Field Herper brings modern tools to a passionate community, making it easier than ever to explore and document the world of reptiles and amphibians.

Responsibilities: Product design

Field Herper brings modern tools to a passionate but underserved community.

Field herping is similar to birding, but focused on reptiles and amphibians. Enthusiasts search for and document species in their natural habitats. While birders have several well-designed digital tools, herpers have far fewer options built specifically for their needs.

Field Herper is a mobile-native app designed to fill that gap.

Built for iOS and Android using React Native, the product is currently in development.

The herping community is global, data-driven, and deeply engaged. Yet the tools available to them are fragmented.

There was no dedicated app that allowed users to:

Build a comprehensive life list

Browse a global catalog of reptiles and amphibians

Explore species profiles and range maps

Access information offline in remote environments

The opportunity was to create a modern field guide and tracking tool designed specifically for this niche community.

Field Herper functions as both:

A personal life list tracker

A searchable global species catalog

Users can log species they’ve observed in person and build a structured record of their discoveries over time.

The app currently includes data for over 18,000 reptile and amphibian species worldwide.

Because managing this scale of data independently would be unrealistic, the product integrates publicly available community-driven sources such as:

iNaturalist

GBIF

Wikipedia

This approach ensures accuracy, ongoing updates, and global coverage.

Designing Field Herper meant balancing vast information density with usability.

Key challenges included:

Structuring taxonomy across nearly 20,000 species

Making search and filtering intuitive

Presenting species data without overwhelming users

Designing for offline environments

Maintaining clarity across both casual and advanced users

The solution leaned into a clean, information-forward interface.

Rather than heavy ornamentation, the design emphasizes:

Clear hierarchy

Fast search

Modular species profiles

Tab-based navigation

Minimal friction when logging discoveries

The experience had to feel lightweight, even though the data set is not.

Field Herper is built around a focused set of tools designed to support discovery, documentation, and learning in the field.

Life list tracking

Global species catalog

Detailed species profiles

Range maps

Daily herp highlights

Offline browsing

The interface is intentionally direct. Users should be able to log a species or find information within seconds, even in field conditions.

I initiated Field Herper independently and designed the full product system in Figma. Development is being handled by two collaborators using React Native for cross-platform deployment.

Close collaboration between design and engineering ensures the interface remains performant and scalable despite the size of the data set.

Field Herper is actively in development.

The initial focus is on building a stable, information-rich foundation before exploring monetization strategies.

The long-term vision is to provide the herping community with a dedicated, modern tool comparable to what birders have enjoyed for years.