Yeti

description

  As an avid skier I have experienced the peer pressure and lack of preparedness when skiing out of bounds.  My entire family skies out of bounds unprepared and unaware of the dangers in the backcountry and have been caught and buried in avalanches.

Skiers who cut underneath boundary ropes should at least carry the essential gear needed if one gets caught in an avalanche.  This includes a transceiver, shovel, probe and notifying friends or family where one is going.  This gear will allow you to find companions buried under snow and dig them out.  Furthermore, a transceiver will help Search and Rescue locate you if you are buried under an avalanche.

My target audience is skiers with mid-high experience levels and all ages.  From user testing and research I discovered that my target audience did not want another piece of gear, but rather, a system to share knowledge and create conversation with people who have tacit experience about skiing out of bounds. 

Through researching other countries methods of entering out of bounds and tangential research of people’s senses of personal security and comfort I developed Yeti, a mobile awareness campaign that educates skiers and snowboarders about the dangers and essential gear needed when adventuring out of bounds.  Through user testing, and expert interviews I learned that an entrance to out of bounds areas, skiers should not be greeted by a structure that welcomes them openly into out of bounds areas.  It is important for the user to understand that they are consciously going out of bounds at their own risk.

Yeti can be strategically placed on a ski slope at key areas where people enter out of bounds areas.  To enter the out of bounds areas, skiers must slow down when arriving upon Yeti and are confronted with large graphics that educate them on the invisible dangers of avalanches, essential gear skiers should carry with them and that they are entering an un-monitored area at their own risk.  In addition, Yeti’s passage into the backcountry slopes from the entrance to the exit so skiers have to make a conscious effort to duck through the structure to get out of bounds.  Yeti is an education tool to make people aware and create conversations around backcountry safety.