Testing the Prototype

We asked these

5 Participants...

Rachel, 50
Experienced birder, decent photographer (from earlier research)

Anne, 46
Casual nature app user (from earlier research)

Kendall, 35
Works in tech, nature enthusiast

Tim, 54
Works in banking, novice photographer

Jason, 41
Real estate professional

...to complete three (3) main tasks...

Navigating from the dashboard
Completing a lesson
Logging a bird photo

1. Explore from the dashboard

2. Learn Something new

3. Logging Bird photos

...and one (1) surprise bonus task

Try out the camera setup assistant feature

Get correct Camera Settings

USABILITY TESTING | What Worked

Good News First

01 Learning Content Users found real value - Kendall screenshotted the lesson content during the usability test to use later in the field.

02 Navigation The accordion structure reduced clutter.
"It's less clutter, because otherwise you're looking at so many different things." — Tim

03 Engagement All five users said they'd use the product.

04 Community Bird Feed Users understood the value of seeing camera settings on shared photos.
"They could copy those settings." — Kendall

Users validated the core concept. The learning content, community feed, and navigation structure all landed. Every participant said they'd use the product.

USABILITY TESTING | What Didn't Work

Two (02) Priority Improvements Identified:

01 Tags

Nobody understood the auto-generated tags were clickable.

02 Public vs Private

Users couldn't tell the difference between the community feed and their personal bird log

The tags issue went deeper than one screen. Testing revealed that tags weren't integrated across the prototype at all — fixing it meant rethinking how they appeared on the bird log, the feed, and search. One usability finding, several screens redesigned.

The public vs. private confusion pointed to a need for stronger visual distinction between shared and personal content.

USABILITY TESTING | Camera Setup Assistant

Camera Setup Assistant | Surprise Bonus Task Results

A feature concept parked during ideation and tested as a lo-fi prototype.

I knew early on that I wanted a feature that could help people in the moment. Something that could magically give them the right camera settings when they're standing in the field. I questioned how we could use AI to reliably and consistently provide this information on a mobile website format. But I'm not designing a camera app, though the results of this test could give life to at least a camera integration someday. And I wasn't creating something to give you the automatic answer. The point is to have a good time, to learn the basics, to hone the skill, and become skilled enough and quick enough to capture fleeting and elusive bird photographs. Not to point-and-wait while the AI comes up with the perfect camera settings every single time.

So I put it aside, reluctantly. During the IA phase, when I was building the sitemap and needed to commit to screens I could actually design, the camera setup assistant became a placeholder. I hadn't figured out my way of doing it yet. So I built other things. The lessons, the photo feeds, the maps and logs, the planned community features.

And then one day at 3am it hit me. A quiz (some might call it a decision tree). What's the light like? How far away is the bird? Is it moving? Three questions, eighteen possible combinations, each one returning a recommended settings card. A little digital card you can save for later, when you need it. I sketched it well into the mid-fi wireframe phase, then prototyped it and tested it with users here.

The Camera Setup Assistant: a short quiz about the users' photographic conditions that would supply recommended camera settings for a quick reference starting point in the field.

It got the strongest response of any feature.

"I would honestly use that in the field, for sure, that would be super helpful."
-Rachel

Camera setup assistant v1

Rachel, who's still learning, said she'd use it in the field immediately. "You don't have to think as fast with your camera, because it can just tell you."

Kendall immediately asked if the settings card could auto-load into the phone's camera app. He started narrating a scenario out loud: the bird is right there, it's dark, it's not moving, you tap through three questions and your camera is ready.

Jason said "it gives people an actual tool."

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