FitStart
The app catered solely towards workout novices who are struggling to find a class that fits their needs without having to sift through a million and one options
Solo Concept Project
Timeline: 5 days
Methods: User Interviews, User Experience Map, User Flow, Wireframing and Prototyping, Usability Testing
Design Process: Double Diamond Process
It’s said that first mile is always the hardest; in the literal sense of the phrase to some, although in the case of my user Richard, slightly more figuratively. Working out can seem like a daunting venture to embark on to someone who’s going into it blindly or with little previous experience, especially when taking into consideration the scarcity of easily accessible platforms catered specifically to novices. In this case study, I focus on this very issue as I delve into my user Richard’s behaviours and thoughts surrounding the topic of fitness.
The Breif
In this 5 day spring I was tasked with designing a lo-fi prototype for an app catered to one specific class mate on an asepct within their life which they feel as though they could use a bit of help with. (In this case, Richard chose fitness!)
The Process
I began by conducting an interview with the user to gain insight into the the different facets of his history with fitness, exploring topics such as his past experiences with working out and incentives for doing so. I ensured that I asked open ended questions that didn’t have any form of swaying bias in order to focus on the user’s needs and not impose my own partiality on the topic onto him which may in turn influence his answer. The interviewing process would be the departure point in shaping an app that would most benefit his fitness needs.
Key learnings:
- User enjoys working out in group settings
- Doesn’t like the group to be too big
- Prefers to know how many people are in the group before partaking
- User would like to get back into working out but feels overwhelmed by the abundance of choice
- He wants to try new workouts but doesn’t know which ones are suitable for novices
- Enjoys an environment which allows for mutual growth between classmates — doesn’t like when there are too many varying levels of experience
Based on the interview findings, I designed a user experience map of what a workout typically looks like for Richard which helped me meticulously identify the pain points in his experience. As you can see in User experience map, Richard’s mood fluctuates rather a bit throughout this experience, but rapidly begins to dip towards the end of the class upon realising that he is unable to keep up with the pace of other’s and that the class wasn’t suited to his skill level.
After identifying the main pain points, I came up with a problem statement that would help me shape the foundations of the app.
‘Richard needs a way to find classes that fit his fitness level so that he can feel comfortable with the pace while in class’
I then ideated ideas for apps that would help tackle this issue
- A dating app style format that would allow for users to find other people who are interested in the same workouts as them and are on the same level of experience so that they can attend classes together.
2) Rating system which shows difficulty of classes based on user feedback.
3) A platform which helps users to go into classes less blindly by showing them a video snippet of the class prior to booking. I also played around with the default view for the list of classes in this ideation as being sorted by how far away it is from the user.
4) an app solely for novices which shows users workouts which would be suitable for people with no previous experience.
I decided to further iterate on ideation 4 as I felt as though it would be the most efficient means of directly targeting the issues that were addressed by the user.
I then focused on my user flow, primarily the happy path at this point of the app iteration.
After collating all of the information needed, I felt that I was finally equipt enough to start designing the first low-fi prototype of the app.
I then did a user test in which I gave 3 people an objective within the app and observed how they navigated through it and followed with a series of questions based on their experience. One theme that seemed to be rather consistent throughout the user tests was the fact some of the clickable elements on the prototype weren’t interactive enough. The example given by the 2 participants that voiced this issue was that they’d like to be made visually aware that they’d selected an activity on the third wireframe so that they’d be able to refer back to which one/s they’d chosen and possibly even modify their choices. Though this would’ve been included in the high fidelity iteration, not including it in the prototype made rather it difficult for users to navigate through this screen.
Based on the feedback, I made some alterations to the prototype and was left with the first official prototype.
Next Steps
One of my main focuses in the next iteration would definitely be incorporating elements of ideation 3 (see photo) into my current version of the app. This would allow for users to have further insight into whether the class is suitable for them by giving them the option of watching a video of the class.
