Finders – Foraging Journal App

Research

I have seen requests for this kind of app on foraging forums before, so I knew there was a demand for it. I looked at a couple of foraging apps, but most of them were focused on identifying plants and not actually recording your finds. From online foraging communities I knew people often used Google maps and dropped pins to save spots. It works, but is of course not optimized for this purpose and it somewhat clunky. So, I knew what I needed to design – a robust mapping and journaling app for foragers. 

I also came up with other feature ideas for the app, like weather history instead of just future weather, since past rain can be important to consider. I also thought it would be interesting to try and predict what is growing during any given week based on history of finds, and a smart integration with existing databases.

Process

My first step was to pretend I am foraging in the woods, and finding something exciting. What would I want to do? I walked through this mental scenario and noted my thoughts and feelings and impulses. First, I want to take a photo, then I want to identify it if I am not instantly confident. Finally, I want to make sure the location is saved, along with any notes about the weather and surrounding environment. 

I also created a user journey for someone who is not familiar with foraging, to cover the two different user groups.

Using the above  as a blueprint, I started wireframing some ideas using InVision Freehand. 

Once I had a pretty good idea of the flow of the app, I moved into Figma. I wanted the app to feel like a natural extension of the foraging process, so I made it look earth-toned and natural. I created some components for the common elements in the UI, and sourced icons and illustrations. I used my own foraging photos for all content examples in the app. 

When the mockups were done, I connected them into a clickable prototype using animated transitions, overlays, and different interaction triggers to make the app feel real.