Geocaching Map
User Problem / Opportunity
I noticed that new users had a meaningful "wow" moment when they saw how many geocaches were around them on the mobile app map, but the website only displayed search results as a list.
I created a proof-of-concept web map and shared it with leadership, sparking this project.
I worked with the Product Manager to set a business goal of increasing engagement, and we set a KPI goal of increasing geocaches logged by 2%.
Role
Sole Product Designer
Worked with a team of ~5 engineers to implement
Project Timeline
3 months
Responsibilities
User research
Interaction design
Usability testing
Visual design
Users & Qualitative Research
The PM and I conducted user interviews with geocachers who used the existing web search functionality, and created 3 user archetypes based on our findings.
User Story map I co-created with the PM to plan and scope the project
Research-Informed Planning
The three archetypes proved that beyond showing the “wow” moment to new geocachers, we needed to include strong visual style indicators at a glance, easy filtering of cache types, and bulk download options to meet all 3 archetypes’ needs, and we prioritized those 3 ideas in planning.
(I need to update these to show all 3 prototype animations)
Design Iterations
I designed 3 interactions and user tested them against each other.
Success metric: user understanding of cache selection on both the map and the list, and understanding how to take action on a selected cache
‘Prototype 3’ performed the best.
(I need to update these 2 images as well. placing a low res screenshot for now)
Visual Design
I was responsible for all of the visual design on this project, within the confines of the team’s design system, which was a collaboration between 5 designers.
(Also need to update these 3 images. low res screenshots for now)
Impact
On release, the data team helped us determine that our test group logged 2.7% more geocaches than the control group, which was well over our goal.
Surprises & What I’d Do Differently
After updating map pins to use colored dots at farther zoom levels, color-blind users immediately reported difficulty distinguishing them. As a result, I quickly rolled back the change, redesigned the pins to include icons at all zoom levels, tested with color-blind users, and re-released the update.
This experience led me to dive into accessibility best practices. I shared my findings with the design team, and we implemented stronger accessibility checks into our release process.
