Desktop - UX/UI design
Improving the Way You Find a National Park
The website is a popular resource for people planning to visit one of the national parks in the United States. However, desktop navigation is confusing and inefficient, leading to frustration and difficulty finding a park. Along with two other designers, we redesigned the "Find a Park" feature on the NPS website. On our final usability test, 4 out of 5 people mentioned that they preferred our design over the current one.
The Problem
The existing search feature for finding parks is limited in functionality, allowing users to search based on only one criterion at a time. This single-criterion approach makes it difficult for users to narrow down results effectively. Additionally, if users are unable to find a suitable park, they are forced to navigate back to the homepage to restart their search, creating a frustrating and inefficient user experience.
The Team
Two UX researchers
My role
UX / UI Design
Duration
November 2022 - January 2023
The Research
Looking deeper and Understanding
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the problem, develop a hypothesis, and identify users' pain points, we conducted a Heuristic Analysis, a Competitive Analysis and a User Survey
After conducting our research, we found the following:
Users are required to have previous knowledge of park names and their features.
Key information is not prioritized and clear.
Users have to take many steps to find a park that fits their criteria based on their needs and wants.
Ideating
How can we optimize the navigation experience?
Consolidate search features into a single Search Bar. This means having a filtering system on the homepage.
Offer a Map View when displaying results so users can see the location of trails/parks. Users should be able to toggle between the results list and the map view.
Reduced information overload on the homepage by clearly dividing it into sections.
Persona
After analyzing data and evaluating various solutions, we developed a persona to ensure that users remain at the forefront throughout the process.
Paper Wireframes
We used the information we gathered to draft our potential solutions on paper. At this stage, I began working on a search bar that could be modified according to the user's needs at any point during the search.
Digital Wireframes
I consolidated the Find a Park feature into one Search Bar with four tabs: Name, Activity, State, and Topic.
The team concluded that the homepage's three most important sections—Plan Your Visit, Learn and Explore, and Get Involved—should remain intact.
We created a separate section for News, Events, and Featured.
The Solution
our final design based on our last usability test
In our final iteration we:
Removed the fourth tab, "topic," since users did not think it was helpful.
Added a feature to allow users to search by proximity.
Allowed users to change search criteria on the Results Page.
High Fidelity Prototype
Ultimately, we redesigned the "Find a Park" feature to include clear and concise information. The new feature allows users to find parks based on their wants and needs. Our design also included a more prominent search bar to enable users to easily input specific keywords or criteria. Through user testing, we found that these updates significantly improved the usability and effectiveness of the website, making it easier for users to locate and learn about the various parks within the National Parks Service system.
Lessons learned:
Striking the right balance between simplicity and providing robust functionality was vital. Users appreciated a clean, easy-to-use interface that still offered powerful search capabilities.
Allowing users to filter and sort search results based on their preferences (e.g., park location, amenities, activities) significantly enhances their experience. Customizability is essential in meeting diverse user needs.
Working with other new designers proved to be a perfect opportunity to practice the communication and leadership skills I had learned in previous jobs.