Experience design agency HUSH furthers its partnership with the high performance lifestyle brand, Equinox with its latest enhancement of the trademark in-studio competitive digital cycling platform, ‘The Pursuit by Equinox’. With four all-new games, HUSH’s suite of unique cycling experiences inspire participation while also helping users reach optimal performance.
“The first version of ‘The Pursuit by Equinox’ created a lot of interest, so our job was to augment and elevate the experience with games that integrate the instructor and game to deliver the most effective, physiology-driven workout possible,” explains HUSH Founding Partner/Creative Leader David Schwarz. “The challenge was to really understand the way both the body and mind work in the context of a 40+ person group fitness experience – and how digital interaction, interface and technology can amplify that experience in both competitive and collaborative ways.”
Compelled by the sociological nature of ‘The Pursuit by Equinox’, HUSH drew up a design strategy and developed the four new games: ‘Daredevils’, ‘Earthquake’, ‘Firestorm’ and ‘The Chase’.
‘Daredevils’ turns riders into a virtual glowing ball of fire, which grows brighter as speed and resistance increases, eventually launching the ball into the air to determine the rider’s score. ‘Firestorm’ has riders circled around a central glowing ‘sun’ in which they compete to pull in visualized energy (points) by faster pedaling. ‘Earthquake,’on the other hand, tests upward mobility as riders, represented as white circular graphics, must move level to level to avoid a seismic natural disaster. Lastly, ‘The Chase’ evokes the aesthetics of Tron as riders pair up to race on a z-axis down an endless, minimalist road.
Despite the varying themes and scope of the new ‘Pursuit by Equinox’ experiences, HUSH had to maintain several unifying design components. This included visualizing consistent information (structure/data and metrics) as part of the overall UI, developing a compelling narrative arc for each game, allowing useful instructor integration, as well as highlighting the benefits of collaboration and competition while reducing any discouragement of failure.
However, these goals proved little challenge as HUSH and Equinox worked closely to rapidly concept, prototype, design and develop, and test each game. “Our iterative design and testing cycle was a hallmark to our experience approach,” Schwarz says. “This testing informed tons of decisions around game timing, effort, visuals, and how the instructor could facilitate a successful experience that feels natural to them and their audience.”
In developing these games, HUSH found both a project and brand partner ideal for showcasing their approach to creating brand experiences. “‘The Pursuit by Equinox’ demonstrates our ability to understand group behavior in relationship to physical space and digital interfaces,” Schwarz adds. “Working along this kind of spectrum for experience design allows HUSH to tackle much larger and complex user experience design challenges – at the intersection of human behavior, space and technology.”
Downloads:
Credits:
Client: Equinox
Experience Design Agency: HUSH
David Schwarz , Partner
Erik Karasyk, Partner
Dan Rodriguez, Director of Engagement
Katie Hepp, Director of Production
Paige Kenmore, Producer
Jodi Terwilliger, Creative Director
Adam Kruckenberg, Systems Designer
Ivan Safrin, Creative Technologist
Yingyi Wang, Developer
About HUSH:
HUSH is a concept-driven design firm. We integrate digital technology and physical environments to create powerful brand experiences for our client’s customers, employees and partners.
About Equinox:
Equinox operates 86 upscale, full-service clubs in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Houston and Washington, DC, as well as international locations in London, Toronto and Vancouver. The company offers an integrated selection of Equinox-branded programs, services and products, including strength and cardio training, studio classes, personal training, spa services and products, apparel and food/juice bars. Launching in 2019, Equinox Hotels will cater exclusively to the high performance traveler to serve as the ultimate hotel destination with a 360-degree lifestyle experience. In its 25-year history, Equinox has consistently offered bespoke experiences and unparalleled services to consumers, developing a lifestyle brand that represents service, value, quality, expertise, innovation, attention to detail, market leadership and results.
IT’S NOT FITNESS. IT’S LIFE.