Gear Project
Gear Project
Gear Project
Mobile Web App
Role
Sole Designer
Side Project
Year
2018
Introduction
I co-founded Gear Project with two developer friends to solve a key problem in the overlanding community—monetization. We wanted to give influencers a way to monetize their content through affiliate links tied to the gear they used in their builds. I designed the platform, which allowed users to create detailed pages for their vehicles, showcasing specs, images, and product links. We focused on community engagement, enabling overland enthusiasts to share, discover, and be inspired by curated builds, while also providing influencers with a way to earn from their recommendations.
Gear Project was built to help gear enthusiasts monetize through affiliate revenue to their product recommendations.
Driving Growth
To build an initial user base, we identified influential overland enthusiasts on Instagram and created custom build pages showcasing their rigs and sent them links to their page. Several of these initial accounts loved their pages we built for them and added the links to their Instagram bios, driving early traffic to our platform.
Recognizing the need for deeper engagement, we pivoted to a more hands-on recruitment approach, reaching out to overlanders with smaller followings but highly detailed builds. By personally inviting them to create and maintain their own pages, we established our first power users—enthusiasts who actively contributed and shaped the community.
As engagement grew, we began seeing organic adoption, with new builds appearing on the platform from users we hadn’t directly recruited. This marked a turning point, as community-driven growth took hold, validating our platform’s value and signaling the start of sustained user acquisition.
Years later, with zero maintenance, Gear Project still gets thousands of monthly visits and new builds uploaded every day.
Outcome
Gear Project quickly gained traction, attracting thousands of users within its first few months and becoming a go-to resource for curated builds.
However, we encountered challenges in scaling monetization due to Instagram’s in-app browser restrictions, which limited affiliate link conversions. Despite these hurdles, the project was a valuable learning experience in product design, user-centric development, and navigating technical and business challenges, reinforcing my ability to build polished, functional tools for niche communities.
