Quest
Your pursuit awaits
AppsUIUX
Quest is an app start-up, with a clear focus on encouraging people to engage with the great outdoors in new and innovative ways. The aim was to create an app that encouraged people to move more, explore more and have more fun doing so.
Where it all began
The inspiration
The concept for the app was devised for the Ski for Sadie 2020 event for the Sadie Bristow Foundation.
With checkpoints located all over 2 of the biggest ski areas in the Alps, competitors had to reach points and take part in daily challenges. The pilot event was a great success and feedback received led Pursuit Apps to explore ways they could apply the concept to more settings. With the country facing its first encounter with Covid 19 and recognising that physical activity is a key priority as a preventative healthcare measure, Pursuit Apps knew the time was right to launch Quest.
Validating ideas
Understanding the audiences
Having run the event in the Alps for Ski for Sadie, using the same technology, we already had a bunch of rich user insight to start forming the direction for Quest. During the beta launch of Quest in lockdown 1, we piloted the app in a few locations around Kent, onboarding real users through Facebook adverts to gather as much insight as we could. Early findings showed young families were a huge take up as it gave children a new way to explore areas they already knew. Lockdown meant people couldn’t travel, so having something ‘new’ to do on their doorsteps saw an organic spike in users. At that point, we knew Quest would be a hit. No marketing spend, no brand exposure, but people were using it.
Functionality
Driving Engagement with exciting content
One of the main focuses when creating the Quest app was to keep it simple. We didn’t want lots of time being spent in-app while users are exploring but as a tool to encourage users to explore. Functionality has been kept slick with three core areas in the app, locating checkpoints, finding clues to solve puzzles, and taking part in challenges. User research identified that the short, snappy, fun facts found within the app once you reached a checkpoint were enough to keep all ages engaged while on their Quest. We enhanced Quest further when research highlighted that prizes were a great incentive for finishing a Quest and solving the puzzles.
UI Design
Baking in the brand
Once we tested and were happy with the user experience, we applied the Quest branding to the app and other visual elements, like animations to bring the designs to life. Moments of ‘joy’ are so important when engaging with users.
Early success
Going from strength to strength
Within 6 months of launch, Quest app was downloaded thousands of times. We saw the app adopted by one of the UK’s largest holidays parks, which is using Quest as part of their entertainment package for their holidaymakers. Since launching we have also found users were almost 2x more likely to visit multiple Quests, exploring areas they ‘thought’ they already knew.
Quest continues to grow with Universities, Councils, Holiday parks, Charities, and other outdoor attractions incorporating the app into their visitor experiences.