DESIGN PROCESS The Sport of Rowing
Jennifer Raichek
A look at my design process through my senior degree project at MassArt.
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Where I Began
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Two Directions
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A New Direction
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Final Deliverables
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Where I Began QUESTION
How can I aid rowers through the process of starting a rowing team, and in doing so, better connect the rowing community? STATEMENT Rowing requires expensive equipment, team support, and a strong knowledge of the inner workings of the sport. I have been part of two different crew teams that had only been around a few years prior to joining. These teams were struggling and working hard to get themselves on their feet. My goal for this project is to make the sport of rowing more easily accessible and known to high school and college athletes looking to form a team. I would like to use service design to teach and aid rowers, with the tools they will need to begin. A main objective will be to connect start up rowers with other teams, through conversation, to build relationships and become more noticeable within the rowing community and schools.
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EARLY THOUGHTS What sparked this project for me was my own personal experience with the sport. I started rowing my senior year in high school and carried on rowing in college with the Wentworth Crew team. The Wentworth team was open to all Colleges of the Fenway until this past year. Due to Title Nine, the team switched to male varsity. This meant it was only open to male Wentworth students who made the cut. It is nearly impossible to start a rowing team from the ground up. You need to purchase expensive equipment, find space for a boathouse, and hire a qualified coach. A brand new eights boat costs around $50,000, and that is just one of the many purchases teams have to make. I saw a problem within the sport, and wanted to find a way that design could solve it. I initially began thinking in terms of service design. A service that would aid rowers through this process and have ways to help tackle problems they may face, such as getting their hands on equipment or a coach. I was thinking about a ‘borrowing’ system that would connect start up teams to more well known teams. I began to write down every-
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thing that went into building a new team, and then brainstorm where design could come in. The two biggest hurdles I was finding from my research that start-up teams were facing was funding and awareness. Every start up team, and even all established teams, need money. Money and funds are the biggest hurdle. People who usually donates to teams include the wealthy alumni, larger teams, and boat & equipment companies. Maybe there needs to be some way to make start ups more easily seen and accessible to people to donate. Much of the issues that start ups face is the lack of understanding from schools and the administration. Those who do not understand the sport do not understand why so much time and money needs to be put into it. Rowing needs more publicity and a greater understanding. It is something that needs to be brought to the publics eye. Maybe there needs to be more teaching tools out there on the sport, a way to raise awareness and teach people what goes into it.
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VISUAL RESEARCH
row2k
usrowing
I found that most of the resources and publications out there on rowing to be websites, with one magazine publication. Sites are used to organize regattas or place ads for equipment and coaching.
regatta central
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rowing news
club logos
club logos
oar designs
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INTERVIEWS Katie Lane Head Coach, Wentworth Institute of Technology How did you first hear about the Wentworth Crew job? What are the steps to finding a coaching position?
experience and interest. The majority of the team are either non athletes or rowers.
Row2k employment has pages and ads for coaching. I had experience at CRI taking part in the institute of rowing leadership program. Previous rowing experience is usually preferred, and sometimes a US rowing certification. The higher up coaching jobs are offered by word of mouth and are not posted.
How did you tackle these problems?
What issues did you face when coaching a startup team? What are the steps to forming a new club? Funding and support were the biggest issues. Trying to gain financial support from the schools administration. It’s hard to see eye to eye when administration doesn’t understand the need for more boats if you already have one. They do not understand the sport. Participation is another hurdle. It is hard to find 6
Making connections. Talking with people and making your face known, not just in the rowing community but with the greater community. The schools dean, athletics, public safety, face to face interaction. It is about finding the right people. Fund-raising in new and original ways such as ergathons, bake sales, and banquets. What has your experience been like as a coach? The transition from rower to coach helped, being coxswain helped a lot. I really enjoy that feeling of accomplishment when athletes perform well and are satisfied with themselves. When athletes PR I am happy to be part of that process.
What recourses would help you, what is there that you would like to see? Some things out there right now on rowing are a few annual conventions for coaches. The most recent publications include the book, “The boys in the boat”, which is a look into the eyes of an Olympic rowing team. The movies ‘Backwards’ and ‘The Social Network’. The more people know about the sport the more they can learn. If you can open peoples eyes to the sport by teaching them about rowing that would bring a greater awareness to the sport and start up teams would be able to grow easier. I would like to see more exposure on rowing or a guide for coaches on what they have to do. Something to explain what it takes to start up a team and something to help fix the divide with administration.
Michael McKeon Assistant Coach, Wentworth Institute of Technology How did you first hear about the Wentworth Crew job? I was offered it by the head coach and didn’t know she was hiring. I had helped the team prior to being offered the job. What has your experience been like as a coach? I haven’t been doing it long but transitioning from a rower to a coach has been eye opening. A lot more work goes into a crew team than I had thought. There are coaches meetings, event planning, driving to practices and races, and then coaching itself. What issues are faced as a startup team? Funding, funding, funding! Money is hard to come by. Rowing is one of the most expensive sports you can ever play. The school helps us out now, but it’s not nearly as much as we need.
Matt Lehrer Head of coaching education at CRI (Community Rowing Inc.) How did you tackle these problems? Funding is the biggest issue and having connections with other teams and companies helps. You need connections. What recourses would help you, what is there that you would like to see? Some way for boat companies and alumni to see teams and be able to donate money towards them. How does this team compare to other larger teams you have been apart of? Lowell had much more funding and equipment. They have a 2 million dollar boathouse paid for by the city. The first year I rowed for Wentworth there were 8 people on the team. The program had no money or future plans. As vice president I was in charge of transportation, rental cars, hotels, and fund-raising.
Do you think there is a why to help start up teams grow easier? I’m not sure, and there is so much that goes into it. You have to think about the schools and what age group you would want to target. What do you think the biggest problem in rowing is? The lack of informations and knowledge out there on the sport. Also how rowers promote the sport. We don’t make it sound glamorous. We describe it to people as this horrible thing. How we wake up so early before dawn and have to go through a grueling workout. We as rowers are not able to articulate or teach the sport in a good way. I would like to see something that could teach and raise awareness about rowing.
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Two Directions 1. Help start-up teams form through their beginning process 2. Educate the public about rowing and bring awareness to the sport
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“ If you can open peoples eyes to the sport through teaching, it would bring a greater awarness to rowing and start up teams would be able to grow easier.” -Katie Lane, Wentworth Rowing Head Coach
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CHOOSING A PATH I have two directions I can take this project, both with different audiences and a slightly different objective. I can one, focus my audience specifically on rowers and work with the idea of helping to form startup teams. Or I can two, focus my audience on those not as aware of the sport and work with the idea of forming a teaching tool. I like the idea of focusing on those not directly within the sport. I think that increases the size of the audience and can lead to something attainable and understandable to anyone. The focus would then be teaching, and bringing an awareness of the sport. Presenting my project to people in class and speaking about my project to friends, I have noticed something. Before I get to the core of my project I noticed that I have to spend a lot of time simply explaining the sport. Rowing is so complex that I have to spend a few minutes educating people about the sport. After speaking with past coaches and rowers much of what they were saying was pointing to the lack of publicly within the sport. Rowing may have two problems, the inability to form teams, but also the lack of under-
standing and awareness. The two may go hand in hand. The more people know about the sport, the more easily new teams can flourish. I have chosen a new direction. So how will I go about this? I have to start thinking in terms of educating and raising awareness. In similar thinking to my earlier service design, and educational program can be taught about the sport. Rowing also has components such as equipment and form. I wonder if there is a way to engage people with these visuals. I wonder if there is an engaging and interactive way to teach people about the sport without actually getting them on the water an using the equipment. A way for people to ask questions and have their questions be answered?
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A New Direction QUESTION
How can design educate and engage people about the sport of rowing? STATEMENT Rowing is a complex sport composed of a grueling workout, unique language, and intricate form and equipment. It is the ultimate team sport where rowers must move in the same motion and rhythm. The time rowers spend with one another on and off the water brings them together and creates passionate athletes and individuals. It originated as a sport for the elite, due to the expensive costs of equipment and space, but has since spread to a much larger diversity of athletes. There are few publications on the sport, with the little that’s out there geared towards experienced rowers. I have been rowing for the past five years and have noticed the lack in publicity. My goal is to educate the community about rowing in an engaging and exiting way, without actually getting people on the water.
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I want to find a way to actively engage and excite people about rowing without actually getting them on the water.
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on-site installations augmented reality iPad app Website 15
DELIVERABLE THINKING I made my decision to work with the idea of informing others about the sport. I will find a way to teach, educate, engage, and excite people about rowing. I want to target bodies of water where rowing takes place and create on-site installations. An app will work alongside the structures to provide a new way of seeing. A website will allow for people to view the same information anywhere. I realized where my designs will live will play a major role. I want to provide information for people on-site bodies of water where rowing is popular. Boston is considered the top rowing city in the US because of the Charles River and the Head of the Charles Regatta. Since I live in Boston with the river right down the street, it made sense to target the Charles for my project. The three deliverables of on-site installations, augmented reality app, and website, will all teach content about rowing. They will show information on the sport such as how to watch the sport, how races work, how to understand the equipment, and how to get involved. Gaining a better understanding of the rowing will hopefully engage
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and spark an interest within people. What sparked my interest for creating installations along the Charles River is the heavy rowing traffic, the many spectators and passerby’s, and the Head of the Charles Regatta. Initially I was thinking these installations would be permanent. I quickly realized this would not make sense year round. People would not actually read them, they would make no sense during the winter months, and they would most likely be vandalized. The Head of The Charles Regatta attracts 400,000 spectators during a single weekend. I realized it made more sense for these installations to be temporary designs along the river during this race. They would be less obtrusive, more useful, and hopefully read. How can I make print and digital devices work together? An augmented reality application provides an entirely new way of seeing. It’s a feature that allows for an in depth form on on-site interaction. This app will be available on-site alongside the installations. Besides being on-site, I want a way for people to access this same information out-
side the realm of the race. A website will allow for people to access the same information at home. I knew I wanted my installations to blend in with the space. Something that would not obtrude. The beautiful views of the water, buildings, and boats should not be blocked. Information printed on plexi-glass would allow for an interesting way to both read about the sport while watching boats go by. The view would still be visible and play a major role. I kept asking myself where should these be placed and what content should be present? To understand the sport I broke it down into a few major categories. Sculling vs. sweep, equipment, course, form, how to watch, terminology, and how to get started
Where? The Charles River Why? The Head of The Charles Regatta is the world’s largest two day rowing competition in the world. This year marks the 50th anniversary with 10,000 athletes, 1,800 volunteers & 400,000 spectators expected.
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How can print & digital work together?
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Final Deliverables INSTALLATIONS These structures will line the course of the Head of The Charles Regatta. They are six by four foot installations made from plexi-glass. Each has a map of the course in the bottom left which plots out installations and tells you where you are. Some installations speak to a specific part of the course while others tell information about the sport in general. The structures that are specific to a certain part in the race overlay information on top of the scenery to better explain how the race works.
AUGMENTED REALITY APP An iPad application that provides an entirely new way of seeing and allows for an in depth form of on-site interaction. It aids installations by providing a tool to viewing the race. The app works by taking over your camera allowing for interaction with the boats and course.
WEBSITE A way to see and learn information at home, outside the realm of the race. The navigation is broken up into categories necessary to learning about the sport. Similar to the app, this website works interactively.
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WHO’S RACING?
COURSE INFO
WHO’S RACING?
FIND INSTALLATIONS
COURSE INFO
FIND INSTALLATIONS
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH (USA)
Michigan State Crew Club (USA)
BOW: 13 EVENT ID: 26 Collegiate Fours Men DATE: 10/19/2013 ENTRIES: 40
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Michigan State Crew Club (USA) University Of Pittsburgh (USA)
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In ‘Who’s Racing’ the app will recognize boats by their bow number and oar design to let you know what team is racing. You can tap on a team name for more information.
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SEAT Coxswain Stroke 3 Seat 2 Steat Bow
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NAME Summer DeRubeis Zachary Amato David Ritter Trey Hinz David Civiletti
EVENT NAME: TIME: 16:00:00
GENDER AGE Of Pittsburgh (USA) F University21 M 22 M 19 M 21 M 20
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When a user taps on a boat their team profile comes up. The event and roster is listed.
WHO’S RACING?
COURSE INFO
FIND INSTALLATIONS
WHO’S RACING?
COURSE INFO
FIND INSTALLATIONS
Rowers take on the longest and most difficult turn in the race. The rudder is not enough to steer this turn so starboard side must row with extra pressure. 15 MINUTES
1,500 km to finish (.8 miles)
4,500 km in (2.2 miles)
In ‘Course Info’ you can find out where boats are on the course. Tapping on the map will give you information about that specific point in the race and what rowers are thinking about.
Through ‘Find Installations’ The app accesses your maps and plots out the location and distance to the installations.
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SWEEP V. SCULL
EQUIPMENT
FORM
RACES
TERMS
START ROWING
SWEEP V. SCULL
EQUIPMENT
FORM
RACES
TERMS
START ROWING
OAR LOCK
In the nav, the sport is broken down into, ‘sweep v. scull’, ‘equipment’, ‘form’, ‘races’, ‘terms’, and ‘start rowing’.
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In the ‘equipment’ secion, users can explor a boat by clicking and hovering.
SWEEP V. SCULL
EQUIPMENT
FORM
RACES
TERMS
START ROWING
SWEEP V. SCULL
EQUIPMENT
FORM
RACES
TERMS
START ROWING
OAR LOCK
SWIVEL
Clicking an object will enlarge it for a more in depth view. Videos are available to see how a part moves and finctions.
Search your area for clubs and teams near you
Users can search for clubs in their area if they are interested in learning to row.
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Through my topic of rowing this project turned into working with the dichotomy between print and digital.
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I worked with site-specific devices as a way to create a new and interesting form of interacting and learning.
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Jennifer Raichek Senior Degree Project MassArt Spring 2014
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