playland adventure companion

Elevating Amusement Park Experiences

UX / UI / PRODUCT DESIGN

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OVERVIEW

I designed an app to enhance visitors’ experiences at Playland, an amusement park in Vancouver, BC, under the mentorship of the wonderful folk at We the Collective. The idea came to me after going down a rabbit hole of Defunctland videos, which explore the history and design of themed entertainment. I became fascinated by how physical spaces like amusement parks could be enhanced through technology. Please note, this was a personal project and is not affiliated with Playland.

My Role

  • Product designer

Team

  • Independent project

Timeline

  • 4 weeks

Tools

  • Figma

SUMMARY

Problem

How can we ensure our visitors have a well-spent, meaningful, and joyful experience at the amusement park, where every moment feels worthwhile?

Outcome

I created a mobile app that makes amusement park experiences more seamless and immersive, offering real-time ride information, effortless queuing, and interactive scavenger hunts to maximize enjoyment and minimize wait times.

FINAL SCREENS

Playland app key features

The app will transform amusement park visits by addressing common frustrations like long wait times with real-time ride updates and easy queuing. It also introduces interactive scavenger hunts with rotating challenges, giving visitors a fun reason to return. By offering rewards through in-app challenges like coupons for food and merchandise, it helps alleviate the high costs, adding more value and excitement to every visit.

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DISCOVER

Initial assumptions

Amusement parks, once a popular destination, face growing challenges that turn the experience into a hassle. Planning a day at the park involves extensive effort, from navigating wait times to deciding which rides to prioritize. The fun is often overshadowed by frustration. Factors like these make amusement parks less appealing, leading to declining interest.

User sentiments

I conducted an in-depth analysis of why individuals choose not to visit amusement parks or opt not to return after their initial visit. To gain insights, I gathered data from online forums and conducted a survey, exploring key pain points and motivations that impact their decisions.

usersentiments painpoints

Content audit

Through further research, I discovered that Playland's parent company, PNE, offers an app primarily for their events. Although it's not marketed as a Playland-specific app, it contains a few basic features that function as a stripped-down version of a navigation guide for the park, offering a minimal and bare-bones user experience.

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Competitive analysis

To better understand the current landscape of digital tools enhancing amusement park experiences, I conducted a competitive analysis of current popular theme park apps. I identified key features, strengths, and areas for improvement in existing apps, gain insights into gaps and opportunities for creating a more engaging user experience.

competetive analysis

DEFINE

User Persona

I created a user persona to inform my design decisions to provided a deeper understanding of the user and their motivations and needs.

user persona

User Journey

I created a user journey map to show the experience of a user as they navigate an amusement park—from discovering to exiting a ride. This map helps visualize the user's actions, emotions, and challenges throughout this journey. By analyzing this scenario, I can identify opportunities to enhance the user's experience.

user journey divider

KEY TAKEAWAYS AND OPPORTUNITIES

The final product should address gaps found in current offerings by leveraging personalization, immersive features, and intuitive design to enhance the overall amusement park experience and stand out from existing product in the amusement park landscape.

keytakeaways

DEVELOP

Ideation

I ideated potential features that could captivate the target audience which consisted of primarily youth but also ensuring an engaging and immersive experience that would also still appeal to all visitors of all ages.

user flow

Concepts and features that could excite the audience

I drew inspiration from successful apps like Pokémon Go and the iconic, though now discontinued, Trivia app TimePlay by Cineplex (a nostalgic favorite for Canadian fans). I also looked to apps like Spotify and Receiptify, which showcase users' most-listened-to songs, and noted the widespread popularity of TikTok's AR filter trends.

Determining the MVP

I developed a priority map that balances user value with the time and effort needed to design the features within my project timeline. This approach ensures that I focus on designing the most impactful features efficiently.

user flow

User flow diagram

user flow

I designed a comprehensive user flow diagram to map out the entire user journey and all potential interactions within the app. This process allowed me to visualize the app’s structure, ensuring that each step was logical and intuitive for the target audience.

Given the project timeline, I prioritized certain key screens, highlighted in purple, to focus on delivering the most impactful features while maintaining a seamless user experience.

Wireframes

For this project, I bypassed low-fidelity sketches and moved directly into mid-fidelity wireframes to streamline the design process given the 4-week timeline. This allowed me to focus on key functionality and user interactions early on. From there, I quickly progressed to high-fidelity wireframes, honing in on the visual design and user interface details.

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final screens
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