UI / UX Design
Tails N'Trails
Family-focused mobile app that turns outdoor exploration into interactive adventures, hands-on nature activities, and gamified learning experiences for children and parents.
Year :
2023
Industry :
Family Learning / Environmental Experience Design
Client :
Postgraduate
Project Duration :
14 weeks
Problem :
Families living in urban areas can find it difficult to spend meaningful time in nature together. Green spaces may be nearby, but visits can often become passive rather than opportunities to explore, learn and play together.
Through research, I found that families were interested in doing more with their local environment, but needed something that could give outdoor activities more structure and make them engaging for both children and parents.
This led me to explore how a digital experience could encourage families to get outside, explore their surroundings and discover nature together.
Research :
I used a mix of primary and secondary research to understand how families use and experience nature in urban areas.
This included:
Street interviews with families to understand how they felt about outdoor activities and what might encourage them to spend more time outside
Observations in public green spaces, including Dublin’s Irish War Memorial Park, to see how families actually used these spaces
Conversations with experts to learn more about engagement, education and play in children's development
Co-creation workshops to generate ideas for more interactive outdoor experiences
What I found
Families were interested in more interactive and educational ways to spend time outdoors.
Green spaces were often used for passive activities, rather than exploration or discovery.
Experts highlighted the importance of engagement and encouragement when supporting children's learning.
Combining nature, play and learning could give families more ways to interact with their surroundings.
These findings led me towards an experience centred around exploration, accessibility and doing things together as a family.
Solution :
Tails N’ Trails is a mobile app designed to help families explore their local environment together through interactive trails, activities and challenges.
The app uses curated trails developed with local heritage centres, combining digital interactions with physical exploration. For example, families can find hidden markers along a trail that unlock activities, challenges and rewards in the app.
Key features include:
Interactive nature trails with location-based challenges
Nature-based activities, including crafts and species identification
A reward system with badges and leaderboard points
An in-app gallery for documenting and sharing family experiences
A Parents Corner with ideas and guidance for taking part together
The aim was to make getting outdoors feel more like an activity to discover together, rather than simply a walk through a green space.
Challenge :
One of the biggest challenges was keeping children interested while making sure the experience still worked for the whole family.
Gamification, such as badges and challenges, helped give children a reason to keep exploring. However, I didn't want the app to become so focused on rewards that it distracted from the nature and environment around them.
Other challenges included:
Creating simple navigation that would work while families were outdoors
Designing activities that could be enjoyed by both children and parents
Finding the right balance between learning and play
Making the digital experience feel connected to the physical environment, particularly through the trail markers
This meant the app needed to support the experience without becoming the main focus, encouraging families to look up from the screen and engage with what was around them.
Constraints :
The project was developed over a 14-week timeline, taking the concept from initial research through to prototyping and testing.
A few constraints shaped the project:
Designing an experience that could work for different ages within the same family
Making the app work in real outdoor environments, rather than just in a controlled setting
Keeping the experience simple and easy to use while families were moving around outside
Finding the right balance between using the app and exploring the physical environment
These constraints pushed me to keep the digital interactions simple and lightweight, so that the app supported the outdoor experience rather than becoming the focus of it.
Outcome :
User testing showed that families responded positively to the combination of physical exploration and digital interaction.
Some of the key findings were:
Gamification, including badges and the Parents Corner, helped maintain children's interest throughout the experience.
Natural wooden markers were preferred over artificial or brightly coloured alternatives because they felt more at home in the environment.
Families enjoyed having physical activities alongside the digital challenges, rather than relying on the app alone.
Participants said the experience gave them more motivation to explore outdoor spaces together.
Overall, testing suggested that combining play, exploration and digital interaction could make outdoor activities more engaging for families.
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UI / UX Design
Tails N'Trails
Family-focused mobile app that turns outdoor exploration into interactive adventures, hands-on nature activities, and gamified learning experiences for children and parents.
Year :
2023
Industry :
Family Learning / Environmental Experience Design
Client :
Postgraduate
Project Duration :
14 weeks
Problem :
Families living in urban areas can find it difficult to spend meaningful time in nature together. Green spaces may be nearby, but visits can often become passive rather than opportunities to explore, learn and play together.
Through research, I found that families were interested in doing more with their local environment, but needed something that could give outdoor activities more structure and make them engaging for both children and parents.
This led me to explore how a digital experience could encourage families to get outside, explore their surroundings and discover nature together.
Research :
I used a mix of primary and secondary research to understand how families use and experience nature in urban areas.
This included:
Street interviews with families to understand how they felt about outdoor activities and what might encourage them to spend more time outside
Observations in public green spaces, including Dublin’s Irish War Memorial Park, to see how families actually used these spaces
Conversations with experts to learn more about engagement, education and play in children's development
Co-creation workshops to generate ideas for more interactive outdoor experiences
What I found
Families were interested in more interactive and educational ways to spend time outdoors.
Green spaces were often used for passive activities, rather than exploration or discovery.
Experts highlighted the importance of engagement and encouragement when supporting children's learning.
Combining nature, play and learning could give families more ways to interact with their surroundings.
These findings led me towards an experience centred around exploration, accessibility and doing things together as a family.
Solution :
Tails N’ Trails is a mobile app designed to help families explore their local environment together through interactive trails, activities and challenges.
The app uses curated trails developed with local heritage centres, combining digital interactions with physical exploration. For example, families can find hidden markers along a trail that unlock activities, challenges and rewards in the app.
Key features include:
Interactive nature trails with location-based challenges
Nature-based activities, including crafts and species identification
A reward system with badges and leaderboard points
An in-app gallery for documenting and sharing family experiences
A Parents Corner with ideas and guidance for taking part together
The aim was to make getting outdoors feel more like an activity to discover together, rather than simply a walk through a green space.
Challenge :
One of the biggest challenges was keeping children interested while making sure the experience still worked for the whole family.
Gamification, such as badges and challenges, helped give children a reason to keep exploring. However, I didn't want the app to become so focused on rewards that it distracted from the nature and environment around them.
Other challenges included:
Creating simple navigation that would work while families were outdoors
Designing activities that could be enjoyed by both children and parents
Finding the right balance between learning and play
Making the digital experience feel connected to the physical environment, particularly through the trail markers
This meant the app needed to support the experience without becoming the main focus, encouraging families to look up from the screen and engage with what was around them.
Constraints :
The project was developed over a 14-week timeline, taking the concept from initial research through to prototyping and testing.
A few constraints shaped the project:
Designing an experience that could work for different ages within the same family
Making the app work in real outdoor environments, rather than just in a controlled setting
Keeping the experience simple and easy to use while families were moving around outside
Finding the right balance between using the app and exploring the physical environment
These constraints pushed me to keep the digital interactions simple and lightweight, so that the app supported the outdoor experience rather than becoming the focus of it.
Outcome :
User testing showed that families responded positively to the combination of physical exploration and digital interaction.
Some of the key findings were:
Gamification, including badges and the Parents Corner, helped maintain children's interest throughout the experience.
Natural wooden markers were preferred over artificial or brightly coloured alternatives because they felt more at home in the environment.
Families enjoyed having physical activities alongside the digital challenges, rather than relying on the app alone.
Participants said the experience gave them more motivation to explore outdoor spaces together.
Overall, testing suggested that combining play, exploration and digital interaction could make outdoor activities more engaging for families.
More Projects
Award Winner
Read
UI / UX Design
Tails N'Trails
Family-focused mobile app that turns outdoor exploration into interactive adventures, hands-on nature activities, and gamified learning experiences for children and parents.
Year :
2023
Industry :
Family Learning / Environmental Experience Design
Client :
Postgraduate
Project Duration :
14 weeks
Problem :
Families living in urban areas can find it difficult to spend meaningful time in nature together. Green spaces may be nearby, but visits can often become passive rather than opportunities to explore, learn and play together.
Through research, I found that families were interested in doing more with their local environment, but needed something that could give outdoor activities more structure and make them engaging for both children and parents.
This led me to explore how a digital experience could encourage families to get outside, explore their surroundings and discover nature together.
Research :
I used a mix of primary and secondary research to understand how families use and experience nature in urban areas.
This included:
Street interviews with families to understand how they felt about outdoor activities and what might encourage them to spend more time outside
Observations in public green spaces, including Dublin’s Irish War Memorial Park, to see how families actually used these spaces
Conversations with experts to learn more about engagement, education and play in children's development
Co-creation workshops to generate ideas for more interactive outdoor experiences
What I found
Families were interested in more interactive and educational ways to spend time outdoors.
Green spaces were often used for passive activities, rather than exploration or discovery.
Experts highlighted the importance of engagement and encouragement when supporting children's learning.
Combining nature, play and learning could give families more ways to interact with their surroundings.
These findings led me towards an experience centred around exploration, accessibility and doing things together as a family.
Solution :
Tails N’ Trails is a mobile app designed to help families explore their local environment together through interactive trails, activities and challenges.
The app uses curated trails developed with local heritage centres, combining digital interactions with physical exploration. For example, families can find hidden markers along a trail that unlock activities, challenges and rewards in the app.
Key features include:
Interactive nature trails with location-based challenges
Nature-based activities, including crafts and species identification
A reward system with badges and leaderboard points
An in-app gallery for documenting and sharing family experiences
A Parents Corner with ideas and guidance for taking part together
The aim was to make getting outdoors feel more like an activity to discover together, rather than simply a walk through a green space.
Challenge :
One of the biggest challenges was keeping children interested while making sure the experience still worked for the whole family.
Gamification, such as badges and challenges, helped give children a reason to keep exploring. However, I didn't want the app to become so focused on rewards that it distracted from the nature and environment around them.
Other challenges included:
Creating simple navigation that would work while families were outdoors
Designing activities that could be enjoyed by both children and parents
Finding the right balance between learning and play
Making the digital experience feel connected to the physical environment, particularly through the trail markers
This meant the app needed to support the experience without becoming the main focus, encouraging families to look up from the screen and engage with what was around them.
Constraints :
The project was developed over a 14-week timeline, taking the concept from initial research through to prototyping and testing.
A few constraints shaped the project:
Designing an experience that could work for different ages within the same family
Making the app work in real outdoor environments, rather than just in a controlled setting
Keeping the experience simple and easy to use while families were moving around outside
Finding the right balance between using the app and exploring the physical environment
These constraints pushed me to keep the digital interactions simple and lightweight, so that the app supported the outdoor experience rather than becoming the focus of it.
Outcome :
User testing showed that families responded positively to the combination of physical exploration and digital interaction.
Some of the key findings were:
Gamification, including badges and the Parents Corner, helped maintain children's interest throughout the experience.
Natural wooden markers were preferred over artificial or brightly coloured alternatives because they felt more at home in the environment.
Families enjoyed having physical activities alongside the digital challenges, rather than relying on the app alone.
Participants said the experience gave them more motivation to explore outdoor spaces together.
Overall, testing suggested that combining play, exploration and digital interaction could make outdoor activities more engaging for families.
More Projects
Award Winner
Read