The Beach Camp
Redirecting Risk
Through Play
Selected as the standout submission from 30 entries and nominated for the 2024 USYD ADP Graduate Showcase : Beach Camp is an AR-powered app that steers beachgoers away from unpatrolled beaches without ever telling them what not to do.
Featured : USYD ADP Grad Show 2024 · 1 of 30 Selected
How do you change someone's behavior at the beach without telling them what to do? That was the core design question behind Beach Camp : a project with Surf Life Saving Australia to address the alarming rate of drownings at unpatrolled beaches. From 2013–2023, three-quarters of coastal drowning deaths occurred more than 1km from a Surf Life Saving service.
STATISTICS
In 2022/23, 68% of coastal drowning fatalities involved people aged 24–55. Males made up 80% of deaths and were five times more susceptible than females.
My Role
- User Flow Design
- User Testing
- Storyboard Creation
- Graphical Representation
- Concept Evaluation (Model of Engagement + real-world implications)
- Concept Development
- Feasibility and Practicality
THE GOAL
To reduce drowning deaths by shifting beach behavior, not through more education, but by making safety feel like a choice people want to make.
Defining the problem
#1 PROBLEM: OVERCONFIDENCE
Beachgoers trust their own judgment, believing past experience makes them capable of handling a crisis.
#2 PROBLEM: SAFETY INFORMATION
Existing safety signage and SLS information is widely ignored or misunderstood.
#3 PROBLEM: EDUCATION GAPS
Beach safety campaigns reach local audiences but miss tourists and new immigrants most at risk.
Reframing of the Brief
Rather than designing another safety warning, we asked: what if we redirected risky behavior instead of trying to stop it?
Research (interviews + literature) showed that people seek out unpatrolled beaches for adventure, and that most believe they already know enough about safety. Education-first campaigns consistently failed because they addressed the wrong problem.
Framing the Solution
Inspired by the behavior-change environment of a yoga retreat, we shifted our focus to influencing behavior through positive experience rather than warning or instruction. We established design principles to guide this approach.
PREVENTATIVE BEHAVIOUR
Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1977) tells us people are more motivated by avoiding loss than gaining safety. Our solution doesn’t lecture : it offers fun alternatives that naturally draw people toward safer zones, creating a positive habit over time.
What is Beach Camp?
Beach Camp is a beach safety app that integrates with Google Maps and uses AR gaming and community forums to redirect beachgoers toward patrolled areas, not by warning them, but by making patrolled beaches more rewarding to visit.
Integration with Google Maps: Beach Camp integrates with Google Maps, allowing users to access detailed beach safety features through the SLA app when searching for beaches.
Upon entering Beach Camp via Google Maps, users see an interactive map showing patrolled and unpatrolled beaches.
User Journey and Incentivization: AR features gamify safety education through scavenger hunts for guide coins and virtual safety cards, which can be redeemed for rewards like beach essentials, promoting ongoing engagement with safety features.
Community Engagement and AR Gaming: The app includes social forums for each beach, enabling users to connect, share updates, and form groups as well as get important information for each specific beach.
Rare collectible cards are only available at patrolled beaches; so the game itself becomes the mechanism for steering users away from danger.
Application Prototype
Built in Figma after multiple rounds of user feedback. The prototype demonstrates AR integration, real-time safety overlays, and the community forum experience.
StoryBoard
Alex discovers Beach Camp via Google Maps, joins the Coogee Beach community channel, follows AR guides and ends up at a patrolled beach because that’s where the rare cards are.
Conceptual Video
A walkthrough of Beach Camp’s core mechanics, showing how the AR reward system subtly steers users away from unpatrolled beaches without ever telling them what not to do.
Journey Map
A 10-week development map showing how we moved from concept exploration and user research to a tested, exhibition-ready prototype, with the key pivots that shaped the final design.
