Competitive Analysis

There are various fishing apps on the market. Most of them are using the “Beissindex” as an evaluation criterion of the fish activity e.g. Fischerei Vorhersage or Nautide. The “Beissindex “combines the information of air pressure and the current moon phase to predict a time slot, where the fish activity and eating behavior is high. Some anglers are using the index as a benchmark. For others, it is just mumbo jumbo. These anglers prefer to use different weather apps e.g. windfinder.com, regenradar.de or wetteronline.de to make their own conclusions. Websites such as agrarwetter.net, hamburg.de or Deutsche Wetterdienst are known to provide local reliable weather information. Gezeitenfisch.de and Nautide are common to check the tide. Alle Angeln, Barschalarm or Anglerboard are a growing social communities. Fishroute, Alle Angeln or simply Google Maps and Google Earth are helpful tools to organize and determine possible spots.

User Survey

Male, 20 - 40 years
89.7% do check the weather before they go fishing

Conducting a user survey with google forms, I like to find out how many anglers check the weather and which kind of weather data might be interesting for my target group? Who is my target group? And how do they determine their fishing spots? 30 users participated. The results narrow my target group to males who are 20 - 40 years old. Spreading my survey in the online communities like Barschalarm I received further insights from the user:‍

Survey Question 6: Which Weather Data are important for you?

Survey Question 8: How do you determine new Spots?

User Interviews

As part of my User Research, I interviewed four anglers. Each of them prefers a special fishing method, and they all  live in different parts of Germany. In my interviews I like to find out how the interviewees' location influences their fishing preferences and study the detailed process of how they determine their spots and time to go fishing. Which analogous and digital tools do they use? Which information do they need for their fishing preferences?

Affinity Mapping

Which weather data are important is highly dependent on the fishing method, type of water and the preferred fish species to catch. One of my Interviewee, Arne always checks the tide  before he goes fishing for zander in Hamburg. Depending on the tide he chooses  his fishing spot. By contrast, Basti from Munich is checking the weather constancy of the last days, especially the amount of rain, which influence the current of mountain rivers. However, belly boat  angler Bohne needs information about the UV-index to protect himself from sunburning on the lake and reliable information about thunderstorms. David prefers to go fishing if the weather is good, and he does not get wet while being outside the whole day.

I sorted the findings of the interviews to the following categories:

• Reliability of Forecasts
  
• Weather Data (Sub-categories: Structure, Wind, Rain, Spots, UV-Index, Clouds, Air Pressure, Tide, Water Temperature, Temperature, Water Level, Lunar Calendar, Salinity, Pollination, Water Suspension)
• Spot Search (Sub-categories: General, Using Maps, Using Depth Charts, Using Recommendation)

In summary, it can be said that the interviewees often use several weather forecast resources to higher the reliability and compare. Especially the unreliable "Beissindex" is often a reason why they do not use weather apps tailored for anglers.

Searching for Spots

Reliability of Forecasts

Problems Statements
& Design Goals

One tool to identify spots in dependence of the weather conditions because the user dislikes switching between several sources.

Enable easy access to reliable weather data because the user does not want to read through information, which are not relevant for his fishing preferences.

A way to find reliable spot recommendations because he wants to enjoy a successful fishing trip.

An Angler needs to memorize spots.

Possibility to make own conclusions about data because the user might be upset about unfulfilled catch prognosis (beissindex)

Possibility to save his catch and current weather conditions because he can learn from them for future fishing trips.

The Personas

With the goal to design a human centered product, I have summed up all my findings and insights to three User Personas, which I can refer to in the ongoing process of designing FishCast: Sebastian, a fly fisher from Munich, Diddi, who is hunting for pikes with his boat, and Tim, the young street-fisher from Hamburg looking for zander.