UX/UI Design • Product Design
ParkPal Chicago
Chicago's parks provide endless opportunities for recreation, enrichment, and entertainment. This end-to-end UX research and UI design project shows how we created a centralized hub for people to explore enticing park experiences.
Project Type: Academic capstone, product design
Timeline: 10 weeks
Teammates: Ishan Dutta, Andrew Marutano, Thailer McLeod
My Role: UX Research, UI Design, Brand/Design Lead
Problem
Chicago's parks offer many recreational opportunities, yet residents and visitors lack a central resource for exploring the bountiful park amenities, events, and activities.
This awareness gap prevents people from fully utilizing the park offerings, limiting community engagement and economic benefits to local neighborhoods.
Solution
Through extensive exploration, research and design, we developed ParkPal: Chicago—a mobile app that connects Chicagoans with local park resources by providing easily accessible information through:
Park attraction and event discovery
Personalized recommendations
Streamlined planning and navigation
Introducing ParkPal: Chicago
My responsibilities & tools
Interviews
Surveys
Wireframes
Prototyping
Design system
User testing
Product Design
Problem Space & Discovery
Discovery & Problem Framing
Exploratory research highlighted significant resources and benefits parks offer, including:
Community engagement and social opportunities
Mental and physical health benefits
Local economic impact
Enhanced experience through accessible information
Competitive Analysis
We evaluated 5 products to identify technology opportunities and differentiators, noting that:
Lack of comprehensive information about park amenities and activities
Few focused on park discovery
Limited personalization
Opportunity to integrate historical or educational content with practical information
Research Methodology
Interviews
Gathered qualitative insights from Chicago residents about their park experiences
Affinity mapping
Organized and synthesized research findings into patterns and themes
Surveys
Collected quantitative data about opinions and insights using Qualtrics
Interviews
Key data
Participants: 9 Chicago residents (18+)
Duration: 30 minutes
Tools: Consent form, Interview script, Zoom, FigJam
Analysis: Affinity mapping
Sample Questions:
How do you hear about park activities or events?
Where might you go to look for park information?
Do you ever visit parks outside of your neighborhood
Please tell me about a memorable experience.
Surveys
Key data
Participants: 28 Chicago residents
Tools: Qualtrics
Focus: Quantitative data on user preferences, planning, and discovery
Analysis: Qualtrics, Affinity mapping
Sample Questions:
How often have you attended the following park events? (matrix list + write-in option)
What factors are important when traveling to a park for an event?
How do you typically hear about park events?
Key insights from exploratory research
Distance isn't a barrier
Chicagoans will travel across the city for compelling park experiences
Information drives engagement
Users crave detailed knowledge about park amenities, events, and nature
Notification preferences
88% of users appreciate notifications but prefer to control how often they receive them
Spontaneity rules
80% of park visits are spontaneous, rather than planned
Digital discovery dominates
Social media and email are the primary go-to sources for park information
Real time information
Users want to know what's available before committing to a visit
Shaping the product
Must-have features
Search/AI Chat: Search and exploration to increase park and event awareness
Favorites: Ability to save or add to calendar
Map: Map/navigation access
Preference and location settings for personalized experience recommendations
Access to real-time information
Customizable notifications
Next phase
Educational information
Gamification
Social connection
User personas & journeys
We developed two personas based on our research. One acts impulsively, while the other prefers to plan:
Impulsive Ivan – scenario
Here is one example of how someone might interact with the app
Planner Patty – scenario
Here is one example of how someone might interact with the app
Product design
Lo-fi wireframes
The core layout and content organization will focus on cards, filters, and swipeable interaction patterns.
Mid-fi wireframes and prototype
The interactive prototype focused on these 5 core user flows:
Onboarding and preference setting
Discovery and favoriting
Look up info about park amenities
Park location and navigation
Notification preferences
User-testing methods
Unmoderated user-testing
Participants: 3 peers from the course
Duration: ~30 minutes
Subject: Link to the mid-fi clickable prototype
Tools: Consent form, Script, Zoom
Techniques: Unmoderated user-testing, think-aloud protocol
Moderated user-testing
Participants: 5 Chicago residents
Duration: ~30 minutes
Subject: ParkPal hi-fidelity clickable prototype
Techniques: Moderated user-testing, think-aloud protocol, affinity diagrams
Design system
As Brand/Design lead, I created a comprehensive design system including:
Logo combining the Chicago skyline with natural elements
Color palette reflecting Chicago's urban parks
Typography hierarchy for readability and engagement
Component library for consistent UI patterns
Logo & branding
Component library
Key findings & product solutions
Onboarding updates
🔴 Finding:
Users found the process lengthy and repetitive
🟢 Solution:
We added a progress indicator to indicate where users are in the process
Small icons differentiate categories and pages
Option to skip
Map/navigation updates
🔴 Finding:
Users said the map interface felt cluttered and redundant with native maps
🟢 Solution:
We reimagined the map as a category-based exploration tool that integrates with users' preferred navigation apps
Add item to favorites
🔴 Finding:
Participants did not like the "heart" icon used to favorite an item. They also felt that when favoriting an item, there should not be a modal pop-up.
🟢 Solution:
We changed the icon from a heart to a Chicago star, which matches the branding
We removed the modals so users can simply tap the favorite icon
Hi fidelity screens & user flows
Homepage
Key Features
Personalized home screen tailored with popular and nearby events
Category exploration of events, amenities, and activities
Event discovery and saving functionality
Preference-based filtering and customization
Favorites collection for planning return visits
Exploratory map by category
Flow - login
Onboarding and personalization setup
Explore Map – Parks, Amenities, Events
Outcomes & Learnings
"I absolutely love this idea! If this were a real app—I would use it today. The other day I was on my bicycle looking for a skate park. This app would have been a perfect tool to help me find the nearest skate park!"
— Joseph Wanka, DePaul University HCI 594 Capstone Instructor
Key Takeaways
Mobile-first testing is essential
Testing prototypes on actual mobile devices provides the most accurate user feedback
Leverage native functionality
Integrating with device capabilities creates a more intuitive experience
User feedback trumps assumptions
Our initial design concepts evolved significantly based on testing insights
Future Vision
