Breadcrumb Receives 10 Million Views with New App Debut

An iOS and Android app for an IoT connected “smart” nock and location marker, allowing hunters to find their arrows and gear.

The Challenge

Losing arrows and other hunting equipment can not only be costly, but searching for them out in the woods also wastes time and the rustling around can scare away potential game. So what if there was a way to track your arrow or equipment from your phone?

The Kickoff

Getting in the shoes of a hunter was the first step. Founder and avid hunter, Bryan Emrich, walked us through the process that bow hunters like himself go through. From trying to re-navigate to a less familiar hunting spot, to spending more time looking for arrows than hunting, the pain in Bryan’s voice was clear. This is why he wanted to launch with two core products: the nock and the location marker.

  • Nock

    Attached on the rear of an arrow, the accelerometer uses a motion sensor to enable the tracking.

  • Location Marker

    Used to keep track of things like tree stands, blind, trailcams, and other hunting equipment.

Mobile App Design

We mapped out the complete user experience from account creation to pairing, finding, and sharing a nock or location marker. After much discussion on how hunters were going to find their device, we designed both a meter to indicate proximity as well as a view map that pinpoints the area their device was last seen. We also designed an interactive walkthrough to pair a device and educate hunters on how to trigger light and sound from the app.

Visually we aimed to create a look that balanced a modern, tech, and outdoorsy feel through our color palette, typography, imagery choices.

The Technology

Breadcrumb’s mobile app was built using the Ionic development framework. Ionic allowed us to develop for iOS and Android with a single codebase. We worked with the hardware team to get the device to connect to our app and built the essential features.

  • Find via Bluetooth Strength Indicator

    Know when the bluetooth signal is getting stronger, thus getting closer to your nock or location marker.

  • Control Light & Sound of Device

    Locating an arrow under the brush can be challenging. Trigger light or sound from the app to help find a device.

  • Manage Nocks & Location Markers

    See all your devices listed on one screen and see their proximity status.

  • Share Device with Friends

    Your “smart” nock and location marker can be shared so others can help you find your arrows and gear.

  • Salesforce Integration

    By understanding how the user interacts with the app, Breadcrumb can use that data for re-marketing purposes.

  • Last Seen Map View

    Using the Phone’s GPS coordinates, and others can update.

“Creating a seamless user experience between the app and nock/location marker was a top priority and proved to an exciting creative challenge.”
—Monique Marchwiany, Designer at LaunchLab Lab
Breadcrumb Interface

The Success

  • 10+ MILLION Facebook Video Views

    In just 5 days, Breadcrumb received 10+ million views and 200K shares on a Facebook video debuting the nocks and location markers to the world.

  • Pre-Order Sales

    All the social media buzz brought in some exciting initial pre-orders. Hunters are ready to spend more time hunting, and less time searching for their nocks!

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