Nomad—All-in-One Nature Park Experience App.
Role: UX Researcher & Product Designer.
Scope: Research · UX architecture · mobile interaction design.
Timeline: 2 months.
Designed a mobile companion that helps tourists safely navigate Kenya’s national parks through offline maps, wildlife identification, and safety guidance.
The Problem
Kenya’s national parks offer extraordinary wildlife experiences, but navigating them can be difficult for first-time visitors.
Tourists frequently rely on:
Paper maps.
Unreliable cellular data.
Informal guidance from other drivers.
This creates challenges around navigation, safety, and access to information during safari experiences.
The Goal
Nomad aimed to design a mobile companion that consolidates navigation, wildlife education, and safety information into a single tool that works even when connectivity is unavailable.
Design goals:
Provide reliable offline navigation.
Support wildlife identification.
Improve visitor safety awareness.
Centralise park information
Research
To understand visitor challenges inside Kenya’s national parks, I conducted research with tourists who had recently completed safari trips.
Research methods included:
10 semi-structured user interviews.
An ethnographic observation study.
Affinity mapping.
Competitor analysis of existing safari apps.
Persona development and journey mapping.
Key Insights
A) Navigation is the primary challenge
Visitors often feel lost due to limited signage and unreliable navigation tools.
B) Offline functionality is essential
Connectivity within parks is inconsistent, so apps must function offline.
C) Wildlife identification enhances engagement
Tourists enjoy learning about animals and want quick identification tools.
D) Safety information is often unclear
Visitors are unsure how to respond to wildlife encounters or vehicle issues.
Persona
Jane — First-Time Safari Visitor
Age: 32
High interest in wildlife education.
Behaviours:
Research animals before visiting.
Relies on digital maps until connectivity drops.
Frequently asks guides to identify animals.
Needs:
Simple navigation.
Reliable offline maps.
Wildlife information.
Safety guidance.
User Journey
Below is a tourist’s typical experience when navigating the parks.
The following reflects the improved safari experience that Nomad offers tourists.
Product Concept
Nomad is a mobile companion designed for safari environments, combining offline navigation, wildlife identification tools, safety guidance, and accommodation information into one accessible platform.
Core features:
Offline park maps.
Wildlife identification library.
Safety guidance.
Accommodation and booking information.
Mockups
Reflection
Designing Nomad reinforced the importance of contextual design. Products must adapt to the environments in which they are used. It also highlighted how combining navigation, safety, and education can transform a fragmented experience into a cohesive journey.