I know, I know. Spec work doesn’t consider the closed-door stakeholder meetings and user interviews that a real redesign would include. However, I was really frustrated with the outdated look and the time it took to find the relevant information I was searching for so I took it upon myself to modernize it and incorporate more user-friendly components.

For starters, I implemented a clearer text hierarchy to scan the important information more easily. When you go hiking, you’ll want to know the name of the trail, how difficult it is, and what the length and elevation gain are (at least that’s what my friends and I look for when we’re preparing for a hike on the AT).

Secondly, I prioritized the weather widget on the page so you can quickly decide whether that particular hike is worth it that week. I also implemented a live trail cam feature (how sweet would that be?) to see how different sections of the trail look in that moment. If certain trails don’t offer a live cam feature, then it can default to the current “Preview trail” functionality.

The topography map functions the same as the current iteration but doesn’t require a secondary click to view that feature.

Looking back, there are some features that I didn’t include that I wish I had. Tags are important, especially when a user wants to filter their results based on a certain keyword. Nearby trails would also be a neat feature to include.

Despite missing some items, I’m happy with the overall redesign and these features could easily be implemented in another iteration. The redesign feels sleeker and information can be found much quicker without scrolling.