.png)
Discover
The problem
Climbers planning trips want to stay in accommodation that is close to climbing areas (crags), offers a strong climbing community, and supports their lifestyle.
However, there is no centralised directory for climbing-specific accommodation. Information is scattered, inconsistent, and often outdated, forcing climbers to rely on word-of-mouth, guesswork, or trial and error - making trip planning unnecessarily time-consuming and frustrating.
Anticipating insider bias
As a climber, I wanted to address the challenges climbers face when searching for climbing-friendly accommodations. While my familiarity with the climbing community gave me an advantage in understanding the space, I had to keep my personal preferences and assumptions in check when gathering user insights - recognising that my experience as a climber does not represent the needs or travel styles of all climbers.
My experience as a climber does not equal the experiences of all climbers.
How is the problem currently being addressed?
ClimbingHostels.com
Strengths: lists a global set of climbing hostels and lets users filter by climbing type (e.g., sport, trad, bouldering, ice) and season.
Weaknesses: offers a small number of listings with minimal information on amenities, pricing, or community vibe. Its static, text-heavy interface lacks advanced reviews, or interactive tools, making it difficult for climbers to efficiently explore and plan stays.
​
General outdoor or adventure accommodation directories
​
Strengths: lists outdoor hostels, bunkhouses, and other budget stays around national parks and outdoor areas.
Weaknesses: not climbing-specific and doesn't necessarily highlight proximity to climbing areas or climbing-relevant details.
​
Indirect guides and information sources
​
Strengths: climbers most commonly piece together accommodation info from climbing route databases, community forums, guidebooks, and social media. Sites like theCrag and UKC focus on routes and areas, while climbers scout hostels via Google, or climbing group chats (e.g., Reddit threads). This is the best way to find detailed information.
Weaknesses: time-consuming, inconsistent, and hard to compare or verify details.
Define
Identifying product goals
I interviewed three climbers who frequently travel for climbing trips to understand the challenges they face when finding suitable accommodations near climbing destinations.
​
Participant 1: A 60-year-old man who goes on a few climbing trips each year with friends.
Participant 2: A 24-year-old man with a casual job who frequently goes on trips with friends and occasionally travels alone.
Participant 3: A 25-year-old woman who has recently taken up climbing and is eager to go on her first trip.
​
Assumption: climbers who travel frequently are highly involved in planning trips and are selective about accommodations that meet their specific climbing needs.
Focus: understanding the context in which climbers search for accommodations and the pain points they encounter in finding them.
Insight 1: Planning climbing trips is time-consuming; climbers spend hours researching accommodations, logistics, and climbing spots.
It takes me hours to figure out where to stay.
- Participant 1
POV
​I’d like to explore ways to simplify climbing trip planning so users can spend less time searching for accommodations and more time enjoying the climbing experience.
HMW
How might we streamline the process of finding climbing-appropriate accommodations to reduce trip preparation stress?
GOAL
​I’d like to explore ways to simplify climbing trip planning so users can spend less time searching for accommodations and more time enjoying the climbing experience.
Insight 2: Climbers want opportunities to meet new people and connect with others to climb with, as shared experiences and community are an important part of climbing trips
Meeting other climbers is one of the best parts of going on trips.
​
- Participant 2
POV
I’d like to explore ways to help climbers meet and connect with other climbers because climbing is more enjoyable and motivating when shared with others.
HMW
How might we encourage social connection by helping climbers meet other climbers during their trips?
GOAL
Support meaningful connections between climbers to enhance the overall climbing trip experience.
Develop
Mood board
I drew inspiration from climbing-focused websites to explore how to capture the look, feel, and culture of climbing within the directory.
Lo-fi wireframes
I created lo-fi wireframes, focussing on the interfaces that were most important for the proof of concept.
Catering to the user
I designed many features to make sure they were consistent with the theme and user (climber) wants and needs.
'Trips' icon
Rather than using a generic icon for the 'trips' section of the bottom navigation bar, I created a mountain icon.
Meet other climbers
Reflecting on the user research and the desire for climbers to connect with one another, I created a dedicated page for this purpose. After booking their accommodation, users can create posts and view others who are staying at the same location or nearby.
Users create their own profiles and can browse the profiles of others. A built-in chat feature allows climbers to connect and arrange partners before their trip begins.
Entry page
I took inspiration from the mood board. Like other popular climbing sites, I used a photo of a mountain as a central design feature, ensuring the tone is laid out from the beginning.
Map feature
It was important there was a map feature, so climbers would be able to see where accommodation options are relative to climbing areas.
Deliver
Hi-fi prototype
Where to go from here
Following a soft launch, it would be important to:
Validate with real users
-
Get early climbers using it in the wild
-
Watch how they actually use it (where they click, where they get stuck).
-
Ask 3–5 simple questions: What did you come here to do? What confused you? What’s missing?
.
Measure the right things
-
Track user behaviour, conversion rates, drop-off points and repeat visits.
-
Analyse feature adoption rates such as the 'meet other climbers' feature.
Decide what not to build yet
-
Write down feature requests.
-
Ruthlessly prioritise only what improves bookings or connections.
-
Ignore everything else for now.