The Challenge
Fueled by social media and COVID-19, outdoor tourism saw a dramatic increase in 2020. Many individuals ventured into nature without adequate preparation, gear, or knowledge—resulting in a significant rise in injuries and fatalities. Gaining a deep understanding of these contributing factors was essential to designing an app that clearly and effectively communicated the information needed for people to have safe and enjoyable outdoor experiences.
Research
The goal was to target an audience that yearned for outdoor exploration with good and bad experiences. Observing those bad experiences allowed me to identify and narrow down the problems that could be built into solutions.
I used screener surveys to select participants who fit my criteria and conducted five user interviews. These interviews explored hikers’ experiences when they felt unprepared or unsafe, helping me understand their needs and what could have improved their outdoor adventures.
Some key takeaways from the interviews were that bad experiences were due to lack of preparation, appropriate gear, or knowledge and not knowing what to search for. While more experienced hikers had already had already learned from past experiences, beginners had less feedback from trial and error.
Ideation
This phase focused on identifying the essential information needed to support safe and enjoyable hikes—like weather updates and downloadable trail maps. Early sketches and site maps explored established layouts with a clear information hierarchy. Mapping out user flows and user stories helped define diverse needs, from beginners to experienced hikers, ensuring the app would be useful and accessible to all experience levels.
These evolved into wireframes that shaped the structure and brought the concept to life, always centering user needs and usability.
Design Process
The project began with a mood board to define a clean, nature-inspired aesthetic, followed by a detailed style guide outlining the visual system. High-fidelity screens were designed to build trust and provide users with clear, efficient access to trail information.
A clickable prototype was created to test three core user flows. Usability testing with five participants uncovered key areas for improvement—such as clarifying profile customization, enhancing search functionality, and adding gear recommendations for beginners. These insights directly informed the final design refinements.
The Solution
The goal of Pathway was to ensure users felt informed and confident before embarking on their hikes—with safety as the top priority. Pathway made it easy and efficient for people to find all the information they needed related to their hike, whether that was what shoes to wear, what to pack, the weather forecast, or which hike best suited their individual needs.
By implementing a hiking gear directory accessible throughout the app—from the home page to individual hike pages—users gained seamless access to essential information that supports a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience.
By implementing a hiking gear directory accessible throughout the app—from the home page to individual hike pages—users gained seamless access to essential information that supports a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience.
