Mountain View Outfitters

Project Overview

The product:

A mobile app for Mountain View Outfitters, a camping supply store, that helps users compare product characteristics to make informed purchasing decisions.

The problem:

It can be overwhelming to choose the right camping gear because of the variety of products and features available. Users need a simple way to find the gear that suits their specific needs.

The goal:

Design a user-friendly online experience that allows users to easily compare products by weight, capacity, price, and other features. This will help users to make informed decisions and optimize their camping gear setups.

Project duration:

June-September 2025

My role:

This is a UX design coursework project. I led the complete design process to demonstrate the full range of skills I’ve learned.

Responsibilities:

User research, personas, problem statements, user journey maps
Information architecture
Paper & digital wireframing
Lo-fi & Hi-fi prototyping
Design systems
Usability testing

User research

I conducted market and competitive research to gain a better understanding of the camping supply space to identify common user experiences, features, and products. For user research, I interviewed individuals from my own network, creating as representative of a sample as possible given the hypothetical nature of this project. While this method has its limitations, it provided valuable insight into user goals, pain points, and motivations. I used open-ended questions to invite a wide range of responses and uncover patterns in user behavior.

Pain Points:

1. Decision fatigue

Users find it difficult to choose a product when presented with too many camping products, making it hard for them to find the right one.

2. Inaccurate search

When search results don’t match what users are looking for, they are often confused or feel they are wasting their time.

3. Customer service

Users have difficulty finding customer service contact information and return policies with is frustrating.

Age: 65

Education: Masters

Hometown: Madison, WI

Family: Single, 2 adult children

Occupation: Retired, former teacher

Persona: Avery

“With my newfound free time, I’m looking forward to exploring and learning about new activities like backpacking…in a sustainable way”

Problem statement:

Avery is a retired teacher who wants to try out backpacking for the first time. She needs lightweight, reliable gear that won’t further strain her knee or overwhelm her with choices.

Goals:

Try backpacking for the first time
Find affordable, reliable gear
Keep pack light

Frustrations:

Knee pain makes lifting heavy items difficult
New to backpacking so options can be overwhelming/confusing

User journey map

Goal: Buy affordable and efficient backpacking gear.

Sitemap

Home

── Clothing

── Jackets & Outerwear

── Pants & Shorts

── Tops

── Base Layers

── Shoes and Footwear

── Accessories

── Gear

── Backpacks

── Tents & Shelters

── Chairs

── Sleeping Bags & Pads

── Cooking

── Tools & Accessories

── Customer Service

── FAQs

── Returns & Exchanges

── Contact

── New Arrivals

── Best Sellers

── About

── Our Stories

── Careers

── Account

── Profile

── Preferences

── Order History

── Saves

Accessibility considerations

Colors

When choosing colors I made sure the contrast ratio meets WCAG guidelines.

Hierarchical headings

I included hierarchical headings that will help users by improving page readability. This consistent formatting will make pages easier to view and navigate.

Traversal order

I thought carefully about the traversal order of each page to make sure the sequence was logical to follow.

Paper wireframes

My goal was to make the homepage clear and easy to navigate. I began by drawing four different ideas of how the homepage might look, then refining down to one design.

Digital wireframes

I used Figma to create digital wireframes, refining my design and using Gestalt Principles like similarity, proximity, and common region to group elements.