2025

Design Awards Silver Winner - Yani Shi, Ziqi Li,Yawen Zheng,Chang Mou

PollenNav

Entrant Company

Yani Shi, Ziqi Li,Yawen Zheng,Chang Mou

Category

User Experience (UX) - Product UX

Client's Name

Country / Region:

United States

PollenNav is a navigation app designed for individuals with pollen allergies. It empowers them to move freely in urban environments while minimizing allergen exposure. By providing real-time pollen data, optimized low-pollen routes, and community-driven insights tailored to users’ specific allergy types and sensitivities, PollenNav helps people make safer, informed travel decisions and manage their health more effectively.

The app addresses the increasing challenge of navigating cities safely for allergy sufferers, exacerbated by climate change, which is extending pollen seasons and raising pollen counts. General forecasts often miss hyperlocal or rare pollen types, as allergies vary widely by region and season. By combining National Weather Service data with real-time, community-reported insights, PollenNav delivers precise, hyperlocal pollen alerts and route recommendations. This minimizes allergen exposure, helps prevent severe reactions, and improves users’ quality of life.

PollenNav’s user experience stands out with vibrant visuals and a community-driven approach. Users can report allergic reactions in specific areas and identify potential pollen types, cross-verified with others’ reports. Through this collective input, PollenNav offers hyperlocal, crowd-sourced pollen alerts and lets users select the fastest or lowest-pollen routes, powered by AI and real-time data. Gamification elements, such as earning pollen points for sharing alerts, foster engagement and collaborative allergen management.

Key features include:
Pollen Map & Dashboard: Interactive maps with real-time pollen levels, allergen details, and forecasts. Users can save locations, report conditions, and access community insights, including pollen density and dominant allergens.
Best Route Navigation: Optimized planning for walking, biking, and other travel modes, mapping the fastest and lowest-pollen paths.
Share Pollen Alert: Community reporting of well-being and pollen reactions to help others avoid allergic reactions and improve navigation accuracy across different devices.
Reward System: Users earn pollen points for reporting alerts. These points can be redeemed for practical items like protective creams or relief gel, and can also be used to unlock more features in the app.

PollenNav blends real-time data, AI, and community collaboration to create an intuitive, inclusive, and empowering app for people with pollen allergies.

Credits

Product Designer
Yani Shi
Product Designer
Ziqi Li
Product Designer
Yawen Zheng
Product Designer
Chang Mou
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