Dive Select

Prototype:
Below is the current working version of the prototype created with Sketch and InVision. If you get stuck at any stage hit the ‘home’ button. For now, sit back, have a bit of fun and have a play with the Dive Select App. Once you’re done feel free to check out the case study below and see how the app came to look and function the way it does. I’d love to know what you think.

Brief
To help Dive Select create an app for divers that would help them find dive sites & connect with other divers

Dive Select’s Objective

• To validate their personas & target market
• To design UI for their app

My role in this project

• User research
• User interviews
• Data analysis & synthesising
• Creating prototypes
• Usability test prototypes
• Presenting the project

UX Challenges
5 Interviews to get to know the users
First we needed to get to know divers and understand their habits when it came to researching dive locations and communicating with other divers. We also wanted to know why they dive and what they would like to see in an app.

Affinity Mapping
We then used Affinity Mapping to help organise the data that we gathered from our interviews. From this we started to see common trends appear from the interview’s we conducted.

Our key insights were:

• Divers are doing random google searches to find information about dive sites and their locations
• Divers rely on word of mouth for recommendations on dive sites
• Other divers reviews are really important to divers
• Divers are communicating via social media
• They want an easier way to find dive locations
• They want in depth up to date information about dive locations
• They want to be able to easily read and add reviews about locations and dive operators
• They want to be able to share stories and pictures/videos about the dives they go on
• They want to be able to connect and communicate with other divers
• They would like to be able to store all their dive information including their dive logs in one place

180 Divers Surveyed
To get a clearer picture we surveyed 180 people to:

• Gather more data to validate our personas and target market
• See how people communicate with the dive community
• Get a much more in depth and clear idea of what features divers want in a App

Our key insights from the surveys:

• 40% of respondents are from the USA
• Divers are communicating weekly or multiple times a week
• 67% are using social media to communicate
• 73% of divers want an app with in depth up to date information about dive locations
• 63% of divers would like an app with an easy way to find dive locations on a map
• Other divers reviews & posts, information about dive operators and the ability to save a dive log were other important things for divers to have in an app

The Problem
Divers need a way to easily find dive locations which also has relevant, in-depth and up to date information regarding their chosen site. Divers also want a way to connect and communicate with other divers and the wider diving community.

Empathy Map
Through empathy mapping we identified 2 key personas for Dive Select.

PERSONAS
Harry – Loves diving wrecks
Harry needs up to date information about the dive sites he wants to dive. He also needs a way to keep in touch with his dive buddies and the dive operators he likes to use. He also needs an easy way to find dive sites in his local area as well as overseas when he is planning those big dive trips.

Anna – Loves diving with sharks
Anna wants to know what she might see on her dives, as well as information on the current conditions for the dive. She would also like to be able to see reviews about the dive sites she is thinking about visiting and the dive operators who work in that area. It would be great if she could also store her dive logs, photos and stories all in one place.

Competitor Analysis
We conducted in depth competitor analysis to see what what was good and not so good about Dive Selects main 2 competitors

Our key findings were that:

• Overall UI of both apps are overly busy and confusing
• Lack of good quality in depth information regarding dive locations
• Difficult or impossible to communicate with other divers
• Hard to find dive groups
• When tested with users they found them to be frustrating and unable to complete tasks.

Solution
To develop an app where divers can easily find up to date information about dive sites & Locations,
communicate with other divers and share their dive experiences

What does success look like?
At a minimum we needed to develop an app where divers can easily find up to date information about dive sites & locations,
communicate with other divers and share their dive experiences.

Minimal Viable Product
In order to get our M.V.P right for both the user and Dive select we needed to work out the key things that each stakeholder needs in this App. To start creating ideation for Dive Select we started with the Must to get the skeleton in place. We then looked at the things we Should, Could and Won’t include.

Concept Model
We then created a concept model. This helped us to see all the common connections a diver would would have within their whole diving experience, how divers may use an app and how all the parts of the app would link and flow together.

Initial Sketches
To get some initial ideas around what the Dive select App could look like we started by sketching out some ideas.

• Gives us a starting point to build upon, before going digital.
• Start to prioritise the musts that we gained from the MSCW chart.  

Our goals were:

• Create an easy to navigate diving app
• Make sure users could easily find dive locations and information about those sites (including reviews).
• Ability to share photos/videos and stories about the dives they have been on
• Ability to easily communicate with other divers
• Ability to create and store Dive Logs

Low Fidelity Prototype
We then created a low fidelity prototype to test some of our ideas and gain insight into how users felt.
We then conducted usability tests and discovered:

Mid-Fi Prototypes
Taking the feedback we received onboard, we then revised our designs whilst also improving the look of the design to Mid Fidelity quality. When further usability testing was conducted, this helped us gain better quality feedback as users were less confused by the lack on information and images.

Hi-Fi Prototypes
We then moved on to creating a high fidelity prototype. We made further revisions using the feedback we had received and created and then conducted usability tests once again.

Next Steps & Recommendations:

• I would conduct further usability testing of the current version with divers to help iron our any pain points they may have & help pinpoint areas that could still be improved upon. I would then make further refinements based on user feedback and test again.
• Design and develop a better Dive Select website which better presents the app and what users can expect from Dive Select.
• Dive Select team to start sourcing first in class content for dive locations around American and Australia.
• Communicate with developers to ensure everything suggested and included is possible
• Further design and develop the app