CLIENT

Product Designer, UX & UI

PROJECT TYPE

Student Case Study

an iOS application purposed to guide national parks visitors toward the right permits and relevant details for their upcoming trip.

THE PROBLEM

National Parks have seen a visitor increase of 1.5 billion people in the last five years across the 129 historic parks managed by the National Park Service. 

Sharply increasing National Park visitor rates have resulted in reported trouble enforcing safety regulations for recreation activities, prompting an increased injury and fatality rate of 8% across parks since 2012.

HOW MIGHT WE?

How might we better enforce safety regulations for National Parks visitors partaking in recreation activities?

STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS

"How do you plan for a National Park visit?"

To better understand perceptions toward safety in outdoor recreation, along with motivations, goals, and painpoints of park use, I interviewed parties affected in the planning process of visiting a National Park. Parties interviewed included:

1. Forethcoming National Park Visitors
2. National Park Rangers

Parks selected for understanding included national parks with high summer recreation visitor rates: Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Acadia National Park.

KEY LEARNINGS

People struggle to find all necessary information to plan their park visit in a single website visit. They instead cross comparing multiple pages at once when planning.

Mandatory permits require a stagnent application process that does not update with relevant information to the location or time being planned for. This leaves parks goers confused and with incorrect information.

Uncertainty in online planning and permitting lead to more in-person ranger station visits, resulting in more last minute trip planning and rule cutting to achieve the visitors intended goal of going to that park. 

Following my interview insights about disjointed parks information and permitting, I discovered that the most noteable problem is the process taken to receive a recreation permit. All parks require forethcoming visitors to determine dates and specific locations they wish to attend, but do not inform details to educate on the form, causing visitors to cross-compare and search for the right information elsewhere. Additionally, park information is updated daily by rangers on the website, but does not affect conditions of the form. Critical information is easy to oversee if the visitor does not go to the right page on the park's designated website. 

Boost the transparency of mandatory trip planning procedures before any national park visit. By allowing forthcoming parks visitors to visually understand, plan for, and acquire the necessary permits for their next trip through an iOS app, the National Park Service will reduce recreation based injuries and fatalities, along with overcrowding and park pollution.

Assist forethcoming park visitors in understanding exactly which National Parks permits are required for the visitor's indended recreation. Allow visitors to apply for and receive their permits in one centralized app.

VISUALIZE TRIP PLANNING

Let foregoing National Park visitors build their desired trip, and interact with trip options and add-ons before applying for their permits. Include a park-recommended packing check-list relevant the visitor’s trip.

Give National Parks visitors relevant updates pertaining to their trip. Include daily ranger updates, trail information, weather expectation, and fire danger critical to the park visitor to plan beforehand.

SKETCHES

In my sketching process, I considered different user interactions necessary in planning a National Parks visit, as well as visualization for needed information to acquire recreation permits. 

HIGH FIDELITY DESIGNS

SELECT YOUR TRIP DESTINATION

Users are able to find the National Park they wish to visit by searching, list, or proximity to their current location.

CHOOSE YOUR TRIP DETAILS

PREPARE FOR YOUR TRIP

After filling out trip details, the user is provided with a dashboard specific to their upcoming trip, containing their trip details, a recommended gear checklist, and ranger updates.

ARCHIVE MANDATORY INFORMATION

The user is able to see and apply for the exact permits mandatory to their upcoming trip. Additionally, the user can house emergency contact information accessible by park rangers in any urgent predicament.

WHY THIS WORKS