Prototyping and Usability Evaluation
Hike IL —
Trail Navigation
for Mobile and Smartwatch
A mobile and smartwatch application designed for the Illinois State Park system, helping hikers of all experience levels plan trips, navigate trails, and explore parks. The project spanned lo-fi through hi-fi prototyping across three design iterations, guided by usability testing with four participants.
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Prototype fidelity stages: lo-fi, mid-fi, and hi-fi
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Usability test participants across varied hiking and tech experience levels
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Task scenarios tested across mobile and smartwatch platforms
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Design iterations implemented in response to usability findings
Overview
What is Hike IL?
Hike IL is a multi-platform application designed specifically for the Illinois State Park system. It enhances the visitor experience by combining intuitive trail navigation, interpretive information about historical and ecological sites, and real-time trail conditions data. Critically, the app syncs seamlessly between a smartphone and a smartwatch, enabling users to plan their trip in detail on mobile and then rely on their watch for hands-free navigation once they are on the trail.
The design challenge was twofold: creating a mobile experience rich enough for pre-trip planning, while designing a smartwatch companion that surfaces only what is essential during an active hike. These two contexts place competing demands on the same information architecture. The project moved through three stages of fidelity, from initial sketches in a design charrette, through a mid-fi prototype used for usability testing, to a final hi-fi prototype incorporating all iteration changes.
The target audience spans a wide range: experienced trail runners tracking fitness metrics, teachers planning educational field trips, and older adults seeking quiet, low-stress hikes. Designing for this range of users and technical proficiencies was the central research challenge throughout the project.
Problem Space
The gap in trail apps
Existing applications like AllTrails and Google Maps offer broad trail coverage but lack the localized accuracy and simplicity needed for Illinois State Park visitors. Fitness tracking tools like Apple Health and Fitbit focus solely on performance metrics without any trail or nature context. Apps aimed at experienced hikers, such as Komoot and FarOut, use complex interfaces that exclude casual visitors, families, and educators.
Our app merges fitness goals with nature exploration, designed to be intuitive and informative for casual hikers, families, and educators, creating a well-rounded experience for outdoor enthusiasts in Illinois.
Hike IL Competitive Analysis
The specific problem the team addressed: Illinois State Parks have no dedicated digital tool that combines trail discovery, offline navigation, real-time safety information, and smartwatch integration in a single accessible experience. The result is that visitors, particularly those unfamiliar with parks or without strong technology backgrounds, struggle to plan and navigate safely.
Project goals included enhancing navigation across mobile and smartwatch, providing live updates on trail conditions and weather, enabling seamless device syncing, supporting customizable trip planning, and inspiring broader engagement with Illinois State Parks. Design goals focused on quick at-a-glance information access, offline map availability, intuitive use across experience levels, and a minimalist visual design that kept users present in the natural environment.
User Personas
Three users, three contexts
The team developed three personas representing distinct use cases, each with different goals, technical proficiencies, and expectations from the app. These personas guided every design decision from the initial charrette through to the final hi-fi prototype.
Mark
The Trail Runner, age 26Tech proficiency: Advanced. Fitness coach who uses Fitbit and posts to social media.
Goals: Real-time notifications about trail conditions, challenging routes, and fitness tracking on his smartwatch including pace, distance, and calories.
Key frustration: Loses cellular service mid-trail with no backup navigation. Existing apps lack current trail information.
Scenario: Uses his smartwatch to access the trail map at the park entrance, receives a notification about an upcoming steep hill, and navigates the final stretch via offline mode when he loses signal.
Sarah
The Field Trip Chaperone, age 40Tech proficiency: Intermediate. Elementary school teacher, organized planner.
Goals: Find safe, curriculum-aligned trails for a class of children with access to historical and ecological information. Book ranger programs. Create itineraries with points of interest.
Key frustration: Unsure which trails are safe for children. Limited historical content on existing platforms. Difficulty booking group facilities.
Scenario: Plans the trip three months ahead using trail filters, reserves a ranger program, and uses her smartwatch on the day to receive safety alerts and find a shorter route when students tire.
Elon
The Birder, age 60Tech proficiency: Poor. Retired Navy officer, values simplicity and nature connection.
Goals: Scenic, peaceful trails. Simple offline navigation to avoid getting lost. Passive notifications about nearby wildlife sightings without constant phone checking.
Key frustration: Finds complex apps with too many features overwhelming. Gets frustrated when wildlife sightings are scarce. Dislikes crowded maps.
Scenario: Downloads a simple trail map for offline use, receives a notification about a rare bird sighting midway through the hike, and leaves a review for other retirees after returning home.
Research Approach
From sketch to prototype
The project followed an iterative design process across three fidelity stages. The initial lo-fi work concentrated on the mobile channel, recognizing that users would do most of their planning via the phone. The smartwatch was scoped to key active-hike functions: navigation, run tracking, and alerts. Mid-fi prototypes were built in Figma and used directly in usability testing before transitioning to a full hi-fi prototype in Axure RP.
Design Charrette and Mood Board
The team ran a design charrette to generate initial lo-fi sketches, exploring multiple directions for the home screen, trail list, trail detail, and smartwatch views. A mood board established the visual direction: natural, minimalist, and focused on outdoor imagery.
Persona Development and Scenario Writing
Three personas with distinct goals and technical proficiencies were developed to represent the full range of target users. Scenario walkthroughs for each persona were used to stress-test early design decisions before moving to digital prototyping.
Mid-Fi Prototype (Mobile and Smartwatch Happy Path)
The mid-fi prototype covered the full user journey: selecting a nearby park, filtering trails, viewing trail details, bookmarking, downloading maps offline, syncing to the smartwatch, and beginning navigation. This prototype was used directly in usability testing without modification.
Usability Testing with Four Participants
Four participants representing different levels of hiking experience and technology familiarity were recruited. Each completed five tasks split across mobile and smartwatch, using a think-aloud protocol. Sessions ran 20 to 30 minutes and were supported by a structured test script with post-task and overall follow-up questions.
Design Iteration and Hi-Fi Prototype
All usability findings were consolidated and mapped to five specific design changes implemented in the hi-fi prototype. The hi-fi version addressed navigation, filtering, profile access, and smartwatch interface clarity, resulting in a significantly more usable experience across both platforms.
Participant profiles were selected to represent the user spectrum. Aron (43, Software Engineer, high tech proficiency, mid-level hiking) and Alex (45, Sales Accountant, medium proficiency, mid-level hiking) provided experienced-user perspectives. Usman (30, Medical Student, good proficiency, beginner hiker) and Rohan (23, Student, high proficiency, beginner hiker) represented the first-time hiker segment most likely to rely heavily on the app for orientation.
Key Findings
What testing revealed
Across five task areas, participants surfaced a consistent set of usability issues alongside clear strengths. Bookmarking and offline map downloading were universally understood, confirming that the core interaction model for saving and accessing trails was sound. The most significant problems clustered around navigation consistency and the smartwatch interface, which required the most substantial redesign effort.
No path back to the homepage
All participants had difficulty finding a way to return to the homepage after navigating into a park or trail. The absence of a consistent back button created a dead-end experience, particularly problematic for less experienced users who needed to reorient frequently.
Profile dropdown was confusing on mobile
The profile button used a hover-based dropdown interaction, which is a desktop convention. On mobile, this pattern does not translate. Users were unsure whether the button was interactive and some could not access profile options at all, representing a fundamental platform interaction mismatch.
Filter selections did not visibly update
Filters were described as helpful and easy to understand, but users encountered a feedback problem: after applying a filter selection, the trail list did not visibly update in a way that confirmed the filter had taken effect. Users also requested additional filter types, specifically elevation gain, landmarks, and points of interest categories.
Downloaded map storage location was unclear
All participants found the offline map download process clear, and universally agreed it would be a valuable feature on the trail. However, after completing the download, no one was confident about where the map had been stored on their device. This created uncertainty about whether offline access would actually work when needed.
Smartwatch interface had multiple critical failures
The smartwatch portion of the test surfaced the most significant issues. Users struggled to locate saved trails on the watch. Downloaded trail distance displayed incorrectly. The map showed only a broad overview with no elevation data or trail markers. A contextual navigation pop-up (approaching a landmark) appeared on top of the map, blocking the navigation view and confusing every participant.
Bookmarking and offline maps were consistently praised
The bookmarking flow was found intuitive by all four participants, who used the star icon without prompting and expressed confidence they could retrieve saved trails. The Nearby Parks homepage feature was also consistently highlighted as useful and well-designed. These were clear strengths to preserve across all iterations.
Usability issues by area and recommended priority
| Area | Issue | Priority | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navigation | No back button or consistent route to homepage | High | Add persistent back button on every screen |
| Navigation | Profile dropdown uses hover, not tap | High | Move profile options to bottom navigation bar |
| Smartwatch | Multiple interface failures: distance, map detail, pop-up blocking | High | Redesign smartwatch UI: topographic map, trail list front and center, repositioned compass |
| Search and Filtering | Filters not visibly confirming after selection | Medium | Add filter feedback state and expand filter options |
| Information Architecture | Downloaded map storage location unclear | Medium | Add explicit confirmation and storage path indicator post-download |
| User Interface | Saved trails section difficult to locate | Low | Add dedicated saved trails section to homepage or bottom nav |
Design Iterations
Five changes, evidence-led
Each design change implemented in the hi-fi prototype maps directly to a usability finding. The team prioritized changes that addressed the most severe barriers to task completion, focusing first on navigation consistency and the smartwatch interface before addressing lower-severity issues in filtering and visual design.
Back button added to every screen
A consistent back button was introduced across all mobile screens, resolving the navigation dead-end that all four participants encountered. This change was the most straightforward to implement and had the highest potential impact on users who were unfamiliar with the park structure or who needed to change their selection mid-journey.
Profile options relocated to bottom navigation
The hover-based dropdown menu was removed and replaced with a persistent bottom navigation bar that includes a profile icon as one of four primary destinations. This follows mobile navigation conventions and eliminates the interaction pattern mismatch that prevented multiple participants from accessing their profile at all.
Filter options expanded with elevation and points of interest
The filter screen was rebuilt to include trail length ranges, overall difficulty, elevation change (mild, moderate, extreme), points of interest by type (historical, geological, wildlife spotting, campsite, water source, wildflowers), and accessibility options. These additions directly address participant requests while supporting the personas who have specific trail feature requirements.
Smartwatch saved trails view simplified
The smartwatch home screen was redesigned to lead with a clear list of synced trails, showing trail name, park, and distance at a glance. Previously, users landed on a confirmation pop-up that obscured available trails. Placing the synced trail list front and center resolved the core navigation barrier on the watch, allowing users to select and start their hike in one additional tap.
Smartwatch map rebuilt with topographic detail
The map view on the smartwatch was replaced with a topographic rendering that includes elevation contours, trail route overlay, and map pins marking points of interest. A remaining time and distance indicator was added to the bottom of the screen. The compass arrow was moved to the top and made more prominent. Contextual landmark alerts now appear as a dismissible overlay rather than a full-screen takeover, keeping the map visible during navigation.
Reflection
What this project taught me
The most important lesson from Hike IL was the distinction between designing for one platform versus designing for two platforms that share a single information architecture. Every feature decision on the mobile side created an implicit decision on the smartwatch side. When those decisions were made independently, they produced the kinds of inconsistencies participants encountered: a trail bookmarked on the phone that appeared differently on the watch, a map view that worked on a large screen but failed on a small one.
The smartwatch findings reinforced a principle I had understood theoretically but had not seen played out so directly in testing: reducing interface complexity for a constrained screen is not just a visual design problem. It requires a fundamental rethinking of information priority. The map detail that was perfectly adequate on mobile was insufficient on a watch. The pop-up that provided useful trail context on a phone completely blocked navigation on a smartwatch. Designing across form factors requires asking at every step: what does the user need to know in this context, on this screen, at this moment?
The persona work also held up well against the testing data. The Elon persona predicted the demand for simplicity and offline availability that participants expressed. The Mark persona predicted the demand for real-time fitness data integration. Had the team not built those personas, the design would likely have over-indexed on the high-tech user and missed the accessibility and simplicity requirements that shaped nearly every usability recommendation.
The design is minimalistic to prevent distractions and enhance the hiking experience. It is user-friendly, so even first-time users can navigate the app with ease.
Hike IL Conclusion