ROLE: UX/UI, Graphic and Interactive Design
DATE: 9.28.2022
Friday Night Fish Fry is one of Wisconsin’s best traditions, so creating an app that allows Wisconsinites to celebrate this is a must.
“Going out for fish” on a Friday is a staple with Wisconsinites, not only for the fish dinner itself but also to socialize over a brandy old fashioned while waiting for a table.
Currently there isn’t a large online database that focuses solely on fish fries, mostly articles about the topic. Most Wisconsinites hear about new places to try from suggestions from their friends.
This app will allow users to discover new fish fries throughout Wisconsin and show what they love about those fish fries by sharing photos and comments with their friends and other app users.
DISCOVERY
With surveys and interviews I talked to a group of Wisconsinites to discover how often they dine out on Fridays, what they are looking for during this experience, and the different ways they find a fish fry. I also asked how technology assists them in this process.
I concluded that people like to hear about new fish fries and mostly discover them through word of mouth, so a communication and a sharing feature were necessary. Also, while people do look up restaurants and menus on a regular basis, they do not always have luck finding menus related to fish fries. One person, while traveling out of town, couldn’t find information on a Google search and settled for sub sandwiches, so a searching feature and location services were also needed.
EXPLORING
Using the information I gathered from the user interviews, I created personas of typical users who might use the app. I gave each a personality and listed what their goals for the app would be. I created empathy maps using the personas to illustrate what the users might think, say, feel, and do when using the app. What their struggles might be and what they are hoping to achieve using the app.
Utilizing the personas and empathy maps influenced from user interviews, I created a list of basic tasks users would need to accomplish for this app to be a successful product, and what kind of user interface would need to be created so users could complete those tasks. Next mapped out the steps the user would take to accomplish their tasks.
PROTOTYPING
Using both low and high-fidelity prototyping tools, I was able to the conduct user testing and begin iteration on my design. What features were users identifying with and which ones were only causing confusion.
The iteration process allowed me to simplify my design, taking out the features people were not finding useful such as inviting friends to dinner and replacing them with a check in process to alert others of their whereabouts. I also rethought my filtering process and replaced it with a tagging system, users can tag a fish fry with keywords they find useful and help others find what they are looking for.