Bay Harbor Marina Mobile App
Mobile Application gives high and dry boat owners convenient anytime access to schedule their boat launches.
Client
Bay Harbor Marina
Role
Design Lead
User Experience
Boating has been a pastime for centuries and while boating itself is a fun experience, storing, launching, and getting the boat water-ready can be quite a chore. This is especially true for boat owners who keep their boats in high and dry storage, where boats are stored on racks and only accessible via a forklift and a phone call. Currently, I am working to help solve the cumbersome launch process and create a more streamlined user-centered solution.
User Interviews & Journey Mapping
After conducting some initial research and compiling a list of other marinas in the area, I conducted stakeholder interviews. My findings revealed that most Marinas have a similar cumbersome launch process. To further deepen my understanding of the issue, I conducted several user interviews and found a re-occurring set of pain points among boat owners. Through these interviews, I was able to build out a journey map of the existing launch process.
From the mapping, I was able to better understand the user’s emotions, current pain points, and look for opportunities for improvement. This process proved to be extremely valuable and helped build the foundation for the mobile solution.
The Journey map enables me to pinpoint the full flow of the existing launch process, better understand the user’s emotions, and identify pain points.
User Flow
With the insight gained from the interviews and journey mapping, I created a user flow for the login, dashboard, my boats, and settings pages. This imperative step allowed me to visualize the mobile app in full prior to moving onto wireframes.
User Flow: Login to Main Dashboard functions
Wireframes
I used knowledge gained from the interviews, journey map, and user flow to evaluate functions and add features to the mobile app screens. This iterative environment allowed me to walk through the user steps multiple times and make improvements and adjustments well before crafting high-fidelity mockups.
Wireframes for login, dashboard, my boats, and settings.
Visual Design
The design system for the mobile application is simple and streamlined. The color palette is visually pleasing to both male and female users, while the underlying water elements are subtle yet, welcomed.
Notifications
Notifications prove very valuable to the user and would be a requirement for the mobile app. The notifications reduce user anxiety and provide the much-needed confirmation that their requests have been met. If there is an error with the launch, it can be cleared up well in advance of the user’s arrival at the marina.
Results
Boating itself is near and dear to my heart, and naturally so are the pain points. As a designer, it has been extremely satisfying to work with stakeholders and other boat owners to help create a more streamlined launch process for all involved. This mobile application will help reduce user anxiety and create a clear flow of communication between the Marina and the user.
Credits: Design Lead: Kelli Lambiase, Lead Engineer: Shawn Condra