Ollie
Ollie is a mobile app that builds a digital community of skateboarders to share their mutual love and passion for skateboarding. My role in the team consisted of writing the script for the user interviews, analyzing the current ecosystem, and designing the style guide, iterations, and prototype of the product.
Challenge
How might we build a platform for skateboarders from around the world to interact with each other and play S.K.A.T.E.?
My team was challenged to design a mobile app for skateboarders to play S.K.A.T.E. and interact with each other. To understand the context, we had to explore what was missing in the existing digital skateboarding community and how we would create an app that connects users from around the world.
What is the game of S.K.A.T.E.?
Solution
Connecting skateboarders from all backgrounds
Ollie aims to aggregate skateboarders of all levels and create a platform where everyone can freely express themselves and improve their skills.
Research
Assumptions and biases
The first step was to ideate and list possible assumptions the team had about our end users. By recognizing our personal assumptions and biases, we could identify the points of exclusion and use them to generate new ideas and opportunities to approach the problem.
The main bias we had was that we were all female and lacked experience in the sport, which would cause us to overlook many important perspectives of various backgrounds.
The common assumptions we had were:
- Demographics: mostly Western, white, and male; teens to young adults; ages 13 to 24
- Personality: carefree, very chill, and has a cool composure
- Appearance: long and messy hair, baggy clothing similar to street-style fashion
- Community: anti-establishment counterculture; freedom of expression; scary and intimidating for beginners
Conducting user research from interviews and surveys
Surveys
We received 130 responses in total for our survey, ranging from expert skateboarders to non-skateboarders. Here are the key insights found:
- The majority of skateboarders do it as a pass time, while some use it for transportation or as a creative outlet.
- 29.4% of the skateboarders have practiced for < 1 year, 26.5% for 1-2 years, 20.6% for 3-5 years, 11.8% for 6-9 years, and 11.8% for > 10 years.
- Many skateboarders want an easier way to find local skateparks and meet new people to share their passion.
- Non-skateboarders thought the sport was intimidating and scary to try, and majority of them did not have close friends who skateboard.
User Interviews
We conducted interviews over the phone and through video calls with skateboarders, skatepark experts, and previous skate app designers. The main findings were:
- "There’s no need for an app to only play S.K.A.T.E. I want something useful, addicting, and convenient" - Adam, Expert Skateboarder
- "There’s a wide variety of skateboarders in terms of how dedicated they are to it and their experience levels" - Bruce, Skatepark Owner
After interviewing our stakeholders, we decided to create an app for users to connect, learn, and share their skills rather than designing an app specifically for S.K.A.T.E. One idea that stood out to us was implementing a "trick-tracker" feature for users to track their progress and keep themselves accountable for their growth.
Design
Iterate and validate assumptions from user research
Once all the research was conducted and analyzed, I drew potential screens and translated the sketches into wireframes on Figma upon approval from my team. We tested our ideas for every iteration with 1-2 participants to find possible opportunities for improvement.
First iteration: sketches
Second iteration: wireframes
Changed the sizing of the content found on the Search page.
Style Guide
Creating a consistent brand
Third iteration: mockups
Our initial style guide consisted of bright colours with a clean design to improve user retention. After receiving feedback from stakeholders, we concluded that our visual design failed to reflect the niche market and skateboarding culture.
Fourth iteration: new design
In our fourth iteration, we created a new design inspired by global skate magazines, such as Thrasher. Having familiarity with the product's design would encourage skateboarders to avoid feeling hesitant to try the app.
Mood Board
Final Design
Here is a walkthrough of Ollie:
Homepage
Users can scroll through their feed to watch, comment, like, and share posts.
Search Feature
Users can browse through popular, trending, and recommended videos. They can also find other users or skate tricks.
Posts & Filters
There is a feature to upload posts, using various unique camera filters, and share the videos on external platforms.
Location
With the location feature, users can search for local skate parks, skate shops, or places they were tagged. Find new places to skateboard can be done easily.
Personalized Tracker
When users select tricks to learn, they can check it off their list once they accomplish it. They can also challenge other users to prove if they can do a certain trick.
Improvements
Working in a team of ten was challenging as it was hard for the team to be on the same page throughout the entire project, especially since it was fully remote. We had to change our design decisions to ensure our product targeted the niche market while encouraging new users to try the app. If we had more time, I would want to dive deeper into the trick tracker and the 'challenging friends' feature.
Reflection
This was the first project that I had absolutely no prior understanding or connection to the topic. I had to design and conduct research out of my comfort zone, which in the end was rewarding as I got to interview professional skateboarders and skatepark owners. My knowledge about skateboarding, which started from nothing, grew into a deeper understanding of the sport and its cultural impact.
Working in a larger team was new for me as I learned the importance of defending my design decisions. A couple of times, team members disagreed with my choices, so I learned to communicate my decisions that were validated through user research. This project gave me a deeper appreciation for the sport, and I decided to purchase my own skateboard. Hopefully, one day I can do an Ollie!
