UrbX
App for adventure and connecting
NICHE
Urban exploration
MY ROLE
UX research, Heuristic testing, mapping, MVP, Customer journey
DURATION
2 weeks
TEAM
4 people
PROTOTYPE
Niche & the problem statement
Our topic for this project was urban exploration. It is the joy of exploring abandoned and forgotten places. This community is relatively secret due to their interest in preserving the places. A strong moral code ‘Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints‘ connects them all.
We chose this topic for its interests in exploring the feelings in abandoned places and focused on discovering this community’s underlying needs and issues.
Approach
Double Diamond framework enabled us to explore innovative ideas , as we were switching divergent and convergent phases.
User Analysis
In the beginning, we dived in the desk research about our users by using Netnography, interviews – qualitative and quantitative research. Soon, we found out from the interviews, the users were not prone to talk about urbex because they were afraid we would exploit them and the places.That taught us, that not everyone from the community is happy to provide details about their passion.
Netnography and quantitative data revealed their underlying issues and needs/ desires.
Before finalising our personas, we mapped the Extreme users to better understand the diversity of the urbex community.
Experience Mapping & JBTD
Next step was Experience mapping – for the customer journey. That allowed us to understand what the users go through from the very thought of visiting abandoned places to post-experience. Mapping their feelings, thoughts, and actions let us brainstorm possible solutions to particular steps and overall digital solution.
Diving deeper into the research, we used a method called Jobs To Be Done. JBTD let us discover the main task – ‘find abandoned locations to explorer‘ and the desired outcome ‘minimise the toxic community from urbexing‘. ( see in Miro)
POV & 2x2 Matrix
After that, we stated our POV ( point of view). This statement guided us in fulfilling the ultimate aim – as a problem statement.
The POV let us use a decision support technique called 2×2 Matrix – to set the important and high impact features and filter the unimportant ones
Design Ideation
Moving from research to design development, we created several moodboards and subsequently a style tile. We were able to proceed to develop the solution that resonates with our audience the most.
User flow & Prototyping
In order to secure user-centered design and keep our audience as the main focus all the time, we created a user flow. We prioritised intuitive solutions to keep the design as simple as possible. After that, we created low fidelity working prototype. To ensure our solution remains user-friendly, we conducted Heuristic Expert testing. After that, me and my team proceeded to create high fidelity prototype
Our thrill-seeking target audience is focused on a dark visual theme of the app. We made sure that the app is welcoming at the same time for all our personas – inclusivity is a priority.
Continuing with the prototype, we gamified the app to ensure the main concern of our audience – to eliminate unexperienced people from urbexing – in order to preserve the abandoned places. This way, users are able to unlock the places only who truly gain them as well as keep the places safe.
MVP & Onboarding
As the competition of apps/ platforms is low in this field, we created Onboarding process. This way, we ensured our users from making unneccessary errors and create the most effective experience. Thanks to that, we communicate the value of our Minimum Viable Product to our users properly.
Final thoughts
In this project, I improved my cultural and interpersonal skills with my team. It was a challenge which I was happy to take on, and moreover, I was able to unravel true underlying desires of our users. Our users were not prone to answer due to the secrecy of urbex, yet, I managed to collect valuable data and find my way in all situations. Empathising on this level unlocks so many possibilites to how to get in the users’ heart and fulfil their needs.
I reflect upon my intrapersonal skills as improved immensely too. Proving myself to be flexible and creative in fast-paced situation created new perspectives which I am utterly happy to share and learn even more.
Lukás Nagy © 2022