Designing an App for the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium: The Core of UX is Empathy
Problem
The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium education program educates individuals about the animals they have at the aquarium. As part of this program, the aquarium is constantly checking animals in and out of their facility and sending them out on the road to various places in the community. They want to be able to track where each animal is and quickly find information about each handling in the animal’s history without the use of multiple spreadsheets. In addition, each employee must handle an animal in each species in order to keep their certification up to date. They approached the university and asked us if we could create an app to replace these spreadsheets and make checking animals in and out easy and efficient.
Solution
To meet the needs of the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium education program, my team proposed to create an app that will help aide in the process of tracking their animals that are in their outreach program. Currently the aquarium checks animals in and out using spreadsheets and colored ash cards on the animals cages. The app we are creating will make it easy to track animals as they are coming in and out as well as their medical charts. On the app the DGM team is creating, employees will also be able to manage their own em- ployee pro le and see when their handling certi cations are close to expiring. The education program currently uses a lot of different methods to track all these things. An app where they can access all this information in one location will help save them a lot of time while making their jobs so much easier.
The Process
After evaluating the problem and coming up with our solutions, we started designing. As we created wireframes and tested them with our users, we found that there was still much to learn about the process the aquarium employees take when they check animals in and out. Even though we thought we understood, actually testing a prototype with them showed us what need to change to provide them with all they need.
For example, here is the original wireframe for the check out form. From our conversations with our client, we thought a simple form with two inputs would meet their needs. However, when we tested that with them, we realized we needed more. We took it back to the drawing board and I sketched out a new version.
Then I created the wireframe in Sketch.
And then I designed the surface.
This process is how we solved our design problems throughout the project. We created the minimum viable product, tested it with our user, and made it better based on their feedback.
The Most Difficult Part = The Best Part
This world of aquarium animals and complicated ecosystems was foreign to my team and I from the very beginning. Even though our client walked us through the process they go through to check animals in and out, there are parts of their life that they don’t think to mention because it’s just part of their life. They don’t realize it’s important for us to know so we can make the best product we can for them.
That’s why user experience design exists. At the very core of it shines empathy. Without empathy for our user, no matter how foreign their life is to us, we cannot make the product they need. Empathy prompts us to ask the right questions to find out what they need, even when they don’t exactly know. Empathy drives our testing so we find out what’s missing, what’s difficult for our user, or what’s unnecessary, and we fix it.
The most rewarding part of this project is the look on our client’s face when our product meets their needs. When they realize that this app will save them time, energy, and stress, we know we’ve done our job as UX designers.
