Case Study for B-Pump Ogikubo
UI/UX problems ahead of Tokyo 2020
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics is less than a year away and Japan is busy with preparations. The Olympics, Tokyo, and Japan as a whole is expected to receive a record number of tourists. So, what can B-Pump Ogikubo do to prepare for this?
What is B-Pump Ogikubo?
A bouldering gym located in Tokyo. It’s one of the larger gyms in the city and is known for its “new-style” route settings, sometimes also referred to as circus-style or skate-style. B-Pump Ogikubo is regularly used by pro-athletes from around the world to train.
Climbing Debuts in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Tokyo 2020 Olympics is the first time climbing will be included in the Olympics. Thanks to its debut, climbing is in the global spotlight and the sport is growing in popularity due to it.
Two major climbing films released in 2018 (Dawn Wall and Free Solo) has also helped boost the sport’s image. As a climber myself, I know from personal experience that those films have inspired non-climbers to start climbing.
According to the Climbing Business Journal, gyms in the US has experienced yearly gains of at least 6% since 2010. This growth has “drawn major investors — like the health-and-wellness private-equity firm North Castle Partners, who penned a deal in 2016 for $48 million to open and expand Brooklyn Boulders in and beyond New York City.”-Climbing.com
Further US surveys show that the number of commercial climbing gyms has increased from 388 to 414 between 2015 and 2016. In 2017, 43 gyms were added throughout the country.
The Climbing Wall Association projects revenue growth percentages well into the double digits for both 2019 and 2020, with the indoor climbing industry poised to break the billion-dollar mark in 2021 in the US.
Climbing is not just a US sensation either. Statistics collected by International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) show growth in climbing’s popularity all over the world. Between 2008 to 2015 in Japan, the number of indoor climbing gyms has grown from 96 to 435. That’s a lot of increased competition! Climbing is already proposed for the Olympics in Paris 2024 as well. There is no doubt that climbing is becoming increasingly popular and there is money to be made.
Visitors to Tokyo 2020
Japan is strongly promoting tourism ahead of 2020. In 2017, 28.7 million foreign tourists entered Japan. That’s triple the amount of visitors compared to the past five years.
In a survey conducted between May and July 2019, 51 percent of the 1,780 municipalities surveyed expected to see an increase in tourism from the Olympics and Paralympics.
“In 2018, foreign visitor arrivals jumped 8.7% to 31.19 million from a year earlier. And as Japan sprints toward two major sporting events — the Rugby World Cup from September to November and the Tokyo Summer Olympics next year — the numbers are expected to keep rising. Goals set by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2016 peg foreign tourist arrivals at 40 million in 2020, and 60 million in 2030.” — Nikkei
40 million people…that’s more than the population of Canada!
I know that whenever my climbing friends visit Japan, B-Pump Ogikubo is on their list of must-do things. Are all of those 40 million people going to visit the gym? Of course not. But even if 0.01% did, that’s still 4,000 people.
Even if the Olympics wasn’t taking place, B-Pump Ogikubo already attracts a lot of international attention. Just look at some of the pro-climbers that have mentioned the gym on Instagram.
- Jongwon Chon 🇰🇷
- Kyra Condie 🇺🇸 Olympian
- Shauna Coxsey 🇬🇧 Olympian
- Janja Garnbret 🇸🇮 Olympian
- Petra Klingler 🇨🇭Olympian
- Sean McColl 🇨🇦 Olympian
- Alex Megos 🇩🇪 Olympian
- Adam Ondra 🇨🇿 Olympian
- Brooke Raboutou 🇺🇸 Olympian
- Jakob Schubert 🇦🇹 Olympian
That’s free marketing that is not only driving customers to B-Pump Ogikubo’s Instagram profile, but potentially their website.
Why redesign?
B-Pump Ogikubo’s website is outdated and full of errors. Updating a flawed website is crucial, but the Olympics and climbing’s global attention adds pressure.
Current English Site Analysis
I analyzed and tested every single page of the website and here are the common errors I found.
- Spelling errors, grammar errors, and sentence structure errors.
- CTA Buttons that blend in with the rest of the content.
- Lack of visual hierarchy.
- Confusing navigation & nav bar that disappears.
- Missing or outdated content.
- Gym accepts cash only for non-members (I know because I’ve been to the gym.) This is not mentioned anywhere on the site.
I will analyze the Homepage to point out some of the problems above.
Getting to the English Site
To get to the English site, the user lands on the Japanese website and clicks English on top of the nav bar. Notice the spelling error of “beginner.”
The user expects to be taken to B-Pump Ogikubo’s English site, but instead the user lands on a page with a list of their branches. Notice the grammar errors throughout the page. For a gym that attracts international attention, this is unacceptable.
This multi-step process of getting to the English site can be simplified.
Home Page
Spelling/grammar/sentence structure errors are everywhere. This is unacceptable for any business.
The nav bar is also not permanent. Scroll or click on any link and the nav bar will disappear. I find it hard to navigate when I constantly have to scroll to the top to get to other sections of the site.
Scroll below the banner/mission statement and you see a section that has no visual hierarchy and has missing/old content. At first I thought it was Firefox failing to load content, but I got the same results testing with Safari.
Due to missing content and lack of visual hierarchy, it makes it hard for the user to know what is content, a link, a button, or a headline. Can you tell?
Only two these are links, the rest is old or missing content. Notice the content under “New” and “Next.” I’m writing this in September and the content is from June. They shouldn’t publish outdated information. They should remove it.
Access
Continue down to the Access section. Looking at the content of this section, a user can guess what the gym meant from context clues…but I don’t want the user to guess what my content is. I want to provide clear, accurate information with no guessing involved.
The term “Access” is also used in the nav bar, which as you can see, has disappeared.
The term “Location” or “Hours” will be much better for this section.
Price
I know from visiting the gym that they do NOT accept credit/debit cards. This is not mentioned anywhere on their site. A first visit to the gym can cost 4,000yen (around $38). I had to walk around the neighborhood to find an ATM.
Lack of information on their site led to a negative first experience at the gym.
Furthermore, their CTA button blends in with the rest of the content.
Social Media & Photos
The social media section of their site works, although the “Instagram” header is not all uppercase like every other header.
Bottom Links
The links here work and lead to other sections of the site as expected, although I would correct the inconsistent text sizes between the four categories.
The homepage of B-Pump Ogikubo’s site is marred with errors, missing content, and awkward navigation. At a bare minimum, fixing their English errors will improve the user experience/brand image. Now let's see what a redesign can do.
The Redesign
For the redesign I focused on the homepage. My intention of the redesign was not to reinvent the wheel, but to re-organize and fix the existing information on their homepage.
The nav bar is sticky and will help users navigate from page to page. Link titles are clear and users can tell what content will be included on each page by reading them. A CTA button to “Plan Your Visit” also stands out.
For the redesign I chose two new colors to create visual hierarchy. B-Pump Ogikubo doesn’t seem to have brand colors, but the bright green (left) is in their logo. Using that as a base, I added the indigo and olive green.
H1 and H2 are now olive colored with all other text in black and in various weights. CTAs are now indigio, which helps them stand out against the darker colors.
It’s clear what the sections are and in what order information should be read.
When traveling, figuring out how to get to your destination is one of the most time consuming activities. To help solve this problem, I made the map prominent. Hours and contact details are listed and so is information about the train lines serving Ogikubo Station (the station right outside the gym.) I added a CTA to complete an online waiver as well. All guests must fill out a waiver on iPads at the gym. Putting this step online frees up both the staffs’ and guests’ time.
The pricing section mentions that the gym only accepts cash. Weekday and Weekend pricing has been separated into two tables so it’s quicker to find information. I try to encourage the user to fill out the online waiver again.
I cleaned up the bottom section by re-organizing information and adding CTA buttons. The original version did not have too many errors to fix.
See the original version and redesign comparison below.
I think the homepage serves as a good template for the design of the rest of the website.
Tokyo 2020 is less than a year away and the whole country is gearing up for the event. Having an accurate, welcoming website will help B-Pump Ogikubo attract incoming tourists and beat competitors. For a gym that already receives international recognition, they should have a well-designed website for Tokyo 2020 and beyond.
Comparison
Mobile Version
