Yeah, I think joysticks or buttons are a great launching point, then later, you could ‘learn’ specific points, or enter numeric targets.
That’s almost a separate project, your initial goal is simple control - typically with a joystick* or buttons.
*An (analog) joystick can give you proportional control of motor direction and (PWM) speed, but the point-to-point numeric control should have some intelligence for acceleration and deceleration (not too hard).
Certainly a project you can grow with as the crane grows. A great learning curve, I love real-world control projects!