Revamping the DOJO+ App for the Martial Arts Community
A Case Study on Implementing Community-Based Belt Verification
- Team: Martha Perez and Carlos Gómez Cartagena
- Timeline: 2 weeks
- Target audience: 18 to 65+ years old
- My Role: UX and UI designer
- Tools: Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Typeform, and Useberry
Project Overview
Recent data from Statista indicates that martial arts have been gaining popularity in the United States, with a 31% increase in practitioners from 2010 to 2023, totaling about 6.6 million people. This trend raises an important question: how can martial arts maintain a strong community presence in the digital age?
For our fourth project at the Ironhack Bootcamp, we tackled this challenge by developing a feature for the DOJO+ app, a popular platform for martial arts enthusiasts. DOJO+ allows users to track their training progress, share their achievements, and connect with teammates worldwide.
Problem
The belt verification process in DOJO+ often faces delays due to its reliance on instructors, who may not frequently check their profiles. This leads to a backlog of approvals, a pile-up of unverified promotions, and potentially discourages users from posting their advancements online.
Goal
Our objective was to refine the belt verification procedure by adopting a community-driven validation approach. With guidance from our stakeholders, we focused on enhancing the app’s user experience. Our efforts aimed to simplify and accelerate the acquisition of reliable belt verifications, making the system more intuitive and efficient within the DOJO+ environment.
User research & insights
As we began developing our project, we employed the CSD (Certainties, Suppositions, Doubts) matrix to guide our ideation process.
Certainties: It’s a well-known fact that martial artists take great pride in belt achievements. Verifying belts not only showcases their accomplishments but also ensures the recognition and validity of their rank across various schools and in competitive environments.
Suppositions: We assume that competitiveness drives martial artists to visibly advance and celebrate their rank progression. This desire to display their belts underscores a key motivation for our app’s target users.
Doubts: Should higher-ranked individuals have more influence in the voting process for belt verification, or should every vote be weighted equally?
These considerations shaped our approach to improving the user experience and functionality of our app, focusing on the needs and motivations of the martial arts community.
To understand how we can simplify belt promotion process, we conducted a competitor analysis, a SWOT analysis, and a MOSCOW Method.
Competitor Analysis
- BJJ Beltchecker: Specializes in validating Brazilian Jiu Jitsu belts within a community voting system but has a cluttered user interface and no mobile app.
- Marune: Community engagement for martial artists, offering workout routine guidance but requires a subscription for full access.
- Mindbody: Wellness class finder app that’s not martial arts-specific and logs various fitness activities, but it lacks depth in martial arts content.
SWOT Analysis
- Strengths: Exclusive focus on the martial arts community for networking and progress tracking.
- Weaknesses: Limited belt validation, technical issues, and lacks event details
- Opportunities: Expand social media presence and community features to attract users and sponsors.
- Threats: Risk of belt ranking manipulation and user disputes due to subjective skill assesments.
Moscow Method
Must-Haves
- Clear Criteria: Define transparent standards for belt ranking verifications.
- Community Review: Enable community-based verification approvals.
- Feedback System: Allow exchange of feedback and reasons for rejections.
- Verification Updates: Notify users about the status of their submissions.
Could-Haves
- Recognition Badges: Offer badges to incentivize high-quality contributions.
Should-Haves
- Instructor Oversight: Allow instructors to monitor verifications.
- Tutorial Offerings: Provide guides on conducting evaluations.
- Appeals Process: Implement a clear procedure for contesting decisions.
Won’t-Haves
- No AI Verifications: Exclude automated, live AI-based verification processes.
User Research
Despite having a comprehensive market analysis and possible solutions in hand, we’re moving forward with a public survey and an interview with a martial arts instructor. This step is crucial for us to truly grasp what drives the users, their level of engagement with the community, their opinions on the community voting process, and their direct experiences with both the app and their dojo practices.
The findings revealed:
- The majority of participants between 35 and 44 years old (58%).
- 60% of users find rank important in trusting verification votes.
- 83% of users think it important that the person verifying is higher rank than they are.
- 75% of users share their martial art journey on social media
- 83% of uses find important to be part of the martial arts community online
From the interview with an martial arts instructor, it stands out:
“I gets my belt certified through IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation)”
“I think only brown belts or black belts should be allowed to verify someone else’s belt”
Understanding Our User
Our user, Marco, a software developer and Jiu-Jitsu enthusiast, looks to balance his demanding job with physical and mental decompression through martial arts. On his quest for an app that validates his martial arts rank, he encounters confusing interfaces and convoluted forms. The anticipation as he awaits community endorsement is palpable, but validation brings a rush of confidence, prompting him to broadcast his triumph across his social networks.
As he remains tethered to his digital devices, Marco navigates his path, pinpointing areas ripe for enhancement. A more intuitive FAQ section, a transparent verification process complete with progress indicators, and a system of accolades recognizing his rank and engagement could all elevate his experience.
Ideation Phase
In the ideation phase, we decided to develop the community-driven belt verification. We discard the tutorial offerings on conducting evaluations and appeal process, as future options.
We ended up making two user flows to create the voting process from both sides.
Community Verification Submission
- User Role: Dojo Devotee (Marco)
- Goal: Post new rank promotions to stay motivated and grow within the martial arts community.
- Process: Marco logs into the app, navigates to his profile from the home page, and adds a new rank. He chooses between verification by an instructor (same as existing app process) or community verification. For community verification, he uploads his information and submits it for verification, with an option to share on the community feed.
Community Voting Submission
- User Role: Guardian Sensei (Juno)
- Goal: Mentor the community, uphold martial arts traditions, and foster respect.
- Process: Juno logs into the app and immediately sees Marco’s post on the home feed. He opts to verify Marco’s rank, checks the documentation, and if everything is correct, he approves it. Juno then completes the verification and has the option to share this on the feed.
Prototypes
We’ve crafted low-fidelity, mid-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes that integrate a new community voting feature. Users can now upload their information, submit it for verification, and opt to share their achievements on the community feed to gather votes. To experience these new flows, please click here to test them.
Usability Testing of Prototypes with Useberry
Our testing results show that 60% of users grasped the voting process clearly. We received valuable community feedback, which included recommendations to enlarge the voting button and to increase spacing between posts for better clarity and navigation.
Conclusion
The martial arts world thrives on recognition and advancement. Enthusiasts are keen to showcase their progress on social platforms and value endorsements from esteemed ranks. Our initiative to involve the community in belt verifications amplifies inclusivity, potentially transforming our app into a hub for martial artists. It aims to simplify the tracking of their personal journeys and validation of their milestones, thereby enhancing satisfaction and fostering a stronger community spirit.
Looking ahead, we plan to streamline the voting process within the app, ensuring swift and effortless navigation for users.
Would this feature enhance your experience on the app?
