The Problem: Many species around the world are endangered, and conservationists sometimes have trouble getting the public involved with preservation projects.

The Solution: Design an app and responsive website that allows users to report sightings of endangered species in detail. My Dragontail app and website provides a means to record visual, audio, and written sightings of endangered species, as well as articles that will inform the public on current conservation projects to get involved in. It will be an educational tool for users who wish to get involved in nature, and a great way to gather sighting information for conservationists.

Project Duration: September 2023-October 2023

My Role: UX Designer designing an original conservationist app and responsive website from conception to delivery.

My Responsibilities: Conducting interviews, creating personas, paper and digital wireframing, low- and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting and moderating usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.

When designing with younger and older users in mind, I focus a lot on large buttons. With children, their motor control isn’t fully refined until they’re between the ages of 5 - 7. And in older adults, loss of motor control is common as they progress in age. I wanted to accommodate for both age groups’ needs by creating buttons that are easy to press even without refined motor skills.

For the website, I focused on creating responsiveness for devices that users are most likely to carry with them on-the-go, since the Dragontail project’s main features are meant to encourage users to explore outdoors.

After conducting an unmoderated usability study with 5 participants, I discovered that some of the app’s UI was causing a couple of user pain points:

1) Not enough contrast between text colors and background

2) Buttons are not clearly marked as interactive

To fix these issues, I took some contrast away from the background of the screen image and darkened the colors of the text layers. I also added a tiny bit of shading to the buttons to make it more clear they are meant to be pressed.

1) Conduct research on how useful the app is in allowing the target audience to submit reports of endangered species sightings.

2) Partner with conservation groups who can use the website as a vessel to inform the public about conservation projects and news of their overall impact.

3) Design a second function to the app that will allow conservationists to build profiles and view submitted sighting reports.