SIDE PROJECT

UX/UI DESIGN

0-1

IOS

Jug: The social beacon for your local climbing gym

Jug: The social beacon for your local climbing gym

After finalizing its design phase, Jug is currently in its developing phase with the help of Claude Code and Gemini AI and scheduled to be released for beta testing in June 2026.

Design Phase

February - May 2026

Development Phase

May 2026 - Present

Role

Founder
Design Engineer
Developer

Team

1 Designer
1 Consultant

Platform

iOS

Tools

Figma
Figjam
Firebase

AI

Claude
Gemini

Skills

Design Systems
Vibecoding
UX/UI Design

A QUICK NOTE

I led, designed, and developed this concept as a passion project for my partner. Their struggle as a new climber and adapting to the gym environment piqued my interest, so I interviewed other climbers to understand if this was a common problem. Results have led me to understand this was a struggle many climbers experience.

WHAT IS JUG?

Indoor climbing is a social sport, yet for many, it can feel isolating and intimidating. Many beginner climbers can feel "imposter syndrome" and a lack of technical guidance.

OUR CHALLENGE

Indoor rock climbing is exponentially growing, yet the gym remains an intimidating environment.

Indoor rock climbing is exponentially growing, yet the gym remains an intimidating environment.

New climbers often feel like outsiders, discouraged with a lack of clear entry points for social interaction at the gym. Climbers struggle to find their own small community, identify busy peak hours, or access beta.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

How can we bridge the gap between new members of the climbing gym to the thriving community?

How can we bridge the gap between new members of the climbing gym to the thriving community?

How can we bridge the gap between new members of the climbing gym to the thriving community?

SOLUTION

A feed that feels like home

Stay connected with your local community through "Loops"—a dedicated

space for sharing progress, milestones, and gym announcements.

Live Attendance Tracking

Displays real-time crowd metrics and check-ins, allowing members to optimize their sessions while helping gym operations balance traffic.

Social Gamification Leaderboards

Ranks user activity alongside peers to foster friendly competition, incentivizing consistent physical and digital engagement.

Dynamic Tagging

Displays user-curated tags–preferred holds, climbing styles–enabling climbers to claim an immediate technical identity and find partners.

A feed that feels like home

Stay connected with your local community through "Loops"—a dedicated space for sharing progress, milestones, and gym announcements.

Live Attendance Tracking

Displays real-time crowd metrics and check-ins, allowing members to optimize their sessions while helping gym operations balance traffic.

Social Gamification Leaderboards

Ranks user activity alongside peers to foster friendly competition, incentivizing consistent physical and digital engagement.

Dynamic Tagging

Displays user-curated tags–preferred holds, climbing styles–enabling climbers to claim an immediate technical identity and find partners.

A feed that feels like home

Stay connected with your local community through "Loops"—a dedicated space for sharing progress, milestones, and gym announcements.

Live Attendance Tracking

Displays real-time crowd metrics and check-ins, allowing members to optimize their sessions while helping gym operations balance traffic.

Social Gamification Leaderboards

Ranks user activity alongside peers to foster friendly competition, incentivizing consistent physical and digital engagement.

Dynamic Tagging

Displays user-curated tags–preferred holds, climbing styles–enabling climbers to claim an immediate technical identity and find partners.

BUSINESS ALIGNMENT & MARKET VALUE

Maximizing Member Value

About 66% of new, first-time climbers never return for their second visit.


Goal: Mitigate entry point friction–physical intimidation, learning curve– by encouraging social integration.


Value: By fostering immediate connections, Jug can reduce the churn rate and aid recurring revenue with long-term loyalty.

Diversifying Revenue with Events

Many members struggle to find community events, unofficial "official" clubs, and retail events.


Goal: Convert digital users into active participants within facility events or member-held events.


Value: ARPU through targeted and intentional promotions.

Risk Management & User Trust

A heavy number of climbers experience plateau or projects for months, diminishing confidence and leading to quitting the sport.


Goal: Implement a scalable feature allowing users to post beta videos of the routes at their local gym.


Value: Maintain higher member motivation and significantly reduce frustration.

RESEARCH

USER PERSONAS

The majority of our responses felt there could be improvements to make the community, facility, and activity be more efficient and inclusive.

The majority of our responses felt there could be improvements to make the community, facility, and activity be more efficient and inclusive.

The majority of our responses felt there could be improvements to make the community, facility, and activity be more efficient and inclusive.

After deep-diving through 10 interviews, I identified three imperative user-personas to keep in mind– each struggling to navigate different social and structural facets of the community.

USER FLOW & KEY INSIGHTS

Onboarding

Unified dashboard experience

Unified dashboard experience

Reduced cognitive load for anxious/first-time users

Reduced cognitive load for anxious/first-time users

Linked core features directly to secondary sub-nodes

Linked core features directly to secondary sub-nodes

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH

Existing climbing apps optimize for outdoor routes (Mountain Project) or solo analytics (KAYA). None of them are built around the social texture of a local indoor gym, which is exactly where new climbers struggle most. Jug attacks that gap.

Pros

Pros

Cons

Cons

Cons

Strengths

Strengths

Weaknesses

Weaknesses

  • User can watch beta videos relative to the route they're projecting on

  • Outdoor and indoor data, partnered with Movement

  • Filter videos by height (hi-res maps and instant "New Set"

  • User can watch beta videos relative to the route they're projecting on

  • Outdoor and indoor data, partnered with Movement

  • Filter videos by height (hi-res maps and instant "New Set"

  • User can watch beta videos relative to the route they're projecting on

  • Outdoor and indoor data, partnered with Movement

  • Filter videos by height (hi-res maps and instant "New Set"

  • Subscription page right when you log in, advertising KAYA PRO too often

  • Cluttered UI

  • Lack of user flow with all the features it offers

  • Subscription page right when you log in, advertising KAYA PRO too often

  • Cluttered UI

  • Lack of user flow with all the features it offers

  • Subscription page right when you log in, advertising KAYA PRO too often

  • Cluttered UI

  • Lack of user flow with all the features it offers

  • Outdated UI

  • Poor bouldering data

  • Community forum doesn’t feel beginner friendly because it’s full of elitists

  • Outdated UI

  • Poor bouldering data

  • Community forum doesn’t feel beginner friendly because it’s full of elitists

  • Outdated UI

  • Poor bouldering data

  • Community forum doesn’t feel beginner friendly because it’s full of elitists

  • Complex UI

  • Costly

  • Indoor gym search problems for specific routes

  • Complex UI

  • Costly

  • Indoor gym search problems for specific routes

  • Complex UI

  • Costly

  • Indoor gym search problems for specific routes

  • Millions of routes, comments, and photos for free

  • Download entire states for offline use, making it the default use for deep wilderness routes

  • Millions of routes, comments, and photos for free

  • Download entire states for offline use, making it the default use for deep wilderness routes

  • Millions of routes, comments, and photos for free

  • Download entire states for offline use, making it the default use for deep wilderness routes

  • Artistic and professional maps

  • Offers fun “challenges” and “zlag” competitions that encourage climbers to try out different routes

  • Artistic and professional maps

  • Offers fun “challenges” and “zlag” competitions that encourage climbers to try out different routes

  • Artistic and professional maps

  • Offers fun “challenges” and “zlag” competitions that encourage climbers to try out different routes

  • Quantified progression

  • Gamification & Motivation

  • Quantified progression

  • Gamification & Motivation

  • Quantified progression

  • Gamification & Motivation

  • Cluttered UI

  • Subscription Fatigue

  • Performance Bloat

  • Cluttered UI

  • Subscription Fatigue

  • Performance Bloat

  • Cluttered UI

  • Subscription Fatigue

  • Performance Bloat

KAYA

KAYA

KAYA

MOUNTAIN PROJECT

MOUNTAIN PROJECT

MOUNTAIN PROJECT

SOCIAL CLIMBER

SOCIAL CLIMBER

SOCIAL CLIMBER

BRANDING

The visual identity of Jug was designed to mirror the bold colors and high-energy of modern climbing gyms. These high-contrast colors create an atmosphere that feels familiar to climbers and help important social interactions stand out.

Logo

Logo

Logo

Colors

Colors

Colors

Typography (Be Vietnam Pro)

Typography (Be Vietnam Pro)

Typography (Be Vietnam Pro)

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PROTOTYPING

By translating my research insights into a high-fidelity design system, I focused on creating a high-energy visual language from using bold typography and a vibrant palette to mirror the atmosphere of a modern climbing gym. Every component was built with scalability in mind, ensuring the interface remained intuitive.

FINAL DESIGN

The final product is a user-driven mobile application designed for high-intensity environments. Primary features include a live gym occupancy chart, a route-tracking system, and a contextual dashboard layer.

The final product is a user-driven mobile application designed for high-intensity environments. Primary features include a live gym occupancy chart, a route-tracking system, and a contextual dashboard layer.

REFLECTION

Iteration doesn't stop after the early concepts are complete, it keeps moving and improving.

Iteration doesn't stop after the early concepts are complete, it keeps moving and improving.

The transition from the low-fidelity to high-fidelity phase was the rockiest part of the project. My early concepts looked complete on paper but kept failing the user problem I'd written down at the start. What I expected to be a single round of iteration became continuous. I'm still changing things– features, hierarchies, the way the home feed introduces itself to a new climber at the gym. If I started Jug again tomorrow, I'd build in shorter feedback loops by testing something in front of climbers before the high-fidelity stage instead of after, so early concepts could be revised faster and cheaper.

WHAT'S NEXT?

This was my first experience developing a new platform for a selected group of people to utilize. I learned so much– from honing into community psychology to mastering a 0-1 product cycle. Moving forward, I want to:

Conduct User Testing

Conduct User Testing

Identify usability issues through

targeted user testing with users

and implement feedback.

Identify usability issues through

targeted user testing with users and implement feedback.

Heatmapping

Heatmapping

Through digital "Sends" and beta uploads, Jug provides gyms with real-time heatmaps of wall usage.

Community flagging system for beta videos, ensuring it doesn't show dangerous techniques.

New Climber Usage

New Climber Usage

Features that only new climbers

can use (signing waivers,

certification appointments).

Features that only new climbers can use (signing waivers,

certification appointments).