Hiking Monster App

An app designed for hiking enthusiasts. It incorporates gamification, transforming hiking from a mere challenge into an engaging and interactive experience.

Timeline

May 2022 - Jul 2022

My Role

UI/UX Designer

UI/UX

Platform

App

Why

Project Backgroud

Most existing hiking apps emphasize route tracking but lack emotional engagement and user motivation. This project aims to enhance the hiking experience by integrating gamification, team collaboration, and personalized recommendations—making hiking more fun, social, and user-centric.

Overview

What is

Hiking Monster

Hiking Monster is a hiking-focused app that integrates gamification to enhance user engagement. It offers features designed for use before, during, and after a hike, making the entire experience more enjoyable and interactive.

What we did

We have designed this app with:

Team Planning

Team Planning

Team Planning

Pre-Hike Preparation

Pre-Hike Preparation

Pre-Hike Preparation

Map Navigation

Map Navigation

Map Navigation

Hiking Records

Hiking Records

Hiking Records

Ride-Hailing Service

Ride-Hailing Service

Ride-Hailing Service

Mission Unlocking

Mission Unlocking

Mission Unlocking

Store Redemption

Store Redemption

Store Redemption

Record Collection

Record Collection

Record Collection

Result Verification

We won the FIRST PLACE in the UIUX category of the 金赫獎

01 UX Research

Competitive Analysis

皮克敏

4.5

55k comments

Daily reflections and journaling to document life
Integrates exercise with game to encourage physical activity
Adorable and friendly UI

Positive Feedback

Excessive UI elements and animations may disrupt user experience
GPS positioning needs to be faster
Frequent connection errors

Negative Feedback

Hikingbook

4.8

11k comments

Subscription features offer great value
Detailed hiking spot maps
Comprehensive functionality

Positive Feedback

App crashes prevent proper recording
Slow map loading
Overloaded content on each screen affects readability

Negative Feedback

健行筆記

4.6

1170 comments

Daily reflections and journaling to document life
Integrates exercise with game to encourage physical activity
Adorable and friendly UI

Positive Feedback

Excessive UI elements and animations may disrupt user experience
GPS positioning needs to be faster
Frequent connection errors

Negative Feedback

Persona

Amy

Age 22 | Female | Taipei

Recent university graduate,

job-seeking, single
Hiking experience: 1 year

User Characteristics

Heavy smartphone user
Highly digitalized, enjoys trying new app features
Likes hiking with friends
Enjoys following the latest trends and information

Needs and Pain Points

Pain Points

Few friends around her enjoy hiking
Wants to take on slightly more challenging hikes but lacks knowledge

Needs

Wants to find friends to hike with through the app
Hopes to access hiking itineraries and gain hiking knowledge

Mark

Age 33 | Male | Taipei

Engineer, 10 years of work experience, married with one child

Hiking experience: 1 year

User Characteristics

Enjoys outdoor activities with family during holidays
Likes sharing his life on social media
Feels the impact of work stress and has started paying attention to his health
Enjoys exploring business opportunities and learning more about hiking

Needs and Pain Points

Pain Points

Wants to stay fit, but urban fitness apps don’t meet his needs
Struggles with carrying heavy hiking gear

Needs

Wants to connect with knowledgeable and enthusiastic hiking friends
Hopes for a feature that allows him to keep track of his hiking records and share them with friends

Andy

Age 42 | Male | Nantou

Physical education teacher,

lives in a rural area, single

Hiking experience: 5 years

User Characteristics

Has an active lifestyle, enjoys both mountains and oceans
Loves leading hiking teams with friends
Enjoys challenging difficult and technical hikes
Member of many hiking communities

Needs and Pain Points

Pain Points

Faces difficulties when team members drop out last minute and struggles to find replacements
Managing group schedules is challenging

Needs

Hopes the app can provide a feature to share his hiking itineraries
Wants to form hiking teams and have an easy way to manage group members

User Journey

Define Problems

Based on the pain points and needs identified from the Persona and user journey map analysis, we have summarized the app's goals.

Unable to record the climbing process

Difficult to organize itineraries

Few friends share the same hiking interest

The app is too complex and difficult to use

GOAL:

Allow users to plan their trips in advance, find hiking companions, and share or record their hiking experiences afterward.

02 Information Architecture

03 Function Flows

Map Operation Flow

Establishing Team Flow

04 Style Guide

Color

Primary Color

#FFCC68

#82DDCD

#FE9A76

Background Color

Linear 1

Linear 2

Neutral Color

#FFFFFF

#FAFAFA

#EFF0F6

#A0A3BD

#4E4B66

#14142B

#000000

Typography

PingFang TC

Properties

Application

Header 1

24px｜140%｜Bold

Key applications that need to be emphasized

Header 2

22px｜140%｜Medium

Key applications that need to be emphasized

Title

20px｜140%｜Bold

Section main title application

Subtitle

16px｜140%｜Medium

Section subtitle application

Body 1

16px｜165%｜Regular

Application of text information

Body 2

14px｜165%｜Regular

Application of text information

Caption

13px｜165%｜Regular

Application of supporting information

05 Mockup

Main Visual Design

Inspired by Taipei's Four Beasts Mountains (Elephant, Tiger, Leopard, and Lion), the app’s visual characters symbolize companionship.

The color palette of sunset orange and golden yellow creates a warm, vibrant, and gamified design, complemented by lake green for a nature-inspired touch.

Inspired by Taipei's Four Beasts Mountains (Elephant, Tiger, Leopard, and Lion), the app’s visual characters symbolize companionship.

The color palette of sunset orange and golden yellow creates a warm, vibrant, and gamified design, complemented by lake green for a nature-inspired touch.

Hiking Preferences Data Collection

After account registration, users complete a brief survey to help personalize route recommendations.

Companion Selection

Users can choose a hiking companion, which grows over time as they unlock routes, enhancing the gamified experience and building anticipation.

Map Page

By pressing the hiking record button, the app begins tracking distance, time, and elevation gain.

Treasure Collection

On commuting routes with network access before or after the hike, users can actively click to collect treasures on the map, increasing the contents of their treasure chest and adding a fun element.

The map page also detects nearby teams that are currently hiking, allowing users to see ongoing activities.

A floating toolbar with shortcut buttons is provided to explore more app features easily.

Assistant Features

Includes GPS location tracking, toolbox, notifications, and route tracking, assisting users to have a smoother hiking experience.

The toolbox contains gifts, a plant guide, a first aid kit, a compass, and a two-point distance measurement tool.

Team

"My Teams" displays the user's joined teams, prioritizing active discussions while completed hiking teams are listed later.

Team Features

One-third of the interface is dedicated to entering a team invitation code. Members can join a team using the code created by the team leader.

Team leaders can create teams to consolidate hiking details within the app for reminders and discussions.

After entering basic information, tapping "Create Team" generates an invitation code and link, which members can use to join.

Search

The system automatically suggests popular routes based on database search trends.

A card-style layout is used to structure information-rich content, utilizing key details such as distance and duration for quick understanding before accessing the full details.

Personalized route recommendations are based on the user's initial survey and browsing behavior, helping users discover new hiking trails efficiently.

Task

Ad-Supported Missions

Collaborates with hiking-related brands to enhance user engagement while creating commercial opportunities.

Special Missions

After downloading an offline mission map, users can unlock routes by following them. When the system detects that a user has completed a specific path within a set geolocation range and uploads the route, the reward is automatically added to their app.

Daily Missions

Users receive rewards for daily check-ins, increasing retention and satisfaction.

Store

The "Store" feature is designed to motivate users by allowing them to exchange rewards for items, increasing engagement and loyalty.

The store also attracts brands for product placements, enabling hiking-related retailers to feature products, turning the app into a commercial platform with market potential.

User page

Consolidates user information, including collected treasures, in-app currency, saved routes, photo albums, and character progression.

Users can share their invitation code with friends to earn extra in-app currency.

THANK
FOR
WATCHING

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