Independent product · iOS & Android

From chaos to clarity.
The Hunt Report.

Transforming a cluttered government spreadsheet into a mobile experience people actually want to use.

My role: Founder, Product Designer & solo builder
Scope: Research, UX & UI, branding, development, and launch
Audience: Arizona hunters checking unit status and harvest quotas
Project status: Shipped on iOS & Android · Sunset in August 2026

Two phones show the contrast between AZGFD’s old spreadsheet and The Hunt Report’s mobile quota dashboard. — The starting point and the shipped experience: the same underlying information, made easier to navigate on a phone.

01The problem

Important information. A difficult way to find it.

Arizona hunters needed to keep track of harvest quotas and closures throughout the season. Finding the right unit, understanding its status, and returning to it later should have been straightforward.

The source experience was a five-tab government spreadsheet with more than 200 rows. On a phone in the field, its dense tables made a simple check feel like work. There was no convenient way to save favorite units, share a status with a hunting partner, or see what was open at a glance.

The design challenge was to make this information easier to find and understand while keeping the official source close at hand.

The previous AZGFD desktop harvest tracker, with dense spreadsheet rows, small labels, and colored status bands. — The original AZGFD spreadsheet on desktop.

The same AZGFD spreadsheet squeezed into a narrow mobile screen, with most columns outside the visible area. — The same table on a phone.

02My approach

Start with the people in the field.

Validate before building anything.

I started by talking directly with hunters in forums and Facebook groups, then launched a landing page to collect signups. The response showed demand for a simpler mobile experience before I invested in the full product.

Launch small, learn fast.

I designed, built, and released a focused MVP with just archery deer quotas near the end of the season. Getting it into people’s hands gave me real feedback to help decide what to build next and what to leave out.

Make room for the next release.

From the beginning, I established a design language and roadmap that could accommodate additional species and features. Shared patterns for filters, unit status, and detail screens let the experience grow without needing a complete redesign.

Forum member Savageman2506 says the spreadsheet does not format well on mobile and welcomes the app idea. — Early forum feedback confirmed the mobile-formatting problem.

Forum member SteveG confirms signing up and responds positively to the landing page. — The landing page turned interest into early signups.

03The solution

A focused mobile experience, from overview to detail.

The Hunt Report brought quotas, unit status, and season information into a purpose-built app. Clear labels and a consistent hierarchy helped hunters move from a quick overview to the details for a specific unit.

The Hunt Report quota dashboard with deer and bear tabs and clearly labeled unit-status cards. — A clear starting point
Open, closed, and upcoming unit statuses make the dashboard easy to scan.

The Hunt Report black bear view with spring, fall, and fall archery filters. — Find the relevant hunt
Species and hunt-type filters narrow the list to the information that matters.

A mule deer unit detail showing open status, harvest quota, season dates, and favorite and sharing controls. — The details in one place
Harvest counts, quotas, season dates, favorites, and sharing live together on a unit’s detail screen.

The Hunt Report resources screen with an interactive unit map and links to official AZGFD information. — Keep the source close
A dedicated resources area connects hunters to maps and official information.

Taking responsibility for the whole experience.

I owned the research, flows, interface, brand, and delivery. I built the app in Bubble, automated the conversion of AZGFD’s HTML spreadsheets into JSON feeds, and submitted it to the App Store and Google Play. Owning the data integration alongside the interface made the quality of the source information an essential part of the design.

04The outcome

An easier check. A product people shared.

The app shipped on iOS and Android and grew through community recommendations and word of mouth, without paid advertising. Hunters repeatedly highlighted the same benefit: it was easier to use than navigating the government spreadsheet on a phone.

The strongest signal was in the feedback. People described the app as convenient, recommended it to other hunters, and saw value in a clearer way to access information they already needed.

An archived App Store review titled Get this app gives five stars and praises the convenience of the interface. — An individual App Store review captured during the project.

Tanner Carlson says the app is much easier to use than navigating the AZGFD website. — Community feedback focused on ease of use.

The best products solve a real problem for real people.

This project reinforced the value of talking to users early, releasing a focused first version, and letting actual use shape the next decisions.

05The next chapter

Knowing when the work has done its job.

In August 2026, AZGFD introduced its own mobile-friendly harvest tracker and changed the source system that powered The Hunt Report. The update also broke the app’s data pipeline.

With a substantially improved official experience available, rebuilding the integration would have offered limited additional value. I chose to sunset the app. Its purpose had been to make a frustrating task clearer for hunters, and the first-party experience now addressed that need.

Building a useful product also means recognizing when the context has changed. The decision to stop was part of the same responsibility that led me to build it.

A side-by-side comparison of The Hunt Report and AZGFD’s newer official harvest tracker, both showing species filters and labeled unit-status cards. — The Hunt Report alongside the updated official AZGFD tracker, shared with the community in August 2026.

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From chaos to clarity.The Hunt Report.