Social discovery and information sharing in sport climbing

Abstract: In this report i examine current practices of knowledge sharing in the climbing community. Through the use of co-design methods ideas are developed and brought out by the community. The role of the interaction designer becomes the enabler for the community to create a participatory design of a system supporting information creation and knowledge sharing in the context of exploration. The aim is to use established interaction design research methods to examine the activity and with the practitioners from the community explore what role technology can play in enhancing the experience for information sharing between individuals and groups. In order to find an answer to the thesis central research about the role co-design can play in engaging a non-designers in this diverse community to design of an interactive service, practitioners from the community is engaged through a co-design workshops and discussions. This collaborative methodology is applied and used from the initial ideation phase all the way to the exploration phase and into the last design formation stage. By using the creativity of the community through the entire process, the result is not only grounded in theory but also in the expectations and specific activities of its intended users. Another reason for engaging the community when researching is attempting to involve and build on the individual’s unique perspectives that comes from each participant's specific experiences. The information is explored in relation to current technologies and practice and how it can be applied to the main activity to better achieve the community's or participants goals. Using methods of research through design to perform technological exploration ideas are evaluated by constructing prototypes that can be used to introduce technology to the participants and test concepts. Outcome and documentation is evaluated to examine the overall experience and identify desired results. The final result is a prototype of an interactive system called T​he Circuit Tool t​hat supports the exploration of a new form of curated information produced by individuals or groups of climbers to share within the community.