FinWatch
Shark Conservation App and Responsive Website
FinWatch is an app focused on shark conservation, managed by Conservation Singapore. The organisation needs a tool to help people to understand more about sharks endangered status and to engage in marine conservation easily.
FinWatch’s target users include divers, snorkelers, educators and students who are looking to learn more about sharks conservation and participate in the conservation activities and talks.
My role:
UI / UX
The problem
While the majority of shark species have sustainable populations, a number of them have been shrinking at an alarming rate. The team at Conservation Singapore has identified the lack of knowledge in sharks endangerment and inaccessibility of contributing to marine conservation in Singapore.
The goal
Design a product that shares shark endangerment status and provides an accessible way to encourage people participating in marine conservation.
User Research
I used Conservation Singapore’s current user database to develop interview questions, which were then used to conduct user interviews. Most interview participants reported a lack of accessible data and knowledge about sharks endangered level and marine conservation. The feedback received through research made it very clear that users are interested to understand more about sharks and marine conservation. They are keen to participate in conservation activities if they can access a tool easily to find out more information.
For this project, I created 2 personas for different experience scenarios and their preferred platform.
User persona 1 (mobile app)
Problem Statement
Ariana is an avid scuba diver who wants to identify endangered species and connect with local marine experts during her dive trip because she wants to learn more about marine ecology from reliable sources and raise awareness of endangered species.
User persona 2 (Web)
Problem Statement
Mariam is a student who is passionate about environmental conservation who needs to learn more about current environmental issues because she wants to participate in conservation activities to make a positive impact.
Ideation
I did a quick ideation exercise to come up with ideas. My focus was specifically on creating customised homepage for different key users and sharing more information about the endangered shark species. User engagement is also on top of my mind so (diver) users can easily share their sightings and provide valuable data to the marine experts.
Digital wireframes
After ideating and drafting some paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for the FinWatch app. The app design is focus on diver as they will most likely to use mobile app during their dive trip. The app focused on conservation activities the divers can take part, information about endangered shark species and feature that allows them to upload and share their sightings easily.
Low-fi prototypes
View low-fi prototype here.
Usability study
These were the main findings uncovered by the usability study:
01
Info of local marine experts
Divers would like to see more info of the local marine experts or dive centers before booking an activity (eg. showing their credibility)
02
Social media sharing
Divers would love to have a social media sharing function to share their sightings and promote sharks conservation.
Changes on Mockups 1
Based on the insights from the usability studies, I applied design changes like providing a clear section from the home screen to browse activities.
Changes on Mockups 2
Additional design changes include adding the social media sharing function after divers uploaded their sightings. This will help in user engagement as well.
Style Guide
Mockups
High-fi prototypes
The high-fidelity prototype followed the same user flow as the low-fidelity prototype, including design changes made after the usability study.
View high-fi prototype here.
Responsive designs
The designs for screen size variation included mobile, tablet, and desktop. I optimized the designs to fit specific user needs of each device and screen size - for example ‘Talks’ is shown first on the desktop version.
The icons used are the same as mobile app to create consistency.
Mobile Website
Tablet
Desktop
Sitemap
With the app design is completed, I started work on designing the responsive website. I used the sitemap to guide the organisational structure of each screen’s design to ensure a cohesive and consistent experience across devices.
Takeaways and next step
I learned that even though the problem I was trying to solve was a big one, diligently going through each step of the design process and aligning with specific user needs helped me come up with solutions that were both feasible and useful. I also find that it’s extremely helpful to always look at the problem statement whenever I feel stuck or unsure in the design process.
01
Participation rate
Conduct research on how successful the app is in increasing participation rate in marine conservation.
02
More resources
Add more everyday tips/educational resources for users who aren’t divers or snorkelers - what people can do in daily life to help in marine conservation.
03
Rewards
Provide incentives and rewards to users who uploaded sightings or participated in marine conservation activities.
