09 / Camp on the Go · Personal project · 2017
A camping companion that respects the trail
Concept iOS app and Apple Watch extension for campers — organization, campsite discovery, and gear guidance without asking anyone to spend more time staring at their phone.
Role
Designer · personal project
Team
Solo · five in-person interviews and a 49-response survey
Duration
Two weeks
Platforms
iOS concept · Apple Watch extension
Problem
Camping was popular; keeping any of it organized was not.
Technology often takes the rap for our couch-potato lifestyle, but plenty of people still want to get outside — the survey I ran picked up 49 responses in two days and five deeper in-person interviews. The consistent problem underneath all of it was organization: campsites, gear, and the walking / activity around a trip lived as separate mental loads.
The brief I set for myself was small and honest: a two-week concept for an app that helps first-time campers and long-time adventurers keep the trip organized without becoming another reason to look at a screen.
Process
Design for the context of use, not just the feature list.
01 · Research and problem framing
A survey (49 responses) plus five in-person interviews covering camping habits, e-commerce preferences, and 'the perfect app.' Three user goals fell out: keep it organized, learn about campsites and parks, and learn what gear you need for the season.
02 · The one decision I'll defend
Day and night modes in the app, and an Apple Watch extension for anything the phone shouldn't own. The point wasn't cosmetic — bright blue light disrupts circadian rhythm at a campsite, and a watch is better than a phone for anything you'd otherwise pull out mid-trail. iPhone as alternate reality; Apple Watch as augmented reality.
03 · Four prototype iterations
Sketched on paper, moved to Sketch, walked away, sketched again — four versions across the two weeks. Each round moved through moderated feedback sessions with real users; some notes were flattering, some sent me back to the drawing board.
04 · What made it into the concept
Nearest campsites, recommended gear with direct shopping, a walking-steps tracker, and a blog / forum surface — all inside one app with day and night modes, plus a companion Apple Watch flow scoped to glanceable moments on the trail.
Use cases
Two artifacts from the two-week concept.
Day and night mode · same surface, different context
The app carries a day and night mode for viewing preferences. The reason is context, not novelty — bright blue light throws off circadian rhythm, and a camper opening the app at 10pm at a campsite is not the same user as one opening it at noon on the way there. Same product, adapted to the moment.
Journey on your wrist · Apple Watch extension
iPhone is alternate reality; Apple Watch is augmented reality. The Watch extension is scoped to glanceable moments on the trail — steps, current campsite, next checkpoint — instead of trying to shrink the whole phone app onto a wrist. The goal isn't more screen time; it's fewer reasons to stop and look at a phone.
Results
A clickable concept, an honest look back, and a scope I'd own.
4 rounds
of prototype iteration in two weeks
49 + 5
survey responses and interviews
Concept
iPhone + Apple Watch, not production
The output was a clickable iPhone prototype in Sketch — onboarding, campsite discovery, seasonally-aware gear recommendations, walking tracker, community forum — with day and night modes throughout, and an Apple Watch extension concept for the moments a phone shouldn't own.
Being honest about the year and the scope: this was 2017, early in my career, and it's a concept, not a shipped product. The community surface would need real moderation, the gear recommendations were static rather than personalized, and the Watch flow is a concept, not an ARKit-era build. What still holds up is the framing — designing for the context of use at a campsite, and letting the wrist do what the wrist is good at.
If I picked the work up again, I'd validate with real campsites and hikers instead of a conference-room prototype, and I'd let the personalization be a service someone actually runs, not a screen someone designs.
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