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Rip Curl Search GPS

Lead UX architect on the digital ecosystem for Rip Curl's Search GPS surf watch — iOS app, web and desktop platform, and a brand communications strategy that drove $10m+ in first-year watch sales.

Client
Rip Curl
Date
Tags
  • product-design
  • ux
  • connected-hardware
  • sport

Overview

Rip Curl wanted to create a digital engagement platform to support new consumer GPS surf watch hardware — the Search GPS. As part of the team at VML, I was lead user experience architect across the full digital ecosystem: n app, web platform, and desktop app.

My Role

Lead User Experience Architect with VML.

The Challenge

In 2014, GPS tracking, cloud services, and Bluetooth syncing were emerging as viable consumer technologies. The challenge was to design a digital platform that made meaningful use of the watch’s data — balancing the quantitative logging capabilities of surf tracking with the opportunity to capture the more qualitative, experiential elements of surfing.

Beyond the primary audience of core surfers, the platform also needed to serve occasional and beginner surfers, including those without the watch.

[IMAGE: 1]
Mobile and web apps

Process

We took an empirical approach to exploring the available technologies, iterating through prototypes with increasing fidelity and geographic reach. Early platform prototypes were tested with a local core team of surfers before expanding to a globally distributed test cohort in later iterations.

The design challenge of balancing data richness with experiential storytelling shaped much of the UX work — determining how to surface wave count, top speed, distance, and surf time alongside swell, wind, tide conditions, and social sharing in a way that felt natural rather than clinical.

Outcome

A full digital ecosystem was launched for Rip Curl, comprising an iOS companion app, a web platform, and a desktop app — structured around three modes of use: Getting Started, On the Beach, and Back at Home.

[IMAGE: 2]
Modes of use

Watch sales exceeded $10m in the first year of launch. The communications strategy — reviving The Search legacy brand — successfully positioned the watch as a halo product driving sales across the wider Rip Curl portfolio.

The product attracted innovation awards in both the advertising sector and the surf industry:

  • 2 × Cannes Lions
  • 1 x D&AD Yellow Pencil
  • Surf industry innovation awards