Idea
- Available on mobile for iOS and Android as well as desktop.
- Includes a number of extreme sports and each will be assigned a colour.
- User views these on a world map and can filter through each country/continent.
- Facilities include reading articles, viewing images of countries and people doing sports, booking sessions and being able to create an account to contribute to the forum, interact with other users and build up a unique user profile.
- Must be translated into multiple languages.
- Must be able to pay in various currencies.
- Internet connection.
- Free to download and use but has a monetisation aspect so the user can make payments to companies to book sporting sessions.
Research
With GoPros becoming more hi-tech and ‘extreme selfies’ on the rise in our modern community along with travelling becoming more affordable and accessible, people are always looking for new and exciting ways to spice up their YouTube channel and Instagram stories. I think it would be very useful if there was a safe online community with information about extreme sports which is supported by legitimate, vetted companies. I found three websites which display a few elements of my idea.
The first website is called Extreme Sports Map and it is a well thought out, detailed and easy to navigate. With a clear navigation bar at the top and a big world map being one of the first things you see, it’s easy to narrow down to which type of sport you want to search for and where. The ‘Add a spot’ option adds a community feel because it encourages people to recommend places for other people to try. However there is no app version which may make this difficult for users on the go and it is hard to differentiate which sport is being pinpointed on the map as there is no sorting system; all of the markers are blue and styled the same.
The second website I found is called Line Up Explorers (LUEX) and is specifically designed for surf and snow. The thing I enjoyed most about this website is the ability to read relevant informative articles and to be able to book through their “Recommended Snow Trips” section. The moving image carousel as the background of the main search bar grips the users attention almost instantly. However, my favourite part is the idea of converting the site into a multilingual and multicurrency platform for ease of use in multiple countries. Again, this is only currently available for desktop.
Lastly I found an app which lets users sign up to create a profile so they can meet up with other users and play sports games together. Rovo is strictly for use on a mobile platform which is a good contrast to the other two which don’t offer this service at all. The below screen recordings of the app store screenshots and the screenshots provided by the app itself show a brief overview of what the user can achieve. This service is a lot more about stats and having a profile which I won’t include in my idea (for now) but I think it is still interesting to see the way Rovo have designed their interface around a society of sports players.
Requirements
- Designed as mobile-first.
- Includes at least 5 different sports which are all colour coded.
- Multilingual and multicurrency.
- Includes informative articles.
- Has a world map with colour coded location points (preferably on the intro screen).
- User is able to create their own unique profile.
- The ability to share their experience, recommendations and images to user profile, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.
- Sports include: Climbing, sky diving, snowboarding, bungee jumping, kite surfing, and abseiling.
Users
User 1 – The Inquisitive User
The inquisitive user is interested in doing some extreme sports after reading an article about it on social media. She hasn’t tried or considered anything like this before and wants to know more before she commits. Reading some articles and gathering some research would help her decide which extreme sport to try first and where she can go to do so.
User 2 – The Active User
The active user is an expert in all things extreme. He loves to go on solo travel missions to find the next new thrill and will stop at nothing to try and push his limits. He loves being part of the travelling community and getting opinions from fellow thrill seekers about where they have been, done and seen. He is now looking to book his next new adventure whilst travelling in Australia.
User 3 – The Talkative User
The talkative user has taken the advice of someone on the app and went skiing in the French Alps with his girlfriend. They absolutely loved it and are keen to share their thoughts. They are avid users of social media and love leaving reviews for services or places they have been. They will be looking to leave a good review on the company they used and share their review on Facebook afterwards.
Bibliography
Extremesportsmap.com. (2017). Extreme Sports Map : . . : Skateparks, Skateboarding Spots, Surf Spots, Dirt Jumps, Mountain Bike Trails and more. [online] Available at: http://www.extremesportsmap.com/ [Accessed 23 Oct. 2017].
Luex.com. (2017). Snow Trips – Heli Skiing Freeride Freestyle | LUEX. [online] Available at: http://www.luex.com/snow/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017].
Rovo.co. (2017). Rovo App – Find Sports players nearby. [online] Available at: https://rovo.co/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017].