Patagonia

Learning a new activity never been easier

Summary

Patagonia, Inc. is an American company that makes and sells clothing and gear for outdoor activity. The project started with the following question:

How might we guide and provide for environmentally conscious people trying a new activity?

My Role

This project was made during the immersive UX course at General Assembly. I was part of a group of 3 people in a sprint of 2.5 weeks.
I had a part in the whole project, from research, synthesis, ideation, sketching, usability testing, and Hi-fi mockup with Figma.

Results

Designed a mobile app with the following features:

  • Connects the new starters to the community
  • Lists the necessary items to start.
  • Offers a gallery of inspiring videos.

Research Phase

User Interviews
Card Sorting
Affinity mapping

People learn about new activities from many different sources​

We spoke to 14 physically active people to find out how they start new activities and approach trying new things. 

“start with researching what I need to be prepared for. It motivates you to do it .”–

“I  try to learn about it. From the internet and YouTube videos and blogs.”

“Throw me into the community.”

Not having a single go to place is frustrating

  • We found that there is not currently a place that people can go to find everything they need to know about new activities.
    People go to different mediums -online videos, blogs, they speak to experts and need to do lots of time-consuming research online.
  • Searching for information from so many different sources is frustrating.
  • Sometimes they are more susceptible to injuries because of a lack of knowledge or proper equipment.

MEET Matthew!

He's interested in surfing but doesn't know where to start!

Persona

Matthew has tried surfing a couple of times and now wants to start taking the hobby more seriously. He feels put off and confused by the many resources online and is starting to think that he’ll never be able to become a surfer.

Information Architecture

We did hybrid card sorting using optimal workshop, and we found out people categorize the items almost the way it is on the current Patagonia website, so we kept the current Information Architecture.

Integrated services in the mobile app

Patagonia can help Matthew and others like him to start new outdoor activities easily by providing integrated service with everything they need to get started including training materials, must-have equipment, and related community.

Design Phase

Ideation
Wireframe
Design System
Prototype

Initial sketches with pen and paper!

To solve the user issue, we gathered all they need to start a new activity in one place

First-round usability test reveals good insight!

Design changes after testing with users!

  1. Created a Watch Tab, where users can watch video tutorials.
  2. Created a Community Tab, where users can join groups based on their interest.
  3. Removed experience-level filters.

Watch Tab

Videos in the Watch Tab are categorized based on sport, and users can drill down to the sport videos page.

Community Tab

Another incentive for the beginners to learn is the Community, specific to their interest.

Home Page

Our focus on helping beginners is reflected in the home page with a bold Call to Action.

Shopping & Checkout Process

Enhancing user experience and including must have items in the landing page can lead to higher purchase rate. 

Component Library

Here are a few components of the scalable Component Library I created for Patagonia App.

Matthew is now ready to surf!

The Patagonia app helps new starters to

  • Know necessity items to start the activity.
  • Join a community of like-minded people.
  • Learn faster via video tutorials.

Learning

  • The time our team spent on validating the initial idea with users, was not quite enough. That led to some redesign and rework based on the new insights from users.

Getting the right design before getting the design right.

  • Every idea is valuable. With A/B testing we can learn from users and mix and match the ideas.

Next step

  • Designing an Account page where users can manage their profile.
  • Creating a tour on the app to educate users about new features or to help them get started.