What is PADI’s Dive Shop Locator?
PADI’s Dive Shop Locator is a highly functional and user-friendly tool designed to assist divers in finding dive shops either near their current location or within any specified area they choose. Dive shops typically offer a range of services, including diving courses for all levels, eLearning materials for convenient study, guided dive tours to explore local underwater environments, and conservation activities for those interested in protecting marine ecosystems. The tool simplifies the process of connecting with local dive shops that cater to specific needs, whether users are looking to begin their diving journey, rent equipment, or participate in guided dive tours. This ensures that users can easily access the resources they need to enhance their diving experiences and engage with the diving community.
What it used to look like
While the previous design of the Dive Shop Locator wasn’t necessarily poor, it lacked the modern features and aesthetic appeal expected by today’s users. The interface was modeled after a basic Google search layout, which, while functional, fell short of providing the intuitive and visually engaging experience that users expect from a dedicated tool. Given the Locator’s purpose, it needed to be more in line with PADI’s contemporary visual design style, which emphasizes clarity, user engagement, and ease of use. The redesign aimed to modernize the interface, making it not only more aesthetically pleasing but also more aligned with PADI’s brand identity and better suited to the tool’s specific functionality.
As it stands, the homepage has significant room for improvement. The current search bar, in its basic form, adds unnecessary steps to the user journey, making it more cumbersome for users to achieve their primary goal of finding a dive shop and learning about the services or courses offered. The lack of immediate, relevant information on the homepage forces users to engage in multiple clicks, which detracts from the overall user experience. This inefficiency can lead to frustration, as the search bar fails to deliver the quick and useful results that users expect. By not providing key information upfront, the homepage does not effectively serve the needs of its users, highlighting the need for a redesign that focuses on usability, efficiency, and delivering value right from the start.
The design process
The design process for this project adhered closely to the d.School’s established approach to tackling design challenges, emphasizing empathy, ideation, and iterative prototyping. Given the tight deadlines and the ongoing war in Ukraine, where our development team was located, the project required a pragmatic and efficient methodology. To meet these constraints, I leaned heavily on Heuristic Evaluation, a method that allowed us to quickly identify usability issues based on established principles, without the need for extensive new user testing.
Additionally, I leveraged existing recorded user interview sessions to gain insights into user needs and behaviors, ensuring that our design decisions were informed by real user experiences despite the challenging circumstances. Card Sorting was another critical technique used to optimize the menu and filter structure, helping to organize the content in a way that made the most sense to users. This approach enabled us to create a more intuitive and user-friendly interface while staying within the project’s time and resource constraints.
SWOT analysis and design inspiration
We conducted an in-depth SWOT analysis of leading travel, booking, and real estate websites, including Airbnb, Apartments.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Zillow, and Google Hotels. By examining the strengths and weaknesses of each, we identified best practices and innovative features to incorporate into our redesign. Google Hotels emerged as the primary inspiration due to its alignment with the PADI Design System, which is strongly influenced by Google’s Material Design principles. This provided a cohesive framework that allowed us to integrate the strengths of these platforms while ensuring consistency with PADI’s brand identity. Our approach focused on blending aesthetic appeal with functional excellence, ultimately crafting a user experience that is both familiar and innovative, optimized for performance and scalability.
Diving head on
With a clear understanding of the final direction for the product, I began the design process by creating simple wireframes to outline the basic structure and flow of the user interface. These wireframes served as a blueprint, helping to visualize the layout and user journey. To expedite the design process, I utilized pre-built components (and librarires such as Material Design) wherever possible, allowing me to quickly flesh out the initial designs and focus on refining the overall user experience.
As the project progressed, it became apparent that some of the new features required custom solutions that were not covered by existing components. In these cases, I had to design and develop new components from scratch to meet the specific requirements of the project. This involved not only ensuring that these new elements integrated seamlessly with the existing design system but also that they enhanced the functionality and usability of the final product. The iterative nature of this process allowed for continuous improvement and adaptation, ensuring that the final design was both comprehensive and aligned with the project’s goals.
Initial designs and wireframes
When designing a user interface, it’s vital to ensure that the design aligns with the brand’s core values, appeals to the target audience, and supports the brand’s market positioning. Consistency in design is key to creating a cohesive brand experience that reinforces brand perception and builds trust with users. By leveraging PADI’s established design system, I aimed to ensure that the interface not only reflected the brand’s identity but also resonated with the intended audience. This alignment helps communicate the brand’s values effectively and strengthens the user’s connection to the brand.
Final wireframes
Taking a deeper dive
Due to scope creep, coupled with time constraints and a shortage of developer resources, several features that were initially planned for inclusion in the same release had to be reevaluated. As a result, some features were postponed to future releases, while others had to be scaled back or cut entirely from the project. This decision was made to ensure that the core functionalities were delivered on time and met the quality standards, while allowing room for these additional features to be revisited and implemented in later updates.
Making Waves with the DSL
The initiative to redesign PADI’s Dive Site Locator was born out of the necessity to modernize an outdated tool that no longer met the expectations of today’s users. The original interface, modeled after a simple Google Search layout, lacked the sophistication and user-centric design needed to effectively serve its purpose. By drawing inspiration from top-tier platforms like Airbnb and Google Hotels, and aligning with PADI’s Material Design-based aesthetic, we aimed to create a more intuitive, visually cohesive experience that not only addressed current user needs but also prepared the platform for future product integrations.
The success of the redesign was evident in the results reported by the Product Manager: a 35% increase in user engagement and a noticeable boost in sales within just weeks of the launch. This outcome highlights the effectiveness of a strategic design approach that prioritizes brand consistency, user experience, and functional enhancements. By modernizing the interface, reducing unnecessary user actions, and aligning the tool with PADI’s broader design standards, the project not only achieved its goals but also delivered significant value to the organization, setting a strong foundation for future growth and user satisfaction.