a running app with map navigation for runners, residents, and city planners
2024|25
Product Design MA
Royal College of Art
Awards & Publications
Project Type: End-to-end App and Wearable UI + Branding
Role: Sole UX | UI Designer + Brand Designer
with support from my mentor Adrian Shaughnessy
Industry: Health, Fitness, Satellite Technology
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Notion, Loveable, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
Duration: Q2 2025
Extreme heat is becoming a growing global concern, yet most weather apps lack ground-level precision and current smart devices fail to track ambient environmental conditions. People navigating cities, whether commuting, exercising, or exploring, have limited awareness of real-time heat exposure, cooler routes, and localised temperature spikes, increasing health risks and fatigue during heatwaves.
WATI addresses this gap by introducing a mobile app paired with a wearable urban companion that combines on-body ambient sensing with satellite Earth Observation data. The WATI app delivers real-time heat alerts, adaptive route guidance based on cooler conditions, and personalised climate insights, allowing users to navigate safely, reduce heat exposure, and build a network of crowdsouced combined health and ambient data that can be used for future city planning.
01
outdoor athletes and runners -
ideal user group for testing
02
elderly people - heat related mortality increases by 85%
03
young children (0 to 4) and pregnant women - struggle with thermoregulation
04
individuals with chronic health conditions - cardiovascular, kidney, respiratory problems
05
transportation and construction workers - bus drivers, train drivers, bikers, delivery drivers
Why outdoor runners & athletes?
high physical exertion outdoors
12–18% slower: non-elite marathon runners’ pace drops in ~25 °C
sensitive to heat stress & dehydration
10 – 21 per 10,000: runners in 10 km races face exertional heat illness
optimise performance with temperature awareness
90% adoption: recreational runners use tech (watches/apps) to monitor performance
used to and open to trying new sports wearable tech
$18.4B market: global sports wearables valuation in 2023
PERSONA
& NEEDS
Sandra Sippola
23 | HR Professional | Marathoner
Sandra is training for a 15K in Milan this summer and wants to combine training with city exploration. Unfamiliar with the July heat, she needs a running app that guides her along scenic routes while highlighting water points, shade, and cooling wind paths.
Stavri Nikolov
55 | Climate Researcher | Commuter
Stavri works at a climate research startup, investigating into data-driven solutions for urban resilience. He's looking to combine pedestrian-level temperature data with satellite data to predict infrastructure needs and guide future building patterns in Sofia.
Nikhar Yadav
28 | Designer | Cardio Active
Nikhar has grown up with asthma but relies on cardio to balance her digital work. When running in Battersea Park, she needs an app that monitors temperature, heat spikes, and alerts her, while her connected watch tracks pulse, body temperature, steps, and hydration.
PRODUCT USE CASE
How can I navigate to my destination via the coolest and safest route available?
How can I protect myself from rising urban temperatures in my daily routine?
LOW-FI WIREFRAMES
GRAPHICS & BRANDING
The visual language of the mobile app was finalised by experimenting with over 40 graphic interface variations for the wearable UI, exploring different layouts and icon systems. Through colour association and font-testing workshops, users showed a clear preference for clean interfaces, bright colours linked to temperature levels, and bold, legible icons.
The final design draws inspiration from the Nothing community weather interface and glyph system, combined with Bauhaus typography.
Weather Condition
Icons
Metrics & Utility Icons
Alerts & Warning Icons
WEARABLE UI
The wearable UI mirrors the mobile app main menu, featuring eight minimalist tabs for on-the-go navigation. Early prototyping explored a rectangular screen resembling a thermometer, but due to aesthetic and electronic constraints, the design evolved into a circular touchscreen.
The interface is fully rotatable and available in both light and dark modes. Live alerts and navigation arrows dynamically appear when users activate navigation and performance notifications.
LIGHT ↔ DARK (CLICK)
WATI APP UI DESIGN
LIGHT ↔ DARK (CLICK)