crux
Crux is a mobile application designed to improve the experience of rock climbing.
strategy
The main goal of this project was to improve the rock climbing experience. The process for this started with research to better understand the challenges and motivations of climbers. Once the end user and key pain points are established the design solution could begin to take shape. The process would continue in the design phase with wireframing, site mapping and prototyping. Using feedback on initial designs the product would take it's final shape as iterations were developed.
Research
A guerrilla style approach was used to gain insights into the motivations and behaviors of climbers. The Methodology used a combination of ethnography, interviews and surveys. Starting with observing climbers at local climbing walls and gyms, I found that most climbers fell into one of two groups, group climbers and solo climbers. The group climbers tended to offer each other support and help while solo climbers pursued different routes alone in frustration. In observing this I approached the solo and group climbers to ask them more about their climbing experience. From these informal interviews I found that the solo climbers generally had been climbing for 1 year or less while the group members generally ranged between 3 to 5 years of experience. Using this information I crafted a survey to gather more detailed information around the users' climbing habits.
Insights
From the research process I found that newer users often approach the sport on their own and lacked a means of advanced learning and growth until meeting or forming a community around them, at which point their progression would be accelerated. At the same time more experienced climbers had a solid climbing community around them that offered a means of learning and growing as a climber.
“I started climbing when my friend introduced me to it. I mainly climbed with him and his friends. They coached me and pushed me to climb harder. ”
SOLUTION
From the insights gained from research, I decided a digital solution designed to build and strengthen the climbing community would give new users access to pivotal knowledge to help them grow their climbing skills while giving experienced climbers a sounding board to share their own knowledge and help grow the community. The design process started with wireframing and simple application maps in order to get an understanding of the scale of the system. From there a product walk through video was developed to gain feedback on the design and concept from end users. Final visual designs were created from the walk through feedback.
