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Reimagining noticing nature in urban ecosystems
Background
CityScout helps casual urban explorers notice, identify, and appreciate local features encountered during everyday movement through the city. The project explores how low-pressure education and awareness nudges patterns can strengthen a user’s connection to their surroundings.
Role: UX Researcher & Product Designer (end-to-end)Scope: 6-week student project + independent continuation
Problem Space & Opportunity
Urban walkers often move through their environment on autopilot, missing the rich details of their surroundings. Literature review findings reinforced that even 15 minutes of “noticing” practices can measurably improve mood and connection. Primary research further indicated patterns that most urban residents are interested in learning more but face various attention barriers, the biggest being time pressure.
Truncated research document coming soon.
There was a clear opportunity in the market: walking games, wildlife ID tools, and wellness apps exist, but their non-overlapping focus leaves a gap for a userbase looking for intentional but casual noticing, learning, and exploration.
Thus begs the question: How might we help busy and distracted city-goers appreciate nature and local features a little more, so they can feel more connected to their surroundings and community?
The Curious Seeker
Achilles represents our primary user persona: an urban walker who wants to notice more but often slips into autopilot. He values curiosity and incidental discovery, and is frustrated when he misses sensory details because of distractions.
Mapping this persona's experience highlighted a key intervention moment: noticing something interesting during a walk and wanting to learn more.
Learning Flow
The learning flow is informed by objectives of prompted discovery moments and smooth, easy education. The prototype focuses on the path from noticing something on a walk to identifying it with AI and exploring contextual information, all while maintaining a curious, friendly visual and tonal identity. The surrounding main screens reinforce a sense of progress over time.
Results
This project progressed from an initial concept about urban noticing to an interactive prototype that demonstrates how lightweight learning and awareness cues can meaningfully shift a user’s experience of their neighbourhood. With CityScout, our Curious Seeker persona can become more comfortable with noticing and learning about what he encounters on his walks and feel more engaged with the world.
Through two rounds of user testing, I validated the main learning flow, refined language and interactions, and strengthened the app’s overall information architecture. Testers consistently reported that the app felt intuitive and enjoyable, aligning directly with the project goal of making everyday walks more curious and connected.
Next Steps
CityScout will continue to receive updates whenever I have capacity for independent work. User testing surfaced areas for refinement, and while those adjustments were made, further iteration would benefit the overall experience. Upcoming updates include:
More learning epic functionality (autologging multiple photos, wildlife heatmaps, a context-first almanac, different information screens per type of local feature)
Further development on the Scrapbook feature (a tester favourite) + related flows
Flows for other non-learning epics: awareness, exploration, wellness, and community/sharing
Updating the homescreen to better reflect more flows & features
Refining iconography, potentially with custom illustrations + custom map visuals
Expand app to wearable devices
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