UX Design | Get Fitter App
GetFitter - Fitness App
About the Project
I wanted to design a mobile app that would effectively search for a workout that fit the time constraints, fitness goals and activity preferences and tailor-fits to those with a busy schedule.
The Big Question
How do people plan their workout? What motivates and engages them to exercise? How does one create one easily and effectively obtain the results they want?
Problem Statement
Adults 18-45 with an active lifestyle find it difficult to choose and follow an independent workout plan, because their fitness goals, caloric burn goal, activity preference, engagement and intensity level are very specific and there is no “one size fits all” solution in their limited amount of time.
Research
Informed Design Decisions
When I sought out the motivations, planning process and engagement factors for those interested in exercising, I found that there were several key findings consistent across participants; people wanted to choose a workout that was worth their time and that felt accomplished. Whether it was an in-person class, or online workout, or by going solo without any structure, they had a limited amount of time to dedicate to their health and they wanted to make it count. The factors that made it count was three-fold:
Health goals: the net calories burned and Heart BPM range that effectively used the energy exerted during the time given. This factor helps users feel accomplished.
Customization: participants wanted to have a range of activities to prevent boredom and plateau, and some only stuck to a few specific activities because of their comfort level and perhaps lack of experience. This factor allows users to have variety.
Engagement: Factors that motivated participants’ engagement were social: either working out with people you may know or don’t know, and also how you rank among them using the metrics specific to the activity. Additionally, instructor personalities, rapport, and their ability to address and correct technique and help meet goals were also deemed important. This factor helps users stay motivated for the next workout. It made it fun!
Primary User Goals
Select a workout customized to their preferences and level of intensity and time allotment.
Monitor their health metrics, engage with their social network, and see how they rank during their workout
View and analyze their net activity metrics and compare and rank that of their social network.
Features Supporting Goals
User Customized filters show results based on their preferences.
Smart technology actively logs and tracks in real time to show users on screen the quality of their performance.
Users can view stats on their active screen during a workout and also Stats page show tally and report on performance.
Motivation to Come Back?
Users will want to return due to the ease of usability, the quality of content, and the satisfaction of meeting their health goals, and the fact that they got to do it with their friends. "Because it was fun and easy and was worth their time.”
Competitive & Comparative Analysis
Other solutions out there are hefty in their offerings and allow for multiple customizations and several different approaches in how a user uses the app.
Nike Training Club: Mainly focuses on training and conditioning exercises and targeting muscle groups. Options clearly show the amount of time for each workout. There are also Instructor led classes for the Premium members but the majority are circuit exercises which show a demonstration of each exercises divided up in timed sets. What’s remarkable is that you received buzzing alerts on your Apple Watch of those start and stop divisions which could prove to be useful if you’re not constantly looking at your phone. Preset Programs to reach goals were also offered to premium memberships.
Peleton: Users enjoy a variety of classes based on activity, muscle groups, user goals or challenges, like training for a marathon. Classes stream live and users can join at appointed times similar to attending a live fitness class but from the comfort of your own location. Cycling workouts are synced specifically to the Peloton bike that have a variety of features to optimize metrics and increase in resistance. Users could also rank their performance among other users which include their starred contacts. Caveats include the quality of video production: the classes are in one consistent location of treadmills in the background and black mats on the floor and floor length mirrors. Visually, it’s not as cinematic and striking as the NIKE instructor led videos or even the demos.
FitOn: Users use FitOn has a combination of what Peloton and Nike apps offer, instructor led classes, programs for weekly workout according to you metrics and fitness goals, and live metrics on screen and class participations leaderboards like Peleton. The Video quality is up there with Nike but with a lighter, feminine and pastel palette.
GetFitter: narrows those offerings and gets straight to the point, funneling the goals for the users and providing valuable information to the user during and after the workout and allowing the users to interact with their network and highlight them in the on screen live metrics display.
Feature Comparison Matrix
Competitive Map
Design Solution
My solution is GetFitter, an app that helps users customize a workout plan based on their fitness goals, a variety of activities, engages the user with dynamic content and real-time health metrics and ranking among their social network. This app will help users make it “worth their time” as it meets users’ health goals, customization needs, and engagement.
Evaluation
What the differences/similarities between your initial assumptions and your final point of view are.
My initial assumptions were that my category labels were clear and across the board a given. However, my testing showed that naming conventions are user specific and. Some of the card sorting tasks revealed that a participant had all the workouts in one category which meant some users have not yet defined for them selves what specifically they would like to do for exercise.
What other interactions or UI choices did you consider before the final version?
I considered a screen which users had to go through to set-up their profile with body metrics and preferences so that a pre-programmed a “Program” for users to follow, much like giving them 4 selected workouts in a “Folder” would be in their profile and that they could check it off a list for the week and of which this “program” would be integrated in their Stats page.
If this were a real product, what would be next on your roadmap?
If this were a real product, I would go ahead and produce the personalized programs mentioned above.
Add a sync screens options for friends to connect and exercise in-sync with each other.
Add a “Turn Mic On” option within the video workout screen so that users can connect with friends during the workout and speak to each other, much like Call of Duty in the video game world.
Add the an annotating capability to each workout entry so that users can comment/rate/tag, and hash tag workouts for future search and identification purposes.
Add a Search function.
What part of the whole process did you find most challenging? The most rewarding?
The most challenging part of the process was the research part, creating a discussion guide and tailor questions to obtain a qualitative understanding of User needs. And also, writing a case study on the process. Anything that involves writing means to demonstrate why and how I did the things I did. I’m a person who would rather show than write about it. However writing these things down do help me better understand exactly what I did and put them into words and into the world for all to understand my point of view. The most rewarding part of this process is the designing part, that part comes most naturally to me and I can experiment with shapes, text and composition of visuals, internalizing the process rather than expressing it.
User Research
I went about seeking to answer this question: How might we help active people workout and effectively meet their fitness goals, caloric burn, and use their time efficiently? We believe that by creating an app that helps customize a workout plan based on user fitness goals, a variety of activity types, and engages the user with guided instruction will be worth their time and help solve this problem.
Data obtained using participants in various exercises to led to the 4 iterations and concluded with the final prototype used these methods:
User Interviews to create a persona and plan for features
Affinity Mapping to define and map user goals
Card sorting to define categories and create a sitemap
Task scenarios to test prototype and improve each iteration
User Interviews
What Led to This Study?
I wanted to find out how to effectively search for a workout that fit the time constraints, fitness goals and activity preferences to my liking and works within my schedule.
Descriptions of Participants
Participants should be adults 18-45 years, interested in exercising and actively engaging in those activities.
High Level Goals
Know what’s important to users when working out.
Know how they choose their plan.
Know how and when they execute their plan.
Know what they consider an effective workout.
Know what keeps them engaged while working out.
User Interview Questions
Defining the User
Based on our numerous user interviews and exercise, the type of user most likely to utilize this application to reach their goals are hyper-realized in the fictitious persona named Samantha.
Information Architecture & Navigation
Task Scenarios
Users were asked to perform targeted tasks to inform and improve future versions of the application. These tasks include:
Find a HIIT workout, High Intensity that one can do in 45 min.
Find a workout that focuses on toning the muscles in an 30 min.
It’s Monday and you’re making up for all that partying you did. You want to go on a long hard run and you only have a little under an hour.
You want to do a 30 min Barre session, but you don’t have much energy and you’re sore from the day before, you might want to take it easy. And you want your friend Emmy to join you on your workout.
You’re looking to change up your normal routine and are not sure what to do, but you know you want to focus on toning your muscles, you have an 45 min and have a lot of energy to burn. You’d like to burn at least 500 calories.
Wireframe Design Iterations
