After making my first sketches in the design process I made this flowchart for most of the option of the app. Part of it is based on the flowcharts of dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble that I used as a reference.

12/05 Test plan

What are you going to test?
- I will test the general usability of the app, is it clear what to do, from start to finish? Are some alterations needed?. During the designing process of the app I will make a questionnaire that I will be asking my testers to fill in.

Which prototype are you making:
- I'm going to start sketching with a paper prototype and use this to make the final prototype in adobe XD.

Where will you test?
- Since it is an app, so it is usable at any place.
I don't think the location of the test matters.

* I later decided to only test the app on people living in Utrecht and Rotterdam since I could only make the app with routes for these two locations. Otherwise it would get too complicated and take too much of my time.

Who will be your testers:
- My mom her neighbors are expats from Mexico and Germany. I know they do not have that many contacts here in The Netherlands so I think they will be suitable to test the prototype with.

* My next door neighbors didn't respond. I first tested the app on a expat classmate and after that I send a message in my neighborhood group chat where I got some response on. I tested the app through email and phone with them. For another test I visited another neighbor in Utrecht who was able to test the app in real life.

How will you document your test:
- I think I will be documenting my testing with a video, so I can capture the genuine reaction and look back in the way my testers used the app

Tester:
Chan Ho, 28
Expat from South-Korea, Seoul
currently living in Rotterdam

For the test 1 of the app I briefly explained the concept beforehand. I tried to make clear what the goal was but not explain it too much, since the user had to figure out the navigation theirselves.

I asked the tester (who is living in Rotterdam) to plan a route around the Rotterdam area with one or multiple matches.

In the video on the left you see how the tester navigated through the app, while doing this and after the test I asked some questions.

- What parts of the app were still unclear to you?

The like button on the routes pages was still unclear. For me it looked like it was more to use as a collection button, to save the route and later look back on it. It was not clear that from here you have to go to the liking page to actually start swiping people.

Also the option for group walks should be easier to find, this part of the app would be one of the main reasons for me to download it. So the page should be more highlighted.

And the introduction at the beginning was a bit too long, I don't think a lot of people actually want to read a long paragraph like that when using an app like this. I would suggest something like a pop up for the intro.

- Do you understand the goal of the app, and was the design suitable for this concept?

Yes the goal was clear to me. The design is simple but useful and suiting for an app like this, where nature is the main subject. And I like the profile page!

- Are there things missing that you would add?

I think most people are interested in group walks so first so I'm missing a clear and direct ink to that page. And also I maybe miss a bit of icons, some little drawings or something that can replace the text at some pages.

Hereby the introduction text, now that I look at it again I can see why it is a bit too long. For the next test I tried to shorten it a bit.

The like button seemed a bit unclear. So for test 2 I added a gradient that will light up when liking a route that will hopefully make it more clear that when you like a route you're able to start swiping people.

During test 1 you were only able to visit the group walk page when first visiting the chat page, for test 2 I will maybe change the order of that.

Tester:
Chantal, 31
Expat from United Kingdom, London
currently living in Utrecht

I did the test 2 of the interface online, I send the expat I found through my neighborhood app an email with the app and a short explanation an I asked her to record it.

I asked the tester (who is living in Utrecht) to create an account first, then like a route around the Utrecht area and create a group walk.

In the video on the left you see how the tester navigated through the app, while doing this and after the test I asked some questions through the phone.

- What parts of the app were still unclear to you?

While making an account I had the option to only see men, women or everyone. The everyone confused me a bit and I thought maybe it should be changed in something like 'other'.

Also you asked me to create a group walk. I had a bit of trouble with this because it was a bit hard to find the page and the button to do that. Because when you have a match you can immediately send a message to that person and then the chat icon is lit up. So I had a hard time finding out that you can find the 'general' chat page (where you can make a group walk) if you click on the chat icon again.

- Do you understand the goal of the app, and was the design suitable for this concept?

Yes! The app was very clear and stylish. The navigation from the beginning to making a match is really easy understandable. I would defiantly use the app if it really existed.

- Are there things missing that you would add?

Yes, I was thinking about the safety and security of the app.
I feel like it could sometimes (especially for women) be dangerous to meet up alone with strangers. Also the goal of the app is to walk nature routes together, that will probably be in a forest like area where it is mostly more quiet than a city. So I would really like to be sure that I can trust the person I'm going to meet up with. Maybe something like a background check or verification by post could help with that.

Chantal was talking about the fact that the option 'everyone' for preference settings was maybe a bit confusing. So I looked into how a similar app like tinder showed this option, they did it the same way as I. So I will let it stay like this since tinder is a good example to use. Because it is a big and globally used app that allows all kinds of genders.

I asked Chantal if it was clear to her that if you like a route you have to go to the other heart icon in the top bar to start swiping people. She said it was clear because the page scrolled up and the heart icon lit up when she liked a route.

Before

After

Because my first two testers told me that it was too hard to find the page to make a group walk I decided to make an icon of it on the individual chat page. So if you're chatting with someone individually just above the text bar you will see the icon light up. The user is able to click on it and can directly go to the group walk page

I got a comment about the safety of the app. So I added a link to upload a ID photo that would get checked and verified so it's sure that the user is really the person who they say they are.

Tester:
Anna, 35
Expat from Ukraine , Kiev
currently living in Utrecht

I did the test 3 of the interface in real life with my neighbor, I briefly explained the concept beforehand. I tried to make clear what the goal was but not explain it too much, since the user had to figure out the navigation theirselves.

I asked the tester (who is living in Utrecht) to create an account first, then like a route around the Utrecht area and create a group walk.

In the video on the left you see how the tester navigated through the app, while doing this and after the test I asked some questions through the phone.

- What parts of the app were still unclear to you?

At the page where you can choose your preferred distance for a walk there is an option to drag the button from 1km till 20km. You choose a specific max distance, I would be scared that I would be missing out on some routes with using this method. So maybe it would be an idea to make 3/4 options to choose from (just like the preferred gender).

- Do you understand the goal of the app, and was the design suitable for this concept?

I liked the design, I felt like it really evolved around the subject of meeting new people which is of course the goal of the app. Also the app was really easy to go through.

- Are there things missing that you would add?

I was thinking about the transportation, how are the expats going to meet (maybe add suggestions for meeting points?). Also how do they come to the starting point of the route?. And also if someone would get confused by the app is there an option of a help button?

Anna was talking about the fact that it would maybe be a better option to change the 'maximum length of route' option into 3 different options, so I did that.

Intro page:

Location page:

Profile page:

Anna suggested a help button. I found this a good idea because I felt like some testers had a bit of trouble understanding the navigation from the nature routes page to the 'find your walk pal' page. A help page would indeed help to make that more clear, and the user can always go back to the help page if they get confused by something

22/04 Arduino interface sketch

My idea for the utilization of the Arduino software for an interface is focussed on bikers. I came to this plan when I found out that the processor has a motion sensor, so I think it could also feel which way the wind is coming and transform this information into an arrow on a screen for the passing bikers to see. When they're biking a route, there are different points where the Arduino software can show which way they will have the best wind. This way the bikers will go even faster.