NPS
Project
2026
Establishing the National Park's Presence in Urban Populations
The National Park Service (NPS) manages over 85 million acres of protected land across the United States. However, due to rising travel costs, marginalized communities find it difficult to visit National Parks. We created an extension in the NPS ecosystem called Canopy, which provides immersive audio visual experiences in Urban Spaces, bringing the National Parks closer to home.
My role
Systems Designer: I spearheaded the recreation and development of the NPS app design system.
Primary Research Lead: I translated our KPIs into actionable user tests alongside leading the user testing of the Canopy
45% increase
In interest towards NPS
<2 min
Core task completion times
86.5
Base avg. System Usability Score
My roles
Systems Designer, UX Designer
Tools
Figma, Gemini, Rhino
Team
Product Owner, Scrum Master, Product & Brand Designers
Duration
10 weeks
Gallery
गॅलेरी
Canopy booking flow
Discovery
सौंशोधन
Since we were a team of hiker heads (more on that later), we chose the National Park Service (NPS) as our brand. This is their mission statement:
400+
National Parks, Monuments, and Historical Sites managed
85 million
Acres of protected land under the National Parks System
332 million
National Park visits in 2024
How might we engage Urban populations into the NPS ecosystem?
Gauging Scope
स्कोप ओळखणे
Before researching on the NPS extension, we found out that there are existing issues within the NPS app:
Existing app issues
As the systems designer, I spearheaded the refinement of these interactions alongside developing new components in the design system for the brand extension.
We then moved forward with our primary research to validate our understanding as well as our ideated concepts for the target audience:
Primary Research Methods
Survey
Environmental Scan
Concept Reactions
From all of this, we were able to narrow down our deliverable requirements:
Ideating touchpoints
A system to emulate nature & educate users
A system for accessing and customizing this experience
Since this space were quite different than how the National Park Service, we created Canopy - an extension of the NPS focusing on providing immersive experiences for Urban populations.
Quick Wins
Before adding in new features, we first focused on existing issues in the NPS app. We remapped the information architecture of the app to make the experience more seamless.
User Testing
यूज़र टेस्टिंग
Since this was a new process, we tested the entire flow:
Booking a Canopy
Experiencing Canopy
After Visit
Our KPIs
System Usability Score
Task Completion Times
Interest in NPS ecosystem
Test Results
86.5
Average System Usability Score
104.82s
Time to book a Canopy from NPS app
45% increase
In interest towards NPS ecosystem
Although the data looks promising, there were some underlying issues that we uncovered with our system:
Our average SUS score was well within the threshold, but the range of scores we received varied a lot. After some close observation, we found a significant number of results going below the threshold.
Problems Observed
Confusing Information Architecture
The booking process for Canopy was really confusing -lists looked like buttons, customizing options gave no context, and special activities were poorly highlighted, if at all.
Disengaging Recap Experience
Recap screens, which were supposed to be fun, didn’t feel engaging especially when they were a crucial touch point if shared on social media and to friends/families.
Final Designs
अंतिम डिझाईन
Based on this data, we went back to the drawing board (literally) and remodeled the information architecture. I was responsible for remaking the design system to compliment the new structure.
Component Changes
The Canopy Flow
Book a Session
Easily book a session from the NPS app - select a mode and the exact activities inside, alongside accessibility settings.
Be immersed under the Canopy
Displays inside the Canopy are interactive, and subtly prompt to engaging experiences as well as educate users about National Parks.
Relive your Canopy memories
The next time you open the NPS app, you will be greeted with memories that you made inside the Canopy.
What I learned
मी काय शिकलो
Freeflowing vs Structured thinking
Being a designer who loves systems and logic, I quickly learnt that there need to be moments where the process is intentionally messy to incorporate new ideas and experiment. This was the first project where I was challenged this way, and I'm deeply fascinated by how it applies in other areas.
Great team = Great projects
Having a team that was so capable and specialized definitely elevated our final product. It also helped that all of us LOVE to be outside and in nature, transforming this project from just another studio to a fully-fledged passion project. Everyone on the team inspired me to keep refining my own work as well as learn new skills. I LOVE YOU TEAM SMOKIES!!!!
