Goblin Valley App Case Study
Goblin Valley Case Study
Alex Strasburg
As a scout, I had fond memories of being a scout and going to Goblin Valley, and so decided that it would be an excellent choice to create an app concept based on Goblin Valley. Goblin Valley is known for its otherworldly landscapes, with rock formations know as Goblins because of their strange shape and looming presence. Since most of the people that go to Goblin Valley go there to explore, I decided to focus on four primary means of exploration: Hiking, Biking, Camping, and Rappelling. I decided to focus on these specific areas because there was a wealth of information regarding the different hikes, biking, and rappelling featured on the web.
I began by creating a rough sketch of what I wanted the app to look like:
Next, I conducted research on the various sites and experiences available at Goblin Valley. Below is one of the brochures I happened on during my research:
The brochure not only provided a rich background on the history and experiences available at Goblin Valley, it helped to provide additional research regarding creating a color palette and font choices.
I began by finding an image of rock formation that looked like a Goblins head:
I then utilized illustrator to create a logo using various tones:
These tones along with the Utah Life Elevated Logo provided me with a strong color palette.
Additionally, I fell in love with Futura. Although the font is somewhat large, I wanted to the app to be usable by those with poor vision.
My research then lead me to focus on the various hikes at Goblin Valley. Although the whole area of Goblin Valley is hike-able, I decided to focus on the five official hikes: Carmel Canyon Trail, Curtis Bench Trail, Entrada Canyon Trail, Goblin’s Lair Trail, and the Three Sisters Trail. I then found body text for the hikes via https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/goblin-valley/hiking-in-goblin-valley/
I also stumbled across some amazing pictures of the various hikes:
I utilized the State Park website to find additional body text for the Biking, Camping, and Rappelling pages.
Upon completion of the app, I came away with some major take aways:
First, start the drawing process early. I spent a large amount of time worrying about the project and how it was going to work instead of time actually creating and laying out what I wanted to accomplish. If I would have spent half the time working on the app as I spent worrying about it coming together, I would have been finished a month in advanced.
Second, establish clear objectives from the start. By having clear objectives of what I wanted to accomplish I would have been able to possibly expand the project to be more interactive.
Third, establish a weekly schedule to plan and work on the project: Because of the open nature of the class, I allowed myself to wait until the last minute to get things done. If I could have made time, I would have realized earlier on that Bears Ears wasn’t going to work.
Fourth, some of things I feel I did well in was combing colors to make a delightful experience for users, as well as utilizing awesome images that highlighted the wonder of Goblin Valley.
In conclusion, Goblin Valley provided an excellent research and app creation project for DGM 2270. Not only was the research interesting, the creation and prototyping of the app was enjoyable and improved my skills with Adobe XD.
As a final call to action, the most exciting part of the research was finding the biking trail. I’m looking into visiting Goblin Valley this summer and utilizing a go-pro camera to create a VR experience on the various biking trails.
