UI Design
App Redesign
My Role
UI Designer
What I did
Usability Testing, User Interviews, Card Sorting & Ranking, Planning, Wireframing, UI Design, Stakeholder Pitch
Duration
1 month
Releasing UI updates in an app is an effective way to stay relevant, but can also alienate users, as was the case with OnTheSnow.
How can we improve user experience and stay relevant in OnTheSnow, the most downloaded app for free daily snow reports and current ski conditions?
My team lead a redesign to increase engagement through personalized recommendations and social sharing.
In 2019 OnTheSnow launched a redesign, leading to a 50% YOY drop in screenviews.
OnTheSnow came to CMCI Studio to design their next release, and accomplish two main KPIs:
Improve user reviews
Increase the # of screenviews
How might we visualize OnTheSnow’s snow report data, so that users can easily plan ski trips, and are compelled to return?
Target Audience
Weekend Warriors
Mostly from the Bay Area
Drive 4+ hours to get to resorts
Novice to intermediate user, wants more mountain stats
Will plan future ski trips and which resort to go to based on forecast over the next week.
Weekday Skiers
Mostly from the Tahoe and Denver areas
Have local resorts picked out
Expert user, wants more snow stats
Will choose which days of the week to ski based on same day snow conditions.
User Studies
Our team began with running a usability study on 4 would-be users in order to identify pain points in the original user flow, followed by user interviews to uncover what users wished they could see and do instead.
“The data elements are great, but the interface is crude at best, not scannable.”
— Eric, 31, Boulder CO, Weekday Skier
“I’d like help with planning, like recommendations for places to go with the best snow reports.”
— Tristan, 24, Denver CO, Weekend Warrior
Card Sorting & Ranking
We identified that a significant portion of the information provided on the app service was not deemed necessary, freeing up space, additionally using this feedback to inform our information hierarchy restructuring.
Redesign Solution
Personalized
User-specific recommendations based on their preferences.
Scannable
Allow for users to grab the data they need on the go.
Social
A more compelling post and share flow, to create a more playful experience.
Personalized
By allowing users to define what kind of skier they are and where they will go during onboarding we can curate what each individual sees.
Resulting in user-specific snow condition ratings, for a better understanding of what the snow report data means to them personally.
Scannable
Next, we addressed the resort page experience. After repeated rounds of user testing and feedback, we were able to create an easily scannable UI, through charts, graphs, and visual cues.
We pulled the most important data to the top of the screen into a carousel, and created interactive charts to allow for easier snow report comparisons.
Social
After several users mentioned using social media feeds in order to access snow reports, we developed an entirely new flow for reading and creating posts.
By creating a more familiar social sharing experience, users will be more likely to recognize the feature, generate content, and view postings.
Data Visualization
Through several rounds of task analyses, we observed where people attempted to tap the screen, where their eyes went first, and what information they could grab at a glance.
The results informed how and where we placed each data set, and to generate more compelling and intuitive experiences for key users.
Final Design Walkthrough
View a narrated walkthrough for a first time user.
