Smithsonian National Zoo
The Client: Our client, Smithsonian National Zoo, founded in 1889 is one of the oldest zoos in the United States. Located in Washington D.C. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Task: Design a mobile application that will help to improve the experience of zoo goers.
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Duration: 2 weeks
Tools: Google Doc, Google Forms, Sketch, InVision
The Team: Sheldon Mojica, Mary Sargent, Rahnuma Ahmad
My Role: Lead designer focusing on usability and UI balance, making sure each design decision was validated by user preferences and businesses goal.
Understanding the Client
Upon receiving our project, the first thing my team did was take a trip to the Smithsonian National Zoo. This allowed us to record the zoogoers experience firsthand and document any of the pain points we faced.
Zoo Visit Take Aways:
Unclear Signage:
We found it difficult to understand the signs that were placed around the park. Sections of the map were labeled with different colors, but as far as we could tell (as well as the zoo's help desk) the colors didn't have a specific meaning or correlation with the exhibit.
Poor Marketing:
At the entrance of the zoo, there was a kiosk that sold maps for $5 a pop, We interviewed various zoo goers and they all agreed that the maps were priced way too expensive. We later spoke with the salesperson at the kiosk and found out that the map included coupons on the back pages as well as a discount at the gift shop (this was not advertised anywhere).
Difficulty Navigating:
While we explored the zoo it quickly became apparent that there was an issue with navigating, though there were signs placed in various areas we came to areas of the park where we had no idea where we were, where the nearest bathroom was, or how far the nearest food stand was located.
Understanding the User
After having visited the zoo and recorded the pain-points faced on our trip my group decided it was best to research the users of our app.
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Our Survey:
We surveyed 61 potential users to acquire quantitive data on our target audience. We found that 85% of the survey respondents said that an interactive navigational app would positively enhance their visit to the zoo.
Interviews:
We interviewed 7 individuals to gather qualitative data to better understand the pain points of the user. Users' biggest pain points about the zoo experience were the "depressing zoo atmosphere", navigational issues, and lack of accessibility.
Creating Personas
Based on the information we gathered on our target user we decided it is best to create personas to help develop our designs. (below is an example of the specific criteria we concentrated on when developing the various personas).
Research Conclusions
Our research found that users wanted an app that would help them navigate throughout the zoo. We also found that giving the user the ability to quickly view exhibits as well as add these exhibits to a "trip planner" would help to promote an educational feature and navigational solution.
Design Ideation
Following the research phase of our project, we began designing our application based on our findings. At first, we thought we would take a direction that would involve a game similar to Pokemon Go but later decided against it because we felt that the zoo experience was about experiencing the actual zoo, not an application that would take the user away from the physical experience. We determined we would design a navigational application that would allow users to plan their trip to the zoo.
Design Studio
The team and I thought it best to conduct a timed design studio where we could all design our impression of the app. This process allowed us to decide on the different pros and cons of each person's designs to ultimately convert them into one design.
High Fidelity Mock-up
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The Prototype
