PLACEHOLDER IMAGE
End-to-End Mobile Application
Placeholder text about the MVP design for Wander Portland. Placeholder text about the MVP design for Wander Portland. Placeholder text about the MVP design for Wander Portland.
MY ROLE
UX/UI Designer
PROJECT DURATION
2 Months
00. THE PROBLEM
Portland is full of local businesses, cultural sites, and natural beauty, yet many residents fall into routines and miss opportunities to connect more deeply with their city. Tourists often rely on generic guides that don’t capture the character of Portland’s neighborhoods, parks, and ecosystems. Currently, there’s no unified, engaging system that motivates people to discover new places, connect with local culture, and build a relationship with the land through experiences like visiting parks, small businesses, and hidden gems.
Most discovery apps target tourists rather than locals seeking everyday adventure. Visitors can still benefit, but residents are underserved—they want to explore more, yet existing tools leave them overwhelmed. This app fills that gap by making local exploration simple, intentional, and rewarding.
01. DISCOVERY
Competitive Analysis
I conducted a competitive analysis of three similar apps to understand the market landscape and identify opportunities for differentiation: Swarm by Foursquare, Geocaching, and Portland Near Me Now.
The Portland Near Me Now app prioritizes visitors and does not allow users to check in. Apps like Swarm and Geocaching allow a form of check-in or collecting, but they are not specific to the culture of Portland.
User Interviews
I conducted interviews with five potential users of the product: four Portland locals and one international visitor. The research goals were:
Understand exploration habits and tools:
Learn how people (locals and travelers) discover new places in a city and what tools or apps they use (such as maps, geocaching, and itinerary planning).
Identify pain points and barriers:
Uncover frustrations and challenges people face when trying to explore or find meaningful experiences.
Explore motivations and rewards:
Understand what makes exploration enjoyable or worthwhile, and what would encourage continued engagement.
Define user needs and expectations:
Clarify what users want from a digital passport-style app, including features, types of locations, and rewards.
The interviews were conducted either in person or over Zoom. Audio was recorded at each interview and transcribed for research purposes.
Insights
02. DEFINE
User Persona
Initially, three user personas were developed. However, due to the project’s scope and time constraints, the focus was narrowed to a single primary persona that best reflected the research: Jess, the “hybrid adventurer” looking for motivation to explore their new hometown.
POV + HMW
Based on the primary user persona, the following point-of-view statement and how-might-we question were developed to guide the ideation phase:
Portland locals need fun and inclusive ways to explore their city that will motivate them to connect with their community.
How might we inspire Portland locals to discover new neighborhoods, events, and experiences that feel approachable and welcoming?
03. IDEATE
The ideation phase included developing a feature set, user flows, sitemap, and low-fidelity wireframes.
Feature Set
Based on research insights, I prioritized the following core features for the app: an onboarding flow, the MVP lists of stamps, the stamp collection interaction, search and filtering functionality, user profiles, and a saved items feature. Lower-priority features that didn’t make it into the MVP but should be strongly considered in the next iteration include a social feature for interacting with friends and limited-edition or time-sensitive stamps.
User Flows
I created two primary user flows to guide design and later usability testing. The first was a linear onboarding/tutorial flow that gives users a quick introduction to how the app works. The second explored the different possible paths a user could take to find a location and collect a stamp.
Sitemapping
The information architecture became clearer with a combination of card sorting and paper sketching of screens.
Low-Fidelity Wireframing
I began the wireframing process on paper, creating multiple versions of key screens, which I then shared with peers to gather early feedback.
04. DESIGN
Branding
As this was an end-to-end design for a mobile app MVP, some branding was required. Logos, colors, and fonts were created:
High-Fidelity Screens
The final deliverables of the design phase included several high-fidelity key screens, such as the Home (“Explore”) page, “My Stamps,” “Saved,” and “Profile.” Additional screens covered the onboarding flow, the process of finding and collecting a stamp, and saving a location to visit later.
05. TESTING
Methods
Testing was conducted online and asynchronously using the Maze platform. Three key flows were evaluated: onboarding, finding and collecting a stamp, and saving a location to visit later.
The goals of testing were to assess the effectiveness of the prototype, focusing on:
Clarity of onboarding instruction
Ease of navigation
Ability to complete core tasks
Overall user impressions
Success metrics included qualitative feedback, time on task, path selection, and points of drop-off.
Results
Placeholder text