If you love scuba, freediving, or spearfishing, DiveSync is for you! A year ago, when diving took over my life, I knew I wanted to build something for the community—so I set out to understand what divers needed. The result? DiveSync, an app that makes finding dive buddies, scheduling dives, and checking water conditions effortless.
I knew I wanted to create something unique for the diving community, but I wasn’t quite sure what that “something” should be. So, I set off on a mission to uncover what divers truly need and how I could develop a product that would be genuinely helpful to them.
Identify challenges divers encounter in their diving journey
Examine the role of dive-related community engagement
This was a personal project I worked on during an intensive UX/UI bootcamp, but I wasn’t completely alone. I collaborated with a mentor, received feedback from my colleagues, and tested with target users throughout the process.
Excited by the opportunity to learn more about my newfound hobby, I set out to learn as much as possible about the dive community— laying the groundwork for the entire process.
Research – Scoured Facebook groups, forums, and social media to connect with divers.
Define – Synthesized insights to pinpoint the main problem.
Ideate – Brainstormed solutions based on real diver needs.
Competitive analysis - Looked at existing solutions to draw inspiration
Design & Test – Built the app, tested with real users, and iterated through two rounds of improvements.
Diving is a buddy sport—going solo isn’t an option for safety reasons. If divers can’t find a partner, they simply don’t dive.
Divers often don’t know the water conditions until they’re already geared up and in the water. Poor visibility can ruin a dive and even be dangerous.
The role community engagement plays for divers is mainly to access real-time information about water conditions and to find people to dive with.
Since the biggest pain point was finding and scheduling dive buddies, I envisioned a social app with an integrated scheduling system.
To refine the idea, I analyzed existing apps to see what worked and what was missing.
Inspired by the scheduling / social apps, I went back to empathy- putting myself in the users shoes and asking myself:
"What steps would a user take to arrange a dive session with a dive buddy using the DiveSync app?"
I created wireframes to help me visualize the user going through the steps:
Early testing showed that divers needed more than just a calendar—they wanted visibility into existing dive sessions and buddies’ availability.
This insight led to a key change: a calendar that displays both scheduled dives and available buddies, making planning effortless.
Focusing on the core features—finding dive buddies, joining a dive, and scheduling a session—I created task flows to ensure a smooth user experience.
DiveSync streamlines the diving experience, making it easy to find dive buddies, schedule sessions, and check real-time conditions—all in one place.
One of the biggest frustrations divers faced was the lack of reliable water condition updates. DiveSync provides real-time water visibility reports to help divers make informed decisions.
I conducted remote usability tests with five more divers to see if the app solved their pain points.
Results:
Users completed tasks with ease.
The app successfully addressed the main pain points.
Minor confusion arose around certain symbols and map information, which I refined in the iterations below.
This project gave me the opportunity to hone my design thinking skills—from problem discovery to crafting an effective solution. It felt like being an entrepreneur at a startup, building something meaningful from scratch—an experience I thoroughly enjoyed!
The scheduling feature posed a particular challenge due to its many possible approaches. However, after collaborating with fellow designers and conducting usability testing, I arrived at a solution I'm proud of.
Beyond refining my design skills, this project deepened my appreciation for community-driven solutions and real-time information in niche hobbies. Plus, I even made new dive buddies along the way!
Given more time, I’d love to:
Integrate AI-powered water condition predictions.
Expand the app’s reach with a dive shop partnership program.
Conduct a longer pilot test to refine the scheduling system further.
