Finding it Hard to Go to the Gym? It’s All About the Company
A Mobile App Design Concept
As my first project for the General Assembly UX Design Immersive Course, I have worked on a fitness app in two different stages:
- 1 week for research and low-fidelity prototype, further explained below.
- 1 week for visual Design and hi-fidelity prototype, that you can read at this link.
Overview
The project explored the underlying reasons my user, Laura, found it too hard to exercise as often as she would like to. During our conversation, I found a way to help Laura find new motivation through the use of an app that would allow her to meet like-minded gym-goers.
During the project. I have followed the design thinking methodology:
- Understanding the user needs
- Exploring possible solutions
- Materialising and Iterating
User-centered design
Combined with design thinking, the UCD methods used were:
- User Interview
- Experience Map
- Storyboarding
- Prototyping
- User Testing
Step 1: Understanding
Through the use of the technique of exploratory interviews, I was able to discover a wealth of information about Laura. Exploratory interviews are often used in User Experience Design to uncover insights on a specific subject in the initial stages of research.
I started by asking Laura about her daily routine, the what, when, where and how she exercised. I uncovered Laura is a busy young woman who lives in London and is now changing career. Her routine has changed drastically after a friend she used to go to the gym with moved to another town.
Insights
Three key points emerged:
• Laura would like to exercise 3/4 times a week in the morning, but she currently only manages once.
• She used to cycle to work but lives too far now, so that is not an option anymore.
• When she exercised with a friend, she would never missed gym in the morning, as she felt accountable to someone.
The last point really struck my interest and I wanted to dig deeper to understand what roadblocks Laura was encountering now.
I asked her to walk me through what happened last time she did not go to the gym.
Laura’s Experience
Preparation would start the night before, when she packs her gym-bag, sets the alarm at 6 am, and goes to bed feeling excited for the next day. Then, the unexpected happens: Laura wakes up in the middle of the night; she knows she is not going to feel rested when the alarm goes off and decides to skip the morning gym.
At the time of waking up though, she feels terrible: not only has she not had a good night sleep, she has also missed the morning exercise. So, she makes new plans and starts the day determined to go to the gym in the evening. But she knows, if she feels too tired at the end of the day, she might not go at all.
The more I uncovered the more the problem became complicated. What was the real problem here? Was it her lack of sleep or her lack of motivation?
It took me a few more comments from Laura to know the direction I needed to take.
“If I am meeting a friend, I am ninety percent more likely to stick to the plan. I wouldn’t want them to be disappointed.”
The Real Problem
The lack of sleep was definitely unpleasant, but mostly she did not feel accountable to anyone. At this point, I could focus on the problem:
Laura needed a way to find a new gym buddy because she found it hard to go to the gym alone in the morning.
Step 2: Exploring
To get from the problem to a solution, I went through a few sketches of ideas and a storyboard.
Ideation
Options I considered included an app to find gym buddies in your area, a move-tracking app to create challenges to share with friends, and a virtual gym, that allows you to exercise from home while connected to other people remotely.
As in most cases, the simpler the better: I returned to my first intuition and decided to develop the “Gym Buddy” app. It would allow Laura to meet new friends who share the same fitness habits, and bring her experience in the real world.
Story Board
With a clearer idea in mind, I went into creating a storyboard of a scenario in which Laura would use the app and find a solution to her problem.
The storyboard also helped me to arrive to the creation of the first wireflow.
Step 3: Materialising
Wireflow
Assuming Laura has already registered with the app, she would tap into “new search” to find a new gym buddy. Then, she would specify the day, time and type of workout they are going to do, and hit search. A this point she would be presented with a list of people in her area that do the same workout at the same time, be able to find out more about them, and get in touch.
Testing
Besides being extremely fun to make, the low-fidelity paper prototype was also very useful to test. As users were not distracted by flashing colours, they could focus on functionality and the tasks at hand. I conducted 5 user tests and went through 3 rounds of iterations.
During the tests, I asked them to imagine they were the type of person that needed a friend to feel motivated to go to the gym — the majority could relate very well —, then I also asked them to perform three tasks:
- Use the app to find a new gym buddy.
- You are searching for someone that would to the gym with you on Fidays from 6.00AM to 7.00AM.
- Choose a buddy and get in touch with them.
The feedback led to a number of changes.
Beware of the homepage
The homepage was too busy, the users did not understand where they needed to click.
First, I simplified the homepage by removing unnecessary information, then I changed the wording to something more meaningful for the users.
Avoid Unnecessary Information
The Result page contained information that was not clear: users could not understand what the distance meant and what gym they were going to.
I removed the distance and added filters at the top, so the users could always double-check or modify the search criteria.
The Clearer the Better
Users would like to have more visibility on the things they have in common with their potential new gym buddy.
I added a breakdown of the common settings in the profile page of the potential gym buddy.
Clickable Prototype
The final mockup is now visible on the marvelapp website at this link: https://marvelapp.com/9cf2f4g/screen/61823476
Takeaways
Whatever the app, the homepage is crucial. It is the first point of contact of the user with the app, thus, it needs to be as clear and less cluttered as possible, even in the wording.
Feedback has also shown that the same clarity has to be applied to the rest of the screens, where I had to find a more efficient way of displaying critical information.
Next Phase
After the first phase, I have continued to develop the visual aspect of the app and worked on a high fidelity prototype. You can read all about it here.
Thank you for reading.
You can also find me at martinaloi-ux.com.
