Surfsapp:
April - August 2021
Providing surfers with greater information surrounding surf spots, surf conditions and friends’ surfing activities to promote a healthier surf culture and encourage more beginner surfers to get their feet wet (and their wetsuits on).
How might we give beginner surfers more confidence to pursue their newly found passion for surfing?
The problem
COVID-19 wasn’t bad for everything… I suppose.
During 2020, Australians all over the country found a new passion out in the water. Data suggests that the retail surf industry grew 116% from the previous year (Ross, 2020) with new surfers purchasing their first boards, wet suits and zinc before heading out to a local beach to catch (or not) some waves. Admittedly, I was one of these newbies to the sport, or in surf lingo, a ‘kook’.
I had always wanted to start surfing, but a lack of information surrounding where to go for beginners, where to hire, and what conditions are optimal at each spot made it intimidating to even get the feet wet.
Eventually when a few mates and I decided to bite the bullet, it got me thinking. There must be a better way to encourage a community of new surfers to get in the water.
I reached out to some of my surfing mates to ask them about their experiences starting - and it turns out that they all had similar concerns to me.
Meet Jess
I created a user persona.
Jess recently discovered her passion for surfing over the summer with some mates. She enjoys the long drives to new surf spots with friends, and discovering more of Australia’s natural beauty.
Jess helped guide my design decisions going forward.
The research
User Interviews. Affinity Mapping. Feature Prioritisation. User Flows.
My research began when I reached out to some fellow beginner surfers to get a further grasp on their thoughts, feelings and motivations when they grab the wax and head out for a dip.
The insights were incredibly interesting, and fairly consistent with one another, and indeed, myself (and Jess!).
Affinity Mapping
I collated bite sized information from my interviews and organised them into seven common themes. From these seven themes, three key areas of interest stood out to me which would dictate my design decisions going forward.
Three key areas
Social surfing
New surfers placed a large emphasis on the social aspects of surfing. They almost exclusively go surfing with at least one friend, and rely on friends for information regarding new surf spots. They love sharing their surfing experiences with their mates.
Lack of information
They all felt intimidated to start surfing. Usually by the lack of information easily available to them. They didn’t know where was a good spot to surf, where was safe, where they could park, what facilities each spot had and more. They also commented how more experienced surfers and bad surf culture was intimidating to them.
Tech solutions
They all used technology to help assist them. All users had an application that would tell them the forecast of the conditions. This is important as it means that new surfers are actively looking for a solution to this problem. However, these apps have very little information on spots, and often have incorrect forecasting of conditions.
Feature Prioritisation
Using the three key areas of interest outlined above, I dove into a 2x2 Matrix for Prioritisation to sort out which features I should integrate into my minimum viable product (MVP) solution.
User Flows
I then started designing a user flow for a mobile application.
I split up the user flow into two key actions. The search for a beach and the post-surf socialisation.
A user would come into the app and browse for a new surf spot and find information about the ideal conditions, where to park, which beaches are safe for beginners and more.
Once a user had completed their surf session, they would come back onto the app and share how their session went, how the conditions were and who they surfed with. This would create a self-sustaining way to keep updating information on surf spots, and keep helping others discovering new and wonderful beaches around Australia.
The design
Wireframes. Low-fi prototyping. UI style guide. Hi-fi prototyping.
I grabbed my pen and some paper and started drafting up some basic wireframes. From there I progressed to Figma with some Low-fi prototypes, and finally Hi-fi prototypes.
Wireframes
Low-Fi prototyping
Usability testing
I used Maze in order to conduct preliminary testing of my prototype. Maze allows designers to upload their prototypes and create missions for users to perform.
An example of one of my missions was the following:
You are a beginner surfer, and you are interested in finding a suitable beach for you and your friends. Show me how you would find such a beach.
At the conclusion of your usability testing, Maze provides you with insights, including a usability score which is dependent on how easily your users are able to complete their missions.
Below is a breakdown of my usability testing journey:
UI Style Guide
I knew that I wanted my app to look modern, be incredible stripped down and simple but at the same time have an earthy-nature feel about it.
I tried to use tones of greens and dark blues as well as yellows and browns to give off that feel.
Personally, I am a big fan and user of exercise iPhone application, Strava, and looked to their UI elements for inspiration.
Hi-Fi prototyping
Social surfing
Lack of information
Next steps
The job is never complete for a designer… such is the nature of design! New features brings on new testing, and therefore new insights to build upon.
Future features in Surfapp include:
Accurate forecasting of future surf conditions
Ability to join virtual surf clubs and meet with other local surfers
Amateur events organised and hosted to increase a good surf culture amongst beginners.
References
Ross, H. 2020. COVID-19 pandemic a boon for surf industry as many Australians find refuge in the ocean. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-01/surf-industry-buoyed-by-covid19-pandemic-stimulus/12484658