Archers:
App Design for
the Archery Community
Date
2022/3 - 2022/11, 9 months
Skills
UX research, UX design, Branding, User testing, UI design, User flow, Market analysis, Wireframing, Prototyping
It all started from my personal experience as a student archery athlete since my freshman year: having experienced the joy, frustration, hope, doubt, and inner peace from this sport, I conceived an application dedicated to the archery community with my understanding of its unique needs and values. The resulting product is a mobile app hi-fi prototype with powerful features to help users with training, connecting with local communities, and socializing in various forms.
Category
Independent project, App design
I. Background Research
Archery as a sport and leisure activity has become increasingly popular with the expansion of archery clubs and the exposure of sports events and athletes. With rich historical and cultural backgrounds, archery is considered a sport that can be practiced throughout one’s lifetime - building mental and physical strength, while finding unique meanings for each individual. While digital technology has made many resources more accessible, as a collegiate archery athlete and USAA level-2 coach, I am aware of the obstacles people face with their various backgrounds and experience levels.
1.1 The Four Obstacles for Archers
The practice of archery relies heavily on local field and facilities, which may be difficult to find or access on a regular basis.
Local resources
The great variation in training systems and individual schedules stresses the customization of practice, which is hard to achieve as an individual.
Healthy personal growth
The abundant but unorganized online resources confuse people, especially beginners. It is difficult to evaluate the validity of the information.
Reliable information
The lack of companions with similar status makes people more vulnerable to bottleneck periods and reduces the chance of social interaction.
Supportive community
1.2 Help During the Journey of Archers
help people build their mental strength toward adversity
help people better track their training and reflection process, better manage their archery data
help people customize their training plans based on reliable sources
help people access more reliable recourses from the community through online communication
“Skill cycle”
help people enjoy archery with friends and find meaning from it
help people better connect with local communities
help people attend more social events with other archers
help people get support from the local and general online community
“Social cycle”
1.3 Target User Groups
II. User Research
2.2 User Experience Cycle
2.3 User Journey Map
2.4 Archery Activities
III. Market Analysis
3. SWOT Analysis
Lancaster Archery Supply
Headspace
Strava
Workout for Women
IV. Design
4.1 Opportunities
According to the official website of World Archery,
Archery ranked as the 7th most popular Olympic sport on social media in 2021, after badminton, volleyball, football, athletics, basketball, and cycling
15% of all Olympic sports content on YouTube that topped one million views in 2021 and featured archery
According to the official website of USA Archery,
At the end of November 2021, USA Archery membership climbed to over 23,000, which marked a record high for the organization despite the challenges of pandemic shutdowns in 2020
4.2 Branding
As a sport featuring the concept of balance, the branding intends to show the aesthetic of a crossover of mechanical and spiritual, professional and casual, and traditional and futuristic.
4.3 Flow Chart
4.4 Hi-fi prototype (selections)
4.5 Real-life demonstration
V. Reflection
Archers is by far the longest UX project I have worked on. Being more than a portfolio project for my future graduate program application, it was a unique opportunity for me to apply my design knowledge to my real-life passion and patiently build everything from scratch.
My interview with teammates and coaches turned out to be inspiring - despite knowing them for years, I rarely get to listen to their needs and wishes about this sport.
Working through wire-frame, low-fi, and multiple versions of hi-fi prototypes, I had a deeper understanding of the unlimited power of UX prototyping - there is no limitation for imagination and innovation. After being comfortable with Figma and the iteration process, I look forward to taking more challenges to explore new ways of interaction - possibly dipping into the topics of speculative design.
The documentation process of this project brought to my attention the importance of displaying my design process and outcome. As I am slowly moving my portfolio website from Notion to Webflow, I will stage a smoother and more immersive documentation in the future, together, with more diverse methods of displaying the project outcome.