Olivia Steinhauer: Success with MOUNTERNITY – Award-winning bachelor thesis on sustainable mountain sports

Summary of the thesis

Olivia Steinhauer took a liking to hiking and mountaineering during her B.A. Graphic Design and Visual Communication studies at the Media University Cologne. She found out for herself what risks she and others expose themselves to when they approach mountain sports without any knowledge or experience. Her personal experiences gave her the idea for her bachelor’s thesis topic.

Interest in the mountains as a travel destination is growing. At the same time, the number of mountain accidents, environmental pollution and changes to the Alpine region are increasing due to the expansion of infrastructure and the decline in glaciers, ice and snow caused by climate change.

The fact that Alpine tourism and enthusiasm for adventures in the mountains are growing is also due to the use of social networks: Self-promotion on Instagram and co. tempts people to travel to the mountains to produce photos and videos against a picturesque backdrop. In doing so, people without mountaineering experience sometimes expose themselves to risky situations and at the same time trivialize the efforts and dangers of mountaineering for imitators.

To work through the underlying problems and challenges, the Media University graduate conducted interviews with experts in mountain sports and carried out a target group survey to determine the needs of the potential campaign audience and potential app users. For the conception, Steinhauer methodically dedicated herself to human-centered design and specifically to campaign communication for the highest possible awareness of the topic as well as the methods of user experience and interface design in order to develop an application.

The “LAST” communication campaign consists of eye-catching posters placed at tourist hotspots, other print articles, a website and a wide range of merchandise items tailored to the needs of the tourist target group – from warming hoodies and durable drinking bottles to beer mats.

For the developed application, whose solution-oriented approach takes into account the aspects of tour safety, knowledge, community, sustainability and individuality, Steinhauer used gamification elements, among other things, with the “mountain levels”.

Both together, namely the communication campaign and the application, stand for “MOUNTERNITY”: an “independent organization focused on a sustainable and future-proof mountain world”, whose members aim to educate people in a “clear and often radical way about the current problems of our time”. And: “Through the input of their community, they can realize problem-oriented and innovative solutions.”

Best bachelor thesis in the Department of Design at Media University Cologne in the winter semester 2021/22

“In her comprehensive bachelor’s thesis, Olivia Steinhauer worked out the diverse problems of mountain sports in relation to people and the environment in a scientific and methodologically sound manner and brought them into a logical context with design solutions. The result is a cross-media communication campaign that generates attention and a comprehensive app called “MOUNTERNITY”, which uses gamification elements to “playfully” engage its users and offer individual and interactive solutions. The creative implementation, from corporate design to UI/UX design, is of the highest standard.

We are therefore very pleased to be able to give the graduate our well-deserved recognition with the award for the best bachelor thesis in the Design department at the Media University Cologne in the winter semester 2021/22. Congratulations!”