Fitting Fitbit to Brazil

Kay Waller
Nov 4 · 9 min read

You’re 22, Brazilian, and want to join over 60 million Brazilian users in tracking health and fitness via an app or a wearable [1,2]. You buy a Fitbit, and you’re so excited about it that you buy your dad one, too [3]. You receive the product and are at the first step of completing the install: choosing your language. You scan the list in Figure 1, only to realize Fitbit has left out your country and your language [4].

Figure 3: Latin America language options for the Fitbit app [1]

You can manage because you learned English, but your dad did not, rendering the product unusable for him. The Fitbit service representative invites you to contribute your voice to a forum of people with similar complaints and promises you they will process your request [3]. The earliest complaint on the forum is from 2016, but it’s 2019 and still no Portuguese [3].


The above story encourages looking beyond just numbers into the cultural competency of the object. 29% of the overall population in Brazil uses fitness wearables regularly, but the numbers hide the Brazilians who are unable to translate their app into their native language [2]. These individuals are either forced to consider another wearable or struggle through translation. These struggles highlight the importance of localization and adapting an app to create a similar experience in different cultures. Translating the language is the bare minimum of localization, but often includes culturally appropriate designs [5]. By localizing, companies can ensure the product gives positive user experiences specific to a user’s location.

In an effort to give Brazilian Fitbit users a similar experience as their global counterparts, I redesigned two Fitbit app interface screens to be culturally appropriate.

The Current Screens

I wanted to translate the US version of the Fitbit app into screens that would complement Brazilian culture. To do this, I started with two basic screens from the US Fitbit app, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Fitbit interface screens for the US version [6,7]

The home screen (left) is shown immediately when the app is opened. It highlights steps taken, floors climbed, miles, calories, active time, sleep, and exercise [6]. The discover page (right) provides inspiration for Fitbit users [7].

Research

I began researching Brazilian fitness, health, nutrition and culture to understand what should be included in a fitness app. My full research can be found in Figure 3, but the highlights are summarized below.

Figure 3: My research table

Cultural Context

At the time of the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016, Brazil was projected to have the same obesity rate as the United States in the upcoming years [8]. Spurred on by the global attention, the Brazilian government implemented initiatives that encouraged balanced and healthy food diets as well as regular exercise [8]. This encouragement unintentionally created the second largest gym industry in the world, and thus Brazil’s “gym culture” began [9]. Since then, the obesity rate has stayed well below the rate of the United States and exercise has become part of Brazilian culture.

My research findings can be divided into two main sections: data which informed interface content and data which informed interface design.

Content Design

In general, Brazilians exercise both to stay healthy and to get the desired Brazilian beach body [8]. The highest compliment for both women’s and men’s bodies is “You look strong,” and Brazilians praise strength and health over skinniness [8]. To respect societal values, the content should support strength instead of weight.

Both indoor and outdoor gyms are extremely popular, and memberships are priced competitively so they are accessible to most city dwellers [10]. Volleyball, soccer, and any beach activities are other popular ways to stay fit [11]. Brazilian culture emphasizes social interaction, and sports are valued as a way to get exercise and create relationships [11]. The content should reflect this and support counting multiple forms of exercise.

Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are of main concern to the Brazilian government who has been trying to discourage a sedentary lifestyle and reduce obesity rates around the country [12]. The health aspects of the content should reflect this focus on heart health and blood pressure.

User Interface Design

According to cultural theorist Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Brazil has a high Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), and a low Individualism index (IDV) [13]. Based on Gasparini, Pimento, and De Oliveira’s interpretation of these measures, culturally appropriate interfaces for Brazil should have clear navigation, bold colors, images that emphasize groups, and a friendly interface [13, 14].

Based on color symbolism from Global Color: Clues and Taboos, Brazilians find muted colors boring, purple symbolizes mourning and death, and yellow means despair in more traditional areas [15]. Therefore, my redesigns need to avoid yellow and purple due to potentially harmful interpretations and encourage bold colors.

Redesigns

Based on my research findings, I created sketches of two interface screens that are culturally appropriate for Brazil.

The Landing Page

Figure 4 shows my design for the landing page. The number labels are call-outs that are described in more detail in this section.

Figure 4: My redesign of the landing page to match Brazil culture

The Discover Page

Figure 5 shows my design for the discover page. The number labels are call-outs that are described in more detail in this section.

Figure 5: My redesign of the discovery screen to match Brazilian culture

Ending Thoughts

Overall, my redesigns are suggestions of one way the Fitbit interface could be adapted to fit Brazil’s culture. The largest roadblock for me was learning about Brazilian fitness without experiencing it, because I had trouble imagining what I would want my Fitbit to measure during that activity. I overcame this by doing as much research as possible into the different Brazilian workouts and different contexts they happen in. I also struggled with creating a bold user interface. My design skills lie in minimalism with few colors, so it was a unique challenge to create an interface with vivid and many colors. I overcame this by creating sketches of my interfaces before my final drafts.

In the future, I would love to test my interfaces with Brazilian users to get feedback. Understanding what design decisions were appreciated and which ones were misunderstood would help me in future endeavors of interface localization.

References

[1] The World Factbook: Brazil. (2018, February 1). Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html.

[2] Growth from Knowledge. (2016, September). Health and Fitness Tracking. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.gfk.com/fileadmin/user_upload/website_content/Images/Global_Study/Fitness_tracking/Documents/Global-GfK-survey_Health-Fitness-Monitoring_2016_final.pdf.

[3] Unavailable country and language. (Brazil — Portuguese). (n.d.). Fitbit Community. Retrieved 24 October 2019, from https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Android-App/Unavailable-country-and-language-Brazil-Portuguese/td-p/2763180.

[4] Fitbit. (n.d.). Fitbit.com. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.fitbit.com/.

[5] Quesenbery, W., & Szuc, D. (2012). Global Ux: design and research in a connected world, Chapter 9: Design for a Global Audience. Waltham, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.

[6] Bhutani, D. (2019, August 9). How to set up a Fitbit. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-setup-fitbit-1014124/.

[7] A screenshot taken by me from my own Fitbit app. Retrieved October 24, 2019.

[8] DiBiase, L. (2019, March 20). Economies of the Fittest: Brazil Leading Latin America’s Fitness Revolution. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://labs.ebanx.com/en/articles/ecommerce/economies-of-the-fittest-brazil-leading-latin-americas-fitness-revolution/.

[9] Farah, A. G. V. (2013, January 30). The Gym Industry in Brazil. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/the-gym-industry-in-brazil.

[10] Aetna. (n.d.). A guide to well-being in Brazil. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.aetnainternational.com/en/individuals/destination-guides/expat-guide-to-brazil/wellbeing-guide.html.

[11] Cultural Atlas. (n.d.). Brazilian Culture. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/brazilian-culture.

[12] Lotufo, & Andrade, P. (2017, December). Lowering blood pressure is a priority in Brazil and worldwide. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802017000600509.

[13] Hofstede Insights. (n.d.). Compare countries. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/.

[14] I. Gasparini, M. S. Pimenta, and J. P. M. De Oliveira, ‘Vive la difference!: a survey of cultural-aware issues in HCI,” Vive la difference!: a survey of cultural-aware issues in HCI, 2011.

[15] Morton, Jim. (2008). Global Color: Clues & Taboos. COLORCOM, 2004. Retrieved October 24, 2019 from Hanafi, Z Canvas page.

[16] What Brazil Can Teach The World About Living Well. (2017, December 7). Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-brazil-can-teach-the_0_n_4662253.

[17] Belluz, J. (2015, February 20). Brazil has the best nutritional guidelines in the world. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.vox.com/2015/2/20/8076961/brazil-food-guide.

Kay Waller

Written by

An aspiring UX practitioner studying Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington.

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