About
This bachelor project explores how a digital membership experience can support motivation, continuity, percieved value of membership and a sense of connection between members and the gym (“Boulders”). The outcome is a mobile app concept designed to help members follow their own progress, set personal goals, be aware of their membership perks, events and campaigns, and feel more connected to the place they train.

The Challenge
Bouldering gyms often gain new members successfully, but many leave after a few years once the initial learning curve flattens or the member’s life situation changes, e.g. graduating from university and friend groups splitting up.

The problem is not necessarily dissatisfaction with the gym, but in some cases fading perceived value. When progress becomes less visible and the membership no longer feels purposeful, climbing slowly turns into an irregular habit and eventually stops. Meanwhile, prices of memberships rise as the economy and company priorities change, and as the membership eats a questionably big amount of regular member’s budget (often students), no new value is added to the membership.

The challenge was therefore not to attract new users, but to help existing members rediscover meaning in their membership, gain awareness of existing perks and stay engaged for longer.

The Solution
I designed a membership experience centered around personal progression and visible value.

The concept introduces structured goals, progress tracking and contextual guidance throughout the climbing journey. Instead of leaving motivation to memory or external resources, the membership itself becomes a tool for development.

Members can set goals, see their improvement over time and understand what they gain from continuing their membership. By making progress tangible and purposeful, the experience supports long-term engagement rather than short-term excitement.

The app also introduces personalised dynamic content based on location, experience level and interests, which addinionally can be used for push notifications for motivation or advertising new events, campaigns and member perks. (Watch a demo below.)

How it is made
The process for this project has been long and comprehensive, including qualitative and quantitative research, countless analyses, ideation, prototyping, testing… If interested in reading the full bachelor paper, please contact me.

Attributions
The project features images, graphics and logo from Boulders (the case gym) as well as stock images. It is not intended for official / commercial use.