Project 1

Echo Park Embark

design for mobile

Final Screen of a learning activity within Phonics Friends.

A mobile app for budget-conscious travelers exploring Echo Park

Over sixteen weeks, I collaborated with three other designers to create a mobile app that addresses the challenges new visitors face when exploring the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Our app aims to assist budget-conscious visitors by providing information about local attractions, including prices, and enabling them to create personalized itineraries for easier navigation. We developed a high-fidelity prototype of the app and conducted user testing with three individuals.

see the prototype

project type

Academic Project

role

Product Designer — Responsible for conducting research, and creating prototypes, logos, brand and identity, and high-fidelity screens.

timeline

Fall 2023 (16 Weeks)

team

Arthur Jensen (Me)
Isabel Bautista
Lois Kim
Sammy Schreier

problem

Our research showed that many Los Angeles locals and visitors are unfamiliar with Echo Park.
Financial barriers and misconceptions about the area create further obstacles for low-income individuals and families to explore the area.

solution

We wanted to find a way to create enjoyable experiences for budget-conscious visitors as they explore Echo Park.
To address this, we developed a mobile app that helps these visitors discover new places and plan activities in Echo Park while saving money.

impact

We produced a comprehensive set of over 20 wireframes and mockups.
These visuals culminated in the development of a functional prototype, which we then presented and tested with representatives of our target demographic.

introduction

Getting to Know Echo Park

Located just above Downtown Los Angeles, Echo Park is a vibrant neighborhood known for its unique shops, restaurants, green spaces, and public events. With its rich history and diverse offerings, it attracts foodies, thrifters, artists, and musicians seeking a creative community. However, Echo Park has also gained a reputation for being expensive and exclusive, which can be intimidating for newcomers. My team aims to promote Echo Park in a way that is welcoming and accessible to all.

interviews

Interviews Reveal Safety Concerns & A Sense of Unfamiliarity That Hinders Exploration

To gauge public perception of Echo Park, we conducted a netnography analysis, examining discussions on social media and online forums. Our findings revealed a lack of awareness and familiarity with the neighborhood, which discourages people from exploring it.

"It's a beautiful lake but it gets a bad reputation."

Lieutenant Garcia

Department of Fish and Wildlife

"I love exploring, but I would not come here by myself."

Jennifer

Resident of Los Angeles

"There were parts of town I have never been to at all, including Echo Park."

Scott Listfield

Resident of Los Angeles

ethnographic research

Echo Park's Gentrification Impacts Community Accessibility & Comfortability

To gain an ethnographic perspective, I researched Echo Park's history and found a scholarly article on its gentrification. The article highlighted how the neighborhood, once predominantly Latino and Filipino, has seen an influx of white residents. This change in the community has created a sense of discomfort and discourages many people of color from exploring the area.

“When a business does not represent the community and only carries high-end services, the community will feel as if there is no trust.”

Kimberly M. Soriano

Author of "Getting Up: Gentrification, Gang Injunctions and Graffiti in Echo Park, Los Angeles"

demographiCS

Identifying Financial Barriers that Limit Exploration for Low-Income Individuals

In addition to examining Echo Park's reputation, we analyzed the demographics of its visitors. Our research revealed that low-income households were disproportionately excluded from enjoying the neighborhood's offerings due to financial constraints.

Bar graph showing the rise of goods and services in the U.S., 2023.

Transportation And Food Costs Soar Over 25% In The Last 4 Years

The high cost of goods and services can significantly impact a resident’s budget. The cost of everyday items like groceries, clothing and gas add up over time.

Circle graph showcasing how a majority of funds goes to purchases for basic needs.

Chart depicting allocation of funds for families in Los Angeles.

Our Users Have Limited Funds for Leisurely Activities

Our research indicated our target users have limited budgets, necessitating our app to highlight low-cost or free attractions.

problem statement

Defining the Challenges That Prevent People From Exploring Echo Park

Our research revealed that Echo Park is unfamiliar to many Los Angeles locals and visitors, particularly those from low-income backgrounds. Financial barriers and misconceptions about the area pose significant obstacles. Considering these findings, our team questioned:

How might we provide budget-conscious people methods to prepare a fun and customizable trip to and around Echo Park?

user persona & Journey

Discovering the Need for Incorporate Tools to Help Plan Routes within our App

Our initial concept sketches helped us explore different project directions. We decided to focus on strengthening individual learning experiences to better address the specific needs of students with dyslexia. To do this, we created an interactive book that pairs with a digital tablet app and interactive pen, ensuring a strong connection between physical and digital learning.

User Journey Map depicting the goals and challenges that our user persona faces.

User Journey Map depicting the challenges our user persona faces before entering Echo Park.

prototyping

Creating Mid-Fidelity Prototypes to Test Our Physical and Digital Learning Experience

Once the team agreed on an understanding of our learning experience, we created prototypes of the actual products. We looked at materials, methods and designed each product. We discussed how features could look like.

Orthographic sketches, informational sketches and physical prototypes of book.

testing insight

Learn Phonics through Storytelling and Tactile Textures

The book is the core learning tool, using engaging stories, interactive audio, tactile elements, and a calming color palette to enhance phonics learning.

Orthographic sketches, informational sketches and physical prototypes of pen.

testing insight

Provide Audio Support and Digital Interaction

The interactive pen is essential to the learning experience, providing audio support and enabling interaction with both the book and app.

Low and mid-fidelity screens of the digital application.

testing inisght

Review Lessons Through Gamified Learning

The digital app uses gamified activities and immediate feedback to provide a fun and engaging way for students to review and reinforce learned phonics sounds from the book.

style guide

Rebranding to Reflect Echo Park's Creative Spirit

I led a rebranding effort to better capture Echo Park's creative spirit. My proposed logo, typography color palette were well-received, and we incorporated them into our final designs. The style guide was established to complete the final designs.

Echo Park Embark Style Guide.

High-fidelity prototype

Echo Park Embark: Digital App

Echo Park Embark is your personalized guide to affordable fun! Discover hidden gems, browse attractions, plan custom itineraries, and enjoy special offers for local businesses.

see it live

onboard

Personalize Your Experience in Echo Park

The app's onboarding experience reflects Echo Park's vibrant atmosphere. Users personalize their feeds by selecting categories of interest.

explore

Discover Attractions Using the Explore View

The explore page displays activity cards for browsing, including personalized recommendations in the "You Might Like These" section. Cards are organized into categories: food, activities, and events.

discover

View Business and Attraction Details at a Glance

Each card provides essential attraction details: price, hours of operation, address, phone number, rating, website, and photos. Special coupons for partnering businesses are also included to appeal to budget-conscious users.

navigate

Create, Save and Navigate an Itinerary

Users can customize their Echo Park experience by creating itineraries, adding attractions, and ordering them. Itineraries can be labeled and dated, with space for notes. Upon completion, users can connect their itineraries to maps for navigation.

map view

View Attraction Distances on the Map

We wanted to give users the ability to explore Echo Park attractions on an interactive map, allowing them to visualize distances between locations and facilitating the planning of multi-stop itineraries.

reflection

Prioritizing Problem-Solving in Design Versus Just Focusing on Visual Design

Moving forward, I'm committed to refining our solution through user testing with children with auditory dyslexia, ensuring it effectively addresses their unique learning needs. A key challenge lies in making the product financially accessible to teachers with limited budgets. To overcome this, I'd explore avenues like grant funding, partnerships with educational organizations, or a tiered pricing model. By gathering insights from educators and students, I aim to create a scalable and impactful learning tool that seamlessly integrates into existing classroom environments, ultimately empowering teachers and improving outcomes for young learners with auditory dyslexia. This project has been a valuable learning experience, pushing me to embrace ambiguity and navigate the complexities of designing for a diverse and often overlooked user group.

Let’s make something great together!

Let’s make something great together!