Trailtrek
A physical and mental wellness mobile app, for locals in the Metro Vancouver area
Embedded Files
Homepage
Map Feature
Hiking Database Feature
Tools / Languages
React Native, VS Code, Github, Javascript
Role
UI/UX design, Front-end Implementation, Product Testing
Date
April 2024
Project Overview
Digital platforms and technology have shifted how people interact with businesses, products, and the world around them. Specifically, consumer expectations have dramatically transformed through the years, leading to a higher demand for digital experiences that combine people's outdoor lives and personal wellness with their shopping experiences.
The 24-Hour YouCode 2024 Hackathon (funded by Arc'teryx) confronted participants this reality, asking them to solve a single question:
"How can we use technology to deliver an omnichannel experience that engages customers and promotes wellness and healthy lifestyles?"
My team and I sought to create an application that would provide users a unique, helpful, and rejuvenating experience. In this project, my work consisted of idea conceptualization, designing and coding the UI interface, and testing the application.
Our Approach
First, we brainstormed what an omnichannel experience may look like, and how we—as consumers ourselves—would realistically interact with it. We created simple personas, to isolate what type of users may desire and use such applications, leading us to 4 main pillars we wanted to incorporate into our design:
Support for physical wellness
Support for mental wellness
Inclusivity for users who enjoy outdoor activities and for those who prefer to stay indoors
Accessibility and convenience
Next, we conceptualized how these pillars could be incorporated in a software program. We all agreed that making a phone application would fulfill our fourth pillar (accessibility and convenience) most accurately, since many people today tend to consistently use on their phone, over an computer.
Similarly, we decided to include mindfulness exercises for mental wellness, various outdoor activities common around the Vancouver area (ex. hiking, snowboarding, climbing, running) for physical wellness, and stretches for those who prefer the indoors, or those who want some physical movement during work hours.
After agreeing on the application's features, we created an implementation strategy, divided the required tasks, and got to work!
Challenges we faced
Trying to maintain a reasonable scope was a challenge. We had so many ideas that we wanted to incorporate into our ideal app, including gamification techniques, links to Arc'teryx apparel and products, and a feature where users could save their favourite stretches, hikes, etc. However, we quickly realized that within our 24-hour time limit, we just didn't have enough people or the skillsets to complete these goals.
We also had difficulties with connecting the front-end and back-end, resulting in a huge setback in our goals. In the end, we were able to debug the program, just not in time for judging. But as beginner hackers who were unfamiliar with React native and had never made a phone application before, we were extremely proud to be able to create this program from scratch!
What Did We Learn?
Through this hackathon experience, not only was I able to learn and expose myself to new software frameworks and development processes, but I also learnt the importance of communication, teamwork, and trusting my other team members.
Further, through the challenges me and my team experienced, I learnt how to increase my adaptability and problem-solving skills when faced with unfamiliar situations.
Daily Mindfulness Feature
CHECK OUT THE GITHUB REPO HERE: TrailTrek Github Repo
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