UX Course, iSchool UofT
2023
Weather Mobile Application
UX Designer
5 Designers
How might we offer a personalized approach to help post-secondary students determine how to dress appropriately for the weather?
In cities like Toronto, where the weather is known for its mood swings, choosing what to wear can be more confusing than checking the forecast.
The weather feels different than expected, leading to discomfort and wardrobe regret. This is especially relevant in Toronto’s increasingly extreme climate shifts (Robertson, 2021), which make it harder to rely solely on temperature data.
We envisioned Feather—a reimagined weather app that fills the gaps traditional apps leave behind. More than just forecasts, Feather helps users feel ready, comfortable, and stylish with every outfit decision.
Our motto: “Be ready to transform your lifestyle.”
By filling the gaps left from traditional weather apps, our core values are made up of 4 Cs: customize, convenience, community and chic.
79%
survey respondents said they often wear too many or too few layers for the weather
4+ a week
frequency of check weather apps, yet still feel unprepared
84%
Most respondents find it somewhat to always difficult to decide what to wear
Empathize
We began by conducting user interviews, surveys, and reviewing relevant climate behavior research. To deepen our understanding, we created a user persona to capture key needs, behaviors, and frustrations of post-secondary students dealing with Toronto’s unpredictable weather.
Low-fi Paper Prototype
We created low-fidelity paper prototypes that reflected our MVP scope, focused on delivering value quickly and testing usability with minimal friction.
Usability Testing
We ran 4 usability testing sessions with University of Toronto students in the Bachelor of Information program. These tests helped us:
Identify confusing interactions
Validate core features
Gather feedback for the next iteration
Medium-Fidelity Prototype
Based on the feedback we received, we made iterations to the buttons for our home screen to eliminate confusion. By doing so, we simplified our interactions between different screens and adjusted our customization feature to open when a user clicks on their avatar.
😍 Collaboration is a superpower
Working in a fast-paced, large-scale project taught me the value of a multi-disciplinary team. My teammates constantly pushed me to clarify my thinking, explore new perspectives, and communicate more effectively. It was a crash course in shared ownership, active listening, and collective problem-solving.
🎨 Design is not linear and that's okay!
Before this project, I had heard the phrase “fail fast, fail often,” but Feather made it real. We iterated our user persona three times before landing on the right version. I learned to embrace the messiness of the process, seeing each version not as a failure, but a step forward.