Ui/UX Design
Slip Away
If you don't know what slip is, a slip is a parking spot for your boat. Slip Away is like AirBnB for you boat.
The project is actually a pilot programme for the City of Kirkland public marina, requested by an economic development official from the city. We designed Slip Away as a reservation system for boaters to park their boat. Further, existing docks are leaving money on the table, and are unable to collect accurate data on their slip usage. Slip Away will help maximize the occupancy of docks for Kirkland, and thus, feed local businesses.
Event/
Startup Weekend
Role /
UI/UX Designer
​
Year /
2016
0.1 Design thinking
How to create a tool that enables both boat owners
and slip owners to easily connect to each other?
We interviewed local Marinas and boat owners and none of them had knowledge of a centralized booking system. Finding a spot was a problem all boaters shared. No one liked the repetitive contacting of each marina one by one over the telephone or radio.
We further interviewed boat owners to understand their expectation of Slip Away and came up with these key features
Central Booking System
Navigable Map
Amenities Information
0.4 Web High Fidelity Prototype
I was responsible for the prototyping of front-end web, from complete page design to the minutiae such as icons and buttons.
0.2 Concepts and Wireframe
I ran the branding and visual design aspect of the project and began with our mascot and brand centerpiece. In the end, I was able to create a design and brand that embodied the attributes I was seeking: clean and friendly.
Above is an initial wire-frame for the Slip Away application. I decided to use tab-based navigation since it is an universal design pattern which encourages intuitiveness, allowing the app to be easy to use and understand. Further, tabs allow the app content to be organised in a tidy compartmental format, with the context hierarchy flowing left to right.
0.3 Interface Design and App prototype
First time user experience was extremely important for us due to the fragility of engagement for new features. I wanted a friendly, familiar, and communicative experience, especially since some users will be older adults.
0.5 Presentation
As this product was part of the Kirkland Startup Weekend, a business pitch was required. I was responsible for all the visual aspects of the presentation
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |
We achieved 2nd place out of 14 teams.