BRief
The Georgia Aquarium is a mainstay of Atlanta tourism and a nonprofit committed to inspiring awareness and preservation of our ocean and aquatic animals worldwide.
The Georgia Aquarium has a robust app that is mainly geared towards families with young children. My team’s challenge was to create a companion app that served the needs of adult visitors.
Our research showed that adult users wanted to be certain that they had taken full advantage of the Aquarium’s offerings. Users also expressed interest in a tool that could help them easily digest exhibit information.
Our solution was to create an interactive map and augmented reality navigation tool that would help older visitors move through the Aquarium with confidence and ease. We also included gamified features like trivia to promote the Aquarium’s mission of education and awareness.
My roles + Responsibilities:
Wireframe sketches
Prototyping
Visual Mockup
PROCESS
Understanding business goals, surveys, user interviews, journey mapping, lo-fi wireframes, wireflows, visual design, clickable prototype
Understanding the Need:
Feature Prioritization
We started our research process by trying to understand what other major aquariums included in their apps. We found that most competitors’ apps included tools like maps and exhibit info, but lacked useful functionality like location services.
In an initial survey, respondents expressed frustration that there were limited adult-focused educational experiences. Most respondents also said that they felt lost or confused by the layout of the Georgia Aquarium during their most recent visit.
We used an affinity map to synthesize the qualitative data we gathered from surveys and in person interviews, and prioritized features based on our users’ demonstrated needs.
personas + Journey map:
We used a journey map to illustrate the experience of a typical user and to identify key touch points for our navigation tool.
Click to enlarge.
Determining App Structure:
After understanding our users and prioritizing features, I developed a series of annotated lo-fi wireframes to provide direction for the next steps of the project.
refined design:
After user testing and a few iterations, we determined the final structure and look of Aquarium Go. We kept it simple, knowing that our users valued functionality over bells and whistles.
NEXT STEPS:
Continue to test and refine prototype.
Use A/B testing to confirm visual design choices.
Send to develop and test.
Develop marketing strategy in tandem with the Georgia Aquarium.