Erik Menches
There are designers who work on mapping apps, and there are designers who live in them. I'm the latter. I run a built-out FJ Cruiser through the backcountry, test the apps I design on trails that punish bad UX, and bring what I learn back into the product. Every design decision I make is informed by dirt, elevation, and signal loss.
onX Maps, Inc.
I joined onX Offroad and found a mapping app with no legend. So I made one.
That set the tone for two and a half years of building the design foundation of the product. As lead designer for the Navigation team, Route Builder shipped across iOS, Android and web. The trail card hierarchy got a full redesign, with new graphics that communicate trail width and vehicle accessibility in a single visual. My Garage gave users a way to register their vehicles as a first step toward personalized trail filtering. A collaboration with the UGC team brought Trail Reports to Offroad, getting the statuses and language right for an audience that knows the difference between "muddy" and "impassable." The Trail Guide contributor portal got a ground-up redesign after using it myself as an approved trail guide and realizing the tool that generates the content the entire platform depends on had been treated as an afterthought.
Map layers were a fight. Senior leadership was against it, but my PM and I proved the case through user testing and shipped it. Elite Deals, a brand partnership program where a single discounted purchase could pay for the subscription, expanded the value of the paid membership. And a push to broaden the product beyond trail riding into overlanding and dispersed camping became a direction the product continues to pursue today.
When the Design Director left, I stepped up to help lead the team through the transition. The product design I established at onX Offroad remains the foundation of the experience today.
"The best designer I've worked with in five years across onX Offroad and Gaia GPS. Erik moves fluidly between product, design, and engineering. His rapid prototypes have sealed partner deals we'd otherwise have lost."
Gaia GPS
Gaia GPS is one of the most trusted backcountry navigation apps in the outdoor industry. As design lead, the most significant UX overhaul in the app's decade-long history shipped under my direction.
Adventure Modes consolidates 300+ map layers into curated, one-tap experiences built for hiking, off-road, and snow adventures. I led the product vision for this project across two teams, coordinating between the Maps Platform team and the Gaia product team from concept through release. Following the launch, Gaia GPS was featured in the US and Canadian App Stores as a "Best New Apps and Updates" by Apple's editorial team.
The growth strategy drew on lessons from onX about what converts and what creates friction. A full redesign of the tool suite shipped alongside the paywall rollout, raising the quality of the paid experience to justify the gate. An always-visible upgrade button for free users on the map screen drove a 474% lift in new subscriptions, contributing to five consecutive months of growth.
Throughout this work, design leadership extended well beyond individual features, shaping roadmap and product direction before the role was formally promoted to lead design across the full mapping portfolio.
"Erik is a truly authentic designer and adventurer. He creates design solutions from experience and empathy for his customers. Always on top of new techniques, Erik inspires his team as a player and a coach. An invaluable asset to have on the team and in a leadership role."
Outside Inc.
Outside's consumer mapping app portfolio spans three products used across more than 100 countries: Gaia GPS, Trailforks and MapMy. As design lead, the role covers design direction for products serving millions of outdoor athletes, growing a team of product and map designers, and driving a shared design system and token architecture across all three apps ahead of a major platform convergence.
The work involves partnering directly with executive product leadership to shape strategy, roadmap priorities and cross-app investment. Structured hiring processes including live prototyping exercises and craft evaluation frameworks help raise the bar for the team. The goal is making three distinct products feel like they belong to the same family without losing what makes each one worth using.
Off the map,
on the ground
Designing for outdoor athletes means being one. Overland Expo West, Overland Expo PNW, Gambler 500 and OutsideDays are where the booth gets set up and real conversations with users happen. At onX, the annual Trail Guide Gatherings brought together the top 10 trail guides in the program for a week-long trip, riding trails together and collecting the kind of product feedback you can't get from a survey. The gap between designer and user is zero.
