Strava Scores with Latest Mobile Upgrade

I’ll be honest – I’ve wanted to blog about Strava ever since I joined the online athlete community over nine months ago, but have always hesitated to hit the “publish” button on my review. It’s not that I eschew the digital invasion of my nature-soaked trail runs; on the spectrum of no-electronics-purist to near-cyborg, my Silicon Valley roots definitely pull me towards the latter, quantifying my life with bpm’s, vertical feet, digital red lines scribbled across Google maps, and playlist soundscapes. The hesitation came instead from an unwillingness to expose my critical internal voice of a mobile app designer (my trade for the last decade) that is direct and intent by definition, and ruthless by nature in its relentless pursuit of simplicity and perfection. Unless you’re in a similar vocation, my well-intended words will sound mean and tort to the lovers of Strava, a community so passionate I would likely catch one or two snot rockets on every group ride for the rest of my life should I breach insult. But Strava’s latest March update to their mobile app is marvelous in a few simple ways, and approaching that Holy Grail that both trail runners and mobile app designers desire - unexpected daily delight. That, my friends, is worthy of mention.

(This pretty much sums up most Strava addicts I know)

For those not familiar with Strava (based on the Swedish word for "to strive"), the company was created by two endurance athletes (Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey) in 2006 as an online community of cyclists who could upload their GPS records of rides and keep score of the fastest ascents/descents, even declaring a King Of The Mountain (KOM) for the fastest recorded ascent times. It quickly became a haven for the craziest, most dedicated, and data-hungry athletes in the cycling world, pros and amateurs alike. The pursuit of a coveted KOM even led to a publicized death (and lawsuit, later dismissed), which along with their Tour de France advertising in the Armstrong era heyday, made it more popular than ever. Strava clearly isn’t for the cycling masses – you’re not going to find couch-to-first-century-ride plans on here – it’s for only the truly passionate and dedicated.

(Strava cyclist Chris P. gets creative on his 60-miler to kick off the Giants baseball season)

This is why I was fascinated when Strava expanded into the running in 2011. Would the running community have the same faction of obsessed speedsters that would sprint on command to top a leaderboard? Unlike my cycling buddies who love nothing more than go balls-out to the next street light until the tunnel vision seeps in, my running pals prefer to keep an even tempo for most runs, so I wasn’t sure. But it didn’t take long to find out that even running has its KOM moments (dubbed CR's for runners), whether it was competing in Hawaii for the fastest run up Diamond Head Crater (and having all the locals come out the next day to beat whatever time I posted), or finding that kick when I knew I was on a timed segment and hoping I could take down Leor Pantilat, Gary Gellin, or the other speedsters who seem to own every top slot in my Woodside stomping grounds. Although it never became an obsession at the cyclist levels, it did mix up my usual trail runs on fartlek and tempo days, encouraging me to run harder than I normally would.

The real “hook” of Strava came once I connected with a bunch of ultrarunners from around the globe. I’m not one to post training runs to Facebook and confuse/pseudo-brag to all my non-runner friends, but here in Strava, it’s all running, all the time (and me likey!). On rest days, I was captivated by epic runs of friends, soaring through mountain ranges that brought back memories or urged me to add new locations to my bucket list. When I found myself in a new town (which happens often), runners would find me and steer me to routes I would never have found, and the kudos would pour in from people back home, giving me that comforting sense of a global community. There were no ads in the app, no coupons or level-up buy ins, and the purity of the experience helped me stick to Strava while my Fitbits, Nike Fuelbands, Jawbone UP’s, RunKeepers, and other experiments ended up back on the shelf or last page of my iPhone within 60 days.

(Bruce Lee would have made an excellent mobile app designer)

But the app was…how should I say it as nice as I can…clunky. There’s one app for cyclists and another app for runners (wha?). Giving kudos to other runners took lots of steps, and my fingers would tire of swiping long before I reached all my friends activities (which is a bit sad, really). I would forget where the timed segments were on a route, and sometimes a hard effort wouldn’t count because of “GPS drift”. The mobile app designer in me would count how many finger motions it would take to do my normal daily things…10, 15, 20, inexcusable. This cognitive overload would cause me to flame up on any other minor detail, and God forbid something like my PR at Boston didn’t count as a marathon PR because it’s a “net descent course” (which did happen), it would take significant restraint not to unload my rage on the nearest social network. It’s a testament to Strava that I could build up this much emotion over a free app, but also shows what a high bar committed people will set for anything touching their passions. Endurance athletes have got to be some of the toughest critics out there.

The new upgrade to Strava turned the corner for me by doing a lot of small things that help give the app a touch of elegance and fun. No mobile designer is ever 100% happy with a design, but like an artist who never finishes and only abandons their work at some point, I feel this version of Strava has finally met a minimum delight threshold I have been holding it to (unfairly) for months. Here are a few of the upgrades that really caught my eye:

First, there’s finally one app for both running and cycling. Check.

Upon looking at your feed of other runners now, the maps are huge, and it puts the imagery right in your face. The previous feed was a bit too clinical for me (miles, time, etc.) when the truly inspiring parts of my fellow trail runners’ exploits are the maps, the attached photos (auto-sync with Instagram), and the things that make me feel like I was there. Now you get that front and center.

It’s also easier to scroll down the feed and give lots of kudos and comments. Giving kudos, of course, is not a requirement in Strava, but I’m big on it. It reminds me of that high five/hug that you get after a great run with a friend. Speaking of friends, Strava now links together the maps when your friends run together, making me endlessly jealous of the San Francisco Running Co’s weekly Mt. Tam adventures.

Strava added some great little features for knowing where timed segments are (Premium members only, which does require a paid annual subscription of about half the cost of a race entry). You can now turn on an audio voice to tell you (1) when a segment is approaching, (2) your halfway split, and (3) your finish time. I’ve enjoyed how the French female voice (one of a dozen languages to choose from) interrupts my playlist to get me revved up to sprint, even throwing in mile markers too. I also like seeing who is else is out running at the same time – not a new feature, but a Premium feature I have come to enjoy.

I can now add run descriptions and my shoe choice for each run (among inov-8 models, natch), which previously required going online to modify after you posted a run (a serious no-no in the mobile app world). The shoe choice may sound superfluous, but I’ve found it helps me keep tabs on shoe mileage and replacement schedules slightly better than my default method – how bad they smell. ;-)

All in all, the app is quite fun to use now and flows considerably smoother. The uber-critical designer in me would love to see the new look and feel spread to the feed detail pages and emails, and I think features like “give kudos live to other runners out running at the same time, and they get an audio message” could completely redefine what is possible here and enable Strava to growth hack their way to higher percentage penetration of Premium members…see? That mobile app designer voice just won’t shut up. But that’s because there is delight to amplify, which is the designer equivalent of an eight-year-old with a big box of crayons, a table-sized blank sheet of paper, and a grand story to tell.

So maybe it’s just best for me to say thank you Strava, for staying on that relentless journey of mobile app consumer delight. This Strava user gives it two thumbs up! And to my fellow runners, if you haven’t checked out Strava yet, it’s time to do so. I hope to see you pop up on my feed!

 - SD