teams for final design launch.
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