FlyFishCast
My Role - UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer
Tools - Figma, Google Sheets, Google Forms
Identifying the Problem
I wanted to contribute to the industry of fly fishing and I knew there were several desktop applications that provided fly fishing resources, but the mobile apps that existed left a lot to be desired. It gave me a sense of opportunity, especially when my fishing buddies displayed excitement and intrigue after I mentioned my project. It was something anglers wanted. The challenge that immediately appeared from the beginning and continued throughout the entire process was my struggle to recuse my knowledge and personal experiences with fly fishing from the design.
Problem Statement
FlyFishCast aims to provide highly informative fishing reports, weather forecasting and navigation, so anglers can enhance their planning and experiences on the water.
We will know this to be true when we see users choose and commit to FlyFishCast in order to ease the process of planning their fly fishing endeavors.
Research
Goals for Surveying and Interviewing
• To better understand users' behaviors in their fly fishing endeavors
• To understand users' time commitments to fly fishing
• To learn more about the resources users currently use on their outings
• To identify what features users are expecting in a fly fishing application
Survey
To kick off my user research I decided to conduct surveys because 1) I had never created a survey and I wanted that methodology to be a part of my research skillset, and 2) I wanted test my hypotheses and to figure out if I was asking the proper questions.
• 13 Questions
• 11 Participants
• Promoted through personal, work, and social media networks
Survey results from Google Forms
Survey Key Insights
Trip Planning Behavior :
• 80% of survey participants’ fly fishing trips do not involve traveling to a destination or lodge.
• 100% of survey participants’ fly fishing trips rarely or never involve a fly fishing guide.
• 73% of survey participants fly fish in freshwater conditions.
Based on the numbers, users typically do not take ambitious fly fishing trips - they do not travel or hire guides but instead, fish locally and find the time to do it. This eliminated my preconceived idea that a resource to help users find guides or book trips in lodges would be a useful feature.
App Usage Habits :
• 70% of survey participants don’t use a “fly fishing-related” application when they go fishing.
• 100% of survey participants check the weather before they go fishing.
• 67% of survey participants check water conditions (flows/tides) before they go fishing.
• 91% of survey participants don’t currently use a fishing log.
As far as app usage goes, I learned that most of the survey participants don’t use a fly fishing specific app to enhance their fishing, but they do use tools on that span across several apps.
User Interviews
For my interviews I wanted to supplement my research with elaborate details. I interviewed three fly anglers with different levels of expertise so I could begin to prepare my design to cater all experience levels. I also organized my findings in digital affinity mapping.
Interviewees and Affinity Maps
Interview Key Insights
• Exploration is bittersweet - new fishing spots excite anglers but searching for new spots without more information upfront is risky.
• Weather is still the biggest factor in anglers’ comfortability on the water.
• More accurate resources that help efficiency are desired, such as tips, techniques, fishing conditions.
Fishing reports are the feature that fly anglers want and it appears to outweigh the desire to seek information from guides and fly shops, which was unexpected because I had treated them equally valuable prior to my research. The other obstacle that came from my interviews was how I was going to create features that would outperform what was already being used by anglers.
User Personas
For my interviews I wanted to supplement my research with elaborate details. I interviewed three fly anglers with different levels of expertise so I could begin to prepare my design to cater all experience levels. I also organized my findings in digital affinity mapping.
User Flows
My personas were able to come to life when given a journey. I decided to include my original user flows because I learned valuable lessons from their imperfections.
Lessons learned :
• Eventually, after I had learned more about design, I opted to have new users go through onboarding prior to account creation.
• At what point did the user agree to location services to have the options for “Current Location Weather”?
• I had not thought of this previously but it was important to include “Remember Me” or skip buttons, so that returning users had less friction when reopening the application.
• I originally envisioned an interactive map where users could click on a state but realized this would be very limiting in a mobile setting.
Initial Sitemap
Possible Problems
• I was integrating features that weren’t derived from my research because of my biases (it would eventually overwhelm my navigation system)
• Features and information could be combined or placed differently to avoid repetition and cluttering; I was complicating the process
• I failed to include a fishing log that linked to a community, which some participants believed would be a viable feature
Possible Solutions
• Reducing clutter by removing features that could be included in an end product but not necessary for prototyping, e.g. setting features
• Reducing navigation stress by combining features under one subject, e.g. placing regulations within fishing reports and planning ahead to supply ample learning benefits into fishing reports
• Simplifying main features, e.g. removing unnecessary pages that aren’t crucial to prototyping or an MVP
• Adding in a Fishing Log with the vacated space
Revised Sitemap
Usability Testing
Goals
Evaluate my application’s learnability, efficiency, and errors.
Test Objectives
Observe and record the behavioral cues of my participants and receive feedback on these features:
• onboarding, sign up and sign in process
• weather forecasting
• fishing reports
Figma Prototype
This is the prototype I used in my usability tests.
Usability Test Participants
Test Results
Similarly to user interviews, I used affinity mapping to organize all the data from my usability tests. I color coded them by participant. Additionally, I used the Rainbow Spreadsheet by Tomer Sharon to organize even further and prioritize the most pressing issues at hand.
Test Report
The test demonstrated that the prototype was working properly, but there were several issues that kept it from being exemplary. Listed below is some feedback that was addressed to revise the app.
Issue 1 : Didn’t realize screens were scrollable/skepticism at how information was displayed
Solution(s) :
• Reorganize information in Fishing Reports by creating a new navigation
• Reformatting Weather so it’s all on one screen
Issue 2 : Necessary updates for Fishing Report’s overlay
Solution(s) :
• Adding search bar and filter icon
• Replacing placeholders with images
• Updating section titles and lists to represent a more personalized screen
Issue 3 : Jargon in Fishing Reports confused or concerned experienced anglers
Solution(s) :
• Hypothesized hyperlinks or pop-ups for fishing terminology
• Additional testing proved that the hyperlinks and pop-ups caused too much interruption
• Rewrote information to give the same messages in a language for all levels
Issue 4 : Large icons in Weather were redundant and not recognized as scrollable
Solution(s) :
• Reorganize weather information into tables or columns to reduce screen clutter
• Eliminate excessive scrolling by placing elements strategically on one screen
Issue 5 : Dates for Fishing Reports
Solution(s) :
• Add “as of” or “updated on” dates for Fishing Reports
• Builds credibility and makes users feel like the information is current
Refinement
• Application-wide facelift following Material Design Guidelines, Design Language System, and Accessibility Guidelines
• Reconfigured Fishing Reports to have a navigation system within itself for more organized sections as opposed to fully scrollable
• Removed flow charts from Onboarding and Fishing Reports because it was confusing users
• Tested hyperlinks or pop-ups for terminology but concluded to simplify all text to reduce jargon
• Added date to Fishing Reports, photographs of products and their purchasing options
• Reformatted Weather Forecasting to reduce wasted screen space with redundant icons and remove scrolling
• Updated location selection screen to be more personable - specific categories, search bar, filter icon, photographs of locations, etc.
Thank you for reviewing my project on FlyFishCast. What started out as educational tasks has evolved into a humbling, sometimes frustrating, and fulfilling experience.
Like all UX processes, the work is never finished and there are always ways to improve. I look forward to the future of FlyFishCast and upcoming projects.
