AllTrails: a personalized guide
Role
Design Lead
(XD/UX/UI & Copy)
Client
Independent Project
Year
2022
Personalization drives engagement
AllTrails is the industry leader in trail apps. It’s very well known, has the best overall features, and is easy to use. As an avid hiker for years and a pro subscriber of the app, I had been craving more personalization so that I could uncover and document all of the unexplored terrain in my area. With this independent project, I set out to design features that would provide a more relevant and personalized experience on the app leveraging end-to-end product design methodology.
Pro users agree
Validating my assumptions through 1:1 interviews, I uncovered that other users of the AllTrails app craved at least some level of personalization and a way to uncover more relevant results than what they were currently seeing in the app.
A “Smart Guide” is validated
Utilizing the following process and deliverables, I tested out a couple of new features. Personalized content recommendations via a “Smart Guide” engine, and the ability to save activity filtering for easy access later. See the prototype here >
1:1 qualitative interviews with screener
competitive analysis
proto-personas and customer journey mapping
HMWs and brainstorming
architecture recommendations
updated task flow
detailed wireframes
test plan and discussion guide
name branding
UI design and copywriting
digital prototype design
interview screener and 1:1 live prototype testing
usability test report with recommendations
Uncovering opportunities to iterate
The “Smart Guide” was well-received, easily accessed, and easily edited by all testers via moderated testing. Users were also excited about the ability to save their go-to activity filters. There was debate about how best to promote and access them.
The following recommendations provide an opportunity to simplify filtering for the next round of design:
Promote the ability to save filters with clearer signposts for better feature awareness
Move saved filters to the Saved tab in the navigation, as users were universally expecting
Add saved filter results to the Explore tab (homepage) so that users could access them more quickly day-to-day