D Tour
User Interviews - Iterative Wireframes - Functional Prototypes - Stakeholder Presentations
Providing a new way to explore the history of the DFW.
View final prototype here.
Selection
I was selected by design professors at UT Dallas to be a part of an interdisciplinary team representing the university in an 8-week program hosted by Dialexa. The group consisted of 3 designers, 2 engineers, and 1 business analyst. Our team worked to compete against student groups from The University of North Texas and Texas Christian University, pitching our product to judges from Dialexa at the end of the program.
Responsibilities
UX Researcher: User Interviews, Persona Creation, Empathy Mapping
UX Designer: User Flows, Wireframes, Prototyping
Program Details
February 2022 to April 2022
Part of Mentorship Program through Dialexa EDU
Tools: Figma, Miro, Adobe Photoshop
Prompt
While the Dallas/Fort Worth Area has a rich and extensive history, many visitors and residents are entirely unaware of the stories that surround them. My team was tasked to find ways to educate residents to foster awareness and support for this history. Specifically, to grow an appreciation for its buildings, local businesses, schools, people, cultures, and events.
Solution
Our solution was an app that would guide users on tours utilizing augmented reality to showcase the historical context of the area around them. Once the users have a chance to take in the information presented during a tour, they have the option to compete against their friends in quizzes over what they learned. D Tour is meant to provide a way for people to immerse themselves in tales of the past and explore the city through a new lens.
Market Analysis
Before studying our potential userbase, we first examined what products were currently available on the market. Our findings indicated that possible alternatives were very focused on one specific function rather than incorporating different aspects of what a user might need. More importantly, there did not seem to be features that made any of the products more interesting to use than their competitors.
User Research
To begin our user research, we interviewed two Dallas residents from different backgrounds. From this process, we were able to gleam their needs, goals, and current frustrations. We found that they want to explore the city and see what it has to offer, but have yet to find an interesting way to do so.
Brainstorming
The point of emphasis in our brainstorming session was finding a unique feature that would set our product apart from the competition. The two main concepts that caught our eye were gamification and augmented reality. We knew these were ideas we wanted to incorporate into our app to bring a new experience to users.
User Flows
Once we had an idea of the features we wanted to include in our product, we began working on user flows for each function to map out the screens that we would have to draft. This helped us visualize the our information architecture as well as how we might structure navigation between our features.
Wireframes
The next step was to get our sketches onto the screen. We constructed wireframes for the various screens associated with our features including an account creation menu, an explore page, a scavenger hunt page, and a profile page.
High-Fidelity Prototypes
After multiple rounds of user interviews to make sure our features would be helpful to potential users of the app and user testing to work out the kinks in our navigation and interaction design, we implemented branding into our mockups. With color, typography, and general design language addressed, we constructed a high fidelity prototype to showcase to our shareholders.
Learnings
This was a great opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team from the conception of a project all the way to its end. I had a chance to assess our project ideas from the business, design, and engineering standpoints rather than just the design side as I typically do. It was interesting to examine the feasibility of our work from every angle, and it was a unique chance to study how to pitch ideas to stakeholders.
