Mobile app that reimagines how parents and volunteers discover and plan socially-conscious, outdoor activities
TIMELINE
Summer ‘25
(14 weeks)
TEAM
Client:
1 PM
6 Designers
ROLE
Design Lead
SKILLS (TOOLS)
UX Research (UserTesting)
Project Management (Notion)
Visual Design (Figma)
Prototyping (Figma)
Through the Develop for Good program, our team delivered end-to-end research and design services to our client, a Google UX researcher, to guide the development of a mission-driven mobile platform. My key contributions include:
Stepping up as Design Manager️ : Midway through the program, I shifted beyond my initial Designer role to strengthen team–client communication, build accountability, and boost productivity and responsiveness.
Leading research-driven iteration: I coordinated schedules, kept the team accountable, synthesized 25+ usability insights, and presented findings and design recommendations to the client.
Delivering design work: Beyond research and management, I took on the responsibility of setting up the IA, ensuring cohesive prototype flows, and designing LowFi → HiFi wireframes.
Fragmented postings
Lack of event platforms that prioritize outdoors & volunteering
Time-consuming and overwhelming logistics planning
100 survey respondents & 23 interviewees
Measure and understand user behavior
Activity preferences, planning habits, discovery methods
Identify pain points
Common workflow barriers & inefficiencies
Gauge feature interest
Openness to browsing & planning within a dedicated app
TLDR: Our survey research revealed that outdoor enthusiasts care most about 1) cost 2) safety and 2) distance when selecting activities to participate in, and our interviews confirmed the demand for a centralized platform that includes comprehensive info & streamlines planning.
There’s a demand for ACCURATE, CENTRALIZED details
Users struggle to COORDINATE schedules, RSVPs, and supplies
Fragmented discovery leads users to ABANDON discovery
Competitive Analysis
Strengths
Large databases of events and activities
Niche focuses (entertainment, travel)
Easy entry points
Weaknesses
Limited family-friendly filtering
Lack of comprehensive logistical details
Few tools for planning
We decided to center our solution around combining family-friendly, ethical outdoor opportunities with comprehensive planning and trust-building features.
We began with Crazy 8 Brainstorming to rapidly generate divergent ideas and spark discussion.
After comparing approaches, we mapped
🔗 dependencies and identified the most fit directions. To maximize 📊 testing time, we skipped Mid-Fi and moved directly into Hi-Fi wireframes.
→ Test Browsing & Itinerary flows
→ 3 Moderated & 10 Unmoderated Sessions (1 hour, 1-on-1, Virtual)
Lack of team bandwidth and communication led to misalignment between the research plan and prototypes.
Ultimately, this resulted in ⏳ wasted time and resources & 👎 client dissatisfaction.
Stepping up as 🫡 Design Lead, I:
Compiled exhaustive list of design changes, & categorized them into low/medium/high priority
Clearly distributed tasks by member strengths & filled in gaps to those who didn’t have bandwidth
Sent out friendly reminders (had to get comfy @’s people frequently on Slack...)
No quick filtering
Advanced Filtering missing crucial options
Horizontal chips for easy access
Advanced Filtering includes date & DOW
Explore & Save
Matches mental models for other event platforms
Doesn’t convey app’s unique focus
”Save” enables passive bookmarking, rather than active planning
Visit & Volunteer
More descriptive for types of activities
Possible confusion as to what counts as Visit vs. Volunteer
→ Validate refined design across Onboarding, Browsing, and iIinerary flows
→ 7 Moderated Sessions (1 hour, 1-on-1, Virtual)
🤝 Ensured research plan-prototype alignment
🌐 Recruited participants creatively through personal networks (due to resource constraints for UserTesting)
Users expressed both confusion and surprise when learning about the itinerary feature, as the app provided little cues to signal its existence or draw attention to it. To solve this, we added 3 major cues!
Adjusted landing
page blurb to include “planning”
Added a frame in the onboarding process introducing the feature
Made “Add to Itinerary” button more prominent on Activity Detail page
2
Expanding Map View Feature
FINAL DESIGNS
Personalize your journey
Understand the app’s core value propositions 1) outdoors & volunteer opportunities 2) help with planning
Plan one-day itineraries:
Add trip enhancement activities
Toggle map views
To provide incentive for itinerary building, we proposed pairing it with a Karma Point reward system. Though not prioritized in this cycle, this feature would be crucial to driving user engagement.
I organized all materials across Figma, Notion, and UserTesting into a centralized Google Doc for the client’s development team.
At the end of the program, I asked our client, Preethi Srinivas, Senior UX Researcher at Google, for constructive feedback on my performance as both a Designer and Design Lead.
Strengths
Areas for Growth
During Demo Day, our team presented to 8 Bloomberg & Cisco design, product, and engineering professionals (10-minute presentation + 20-minute Q&A). We received 9.5+/10 across all evaluated categories (social impact, technicality, collaboration, etc.). Their feedback included the following:
Strengths
Areas for Growth
because it’s just important as designing for user needs.
with client goals using intentional prioritization mapping.
= stakeholder-team alignment
because the leader’s investment directly correlates with team morale & responsiveness.
