Aquarium Enthusiast’s Best Friend

Aquapage

Background

An aquarium is a captivating and calming addition to any home or office, bringing charm and a sense of tranquility to the space. When I recently took up this hobby and set up an aquarium at my house, I quickly discovered how delightful fish can be as pets. However, I also realized that the maintenance can be pretty tedious and time-consuming. This inspired me to seek a solution to simplify the process and make the aquarium hobby more enjoyable and accessible. I did detailed research and decided to design a mobile app that will be a handy tool. I am excited to highlight that AI augments this design.

Role: UI/UX Product Designer

Timeline: 10weeks

Tools: Figma, FigJam

Understanding the Aquarium Management process & challenges

Discovered the following points during Preliminary Investigation -

  • Aquarium hobbyists require extensive knowledge about fish, water, and their environment to ensure proper aquarium setup and maintenance.

  • There are two main types of setups, freshwater and saltwater

  • Fish companionships and temperaments are two crucial factors when selecting fish

  • Regular aquarium maintenance must be done to keep it in good, healthy condition

Aquarium Management

Aquarium Log

Aquarimate

Poor content organization hinders usability and task efficiency.

The layout lacks clarity and structure, making tasks hard to follow. Similar-looking buttons, tabs, and misplaced controls disrupt visual hierarchy and consistency.

Competitive Analysis Key Takeaways-

  • Easily organize and track aquarium data, including test results and multiple tanks.

  • They provide a lot of small tools/utilities useful for the maintenance of the aquarium.

  • Huge scope for improving their overall design in terms of usability for Aquarium Log.

  • Aquarium management is restricted to Apple devices only

  • Aquarimate is a paid app that provides a well-rounded experience; at the same time, the features are a little overwhelming

Key takeaways -

  • Aquarium hobbyists require a strong understanding of fish, water, and ecosystems for proper care.

  • Require persistent maintenance in terms of water changes, tank scrubbing, gravel vacuum, adding water conditioners, etc

  • Many struggle to consistently monitor water quality, risking aquatic health.

  • Live plants improve tank health but are costly, limiting their accessibility.

  • Larger tanks are easier to maintain but require more space.

  • Time-consuming upkeep causes many to abandon the hobby.

  • Saltwater tanks require stricter maintenance, resulting in increased failure rates.

  • Professional services provide a hassle-free option for long-term maintenance.

Aimed to understand common challenges, best practices, and routines of aquarium owners.

  • Interviewed 3 experienced hobbyists with 9–10 years

  • Their expertise spanned both freshwater and saltwater tank experience.

  • Found that most aquarium owners face similar tank management challenges.

User Interviews

After gaining valuable insights from users, I conducted interviews with the aquarium service providers. Key takeaways-

  • Researched and visited aquarium stores to understand service provider offerings.

  • Found that appointments are usually booked in person or by phone.

  • Identified an opportunity to improve convenience by enabling online scheduling for services.

Problem statement

Aquarium hobbyists face ongoing challenges in maintaining healthy tanks, from managing water quality to understanding fish care. Freshwater and saltwater setups have distinct requirements, with saltwater tanks requiring more rigorous maintenance. While larger tanks and live plants offer sustainability, their high cost and extensive space requirements reduce accessibility. High maintenance, inconsistent monitoring, and limited awareness and availability of professional services often lead to frustration or hobby drop-off. Intuitive tools and support can simplify care and foster long-term engagement.

Goals & Objective

After conducting thorough research and user interviews, I gained a clear understanding of the challenges faced by aquarium enthusiasts and identified potential solutions to address them.

Key objectives include:

  • Simplifying the aquarium maintenance process by allowing users to record aquarium configurations, which can then generate alerts and notifications.

  • Providing detailed information on fish care, plants, corals, gravel, and other aquarium essentials.

  • Enabling users to log maintenance activities with specific dates for better tracking.

  • Offering a feature to record and monitor water quality test results.

  • Allowing users to easily search for aquarium service providers and book appointments directly through the platform.

  • Creating opportunities for aquarium service providers to advertise their services on the platform.

These features aim to streamline aquarium management while providing a comprehensive and user-friendly experience. Moreover after brainstorming

Potential Users

This application is designed to benefit two main user groups: aquarium hobbyists and aquarium service providers. Hobbyists can enjoy features that simplify aquarium care and management, while service providers can advertise their offerings directly to hobbyists. Service providers will be charged for displaying their advertisements on the platform, creating a mutually beneficial ecosystem for both user types.

Information Architecture

I dedicated significant time to developing the information architecture, creating an application that is highly intuitive and user-friendly. My focus was on simplicity and ease of navigation, ensuring a flat hierarchy of pages so users can access information within just one or two clicks. Additionally, I designed the layout to consolidate as much relevant information as possible on a single page, minimizing excessive scrolling and enhancing the overall user experience.

Design Iterations

When I began sketching the initial screens, I aimed to keep the designs closely aligned with the real world. My first concept focused on water parameter testing, where paper strips change color based on the water's composition. Typically, you compare the strip with a chart on the box to determine the measurement. I envisioned a screen allowing users to hold the strip next to their phone and record the parameters. In the future, with AI integration, this process could be fully automated by simply analyzing a photo of the test strip.

Additionally, the bottom menu received careful consideration when selecting menu items. Instead of a ‘Home’ menu, I decided to call it a ‘Tank/Aquarium’ to match the real world.

Preliminary Screens

With the help of research and task flows, I created wireframes that I reviewed with a select group of users. After considering their feedback, I developed these basic screens.

Branding

I truly enjoyed working on this logo design! I experimented with a variety of fish and tank shapes, ultimately selecting bright, vibrant colors to reflect the lively and captivating world of aquariums. My goal was to bring the same mesmerizing look and feel to the application, ensuring it complements any aquarium. While the colors are bold and vivid, I carefully balanced their use to maintain a clean, professional, and polished appearance for the app.

While developing the name for this app, I collaborated with AI tools to brainstorm ideas. AI suggests the following names: AquaSphere, Tank Keeper, Aqua Haven, and Fishfolio, all of which are exciting options. There was a concept of a one-page help guide in my mind, one page of fish information, and one page to record water parameters. Additionally, similar to the Yellow Pages, there is a page for aquarium service provider information. Hence, I used the name ‘Aquapage’

Final Screen Designs

I chose a black background to create a sleek, modern look while enhancing the vibrant colors of the aquarium elements. The contrast allows fish, plants, and other features to stand out beautifully. Additionally, many aquarium enthusiasts use black backing on their tanks to make their aquatic life stand out, creating a visually cohesive background that complements real-world aquarium aesthetics.

These screens are for Add/Edit Aquarium

Not giving an integrated look

Not enough contrast for bottom bar and CTA

AquaPal, an AI chatbot, assists users with all their questions related to aquariums, water, fish, plants, and more.

Nice contrast with modern look

High Fidelity Design Iterations

Aquarium Services Provider Login and add/Edit Information screens

Usability Testing

“I would love to reach out to wider customers through this app”

Service provider

“Wao, Recording water parameters is so easy.”

Hobbyist

“This is very easy to use and handy tool”

Hobbyist

Goal -

Test if the application is intuitive, accessible, visually appealing, and simple to navigate, allowing users to easily accomplish their goals with minimal effort and frustration, while providing a positive and enjoyable experience

Usability test was conducted with 5 participants. Four of them were aquarium hobbyists and one was complete novice to aquarium world. The novice participant was recruited on purpose to understand how user friendly the design is for a complete out of context user.

Success factors-

  • Users were able to complete assigned tasks without any hand-holding

  • Each Task completion time is less than 5 seconds

  • No cognitive load and can repeat tasks smoothly

Two-step approach-

  • Participants were given a brief overview of the app and allowed to explore it while thinking aloud as I observed their behavior.

  • They were asked to complete specific tasks.

Design Enhancements After Usability Testing

CTA is accommodated with the AquaPal AI chatbot icon

Users were highly impressed with the app concept and were excited to try it. They appreciated the app's simplicity and intuitiveness, successfully completing all tasks without assistance. While enthusiastic, they also shared valuable suggestions based on their experience with the hobby.

Key feedback includes:

  • Excited about uploading their aquarium pictures.

  • Loved the idea of service providers and suggested adding a map feature to find nearby options.

  • Mentioned that some icons for maintenance and water tests were too small.

  • Appreciated the alerts but wanted an option to add custom reminders.

  • Suggested including a "Beginner’s Guide" for new users under the Guide section.

  • Requested an "Other" option under “Add Fish” and “Add Plant” for custom additions.

  • Found water test recording slightly confusing, but appreciated its alignment with test strip bottles.

  • Wanted the ability to create custom maintenance schedules with reminders.

  • Proposed integrating an aquarium monitoring video camera with vacation notifications.

  • Suggested a calendar view to track completed and upcoming maintenance tasks.

Additionally, with the help of AI heat maps were generated for key screens to evaluate user interactions. Below is a sample comparison of the Home screen design before and after updates. The initial design revealed that notifications were not receiving sufficient user attention. After updating the design, we observed a significant improvement in engagement with the notifications.

CTA does not need too much attention

Simple List of service providers

Pins for Service providers on a map

Future Enhancements

This application has a huge roadmap ahead. and can be improved day by day. Received lot of ideas after usability testing that will be added in future. But apart from these one major feature that will be in pipeline is integration of this application with ‘Alexa’ and ‘Google Home’, so that alerts and reminders can be accessed remotely.

Thank you!

Thanks for having a look at my project. Please leave your valuable feedback.