Part 1:
A step-by-step case about creating a marketplace and how in 8 months, it had taken over 7% of the local gym market customers.
To be able to choose the nearest gym with convenient parking space, a coach with the necessary qualifications, and with the most appealing list of services, compare all possible options and book a trial session in one app. A fantasy? No. Jacob came up with the idea of creating such a marketplace. He left with 1000 registered users on the running platform.
WITH WHAT INFORMATION DID THE CLIENT APPROACH US
Jacob has been in the sports industry for 20 years, going from an amateur to a top-level coach. When he opened his gym, he faced several inconveniences. These inconveniences slowed down his business’s scaling by depriving the comfort and ease people could experience when searching for a suitable gym and coach. And the other way around for gyms and coaches-when searching for clients.
So Jacob decided to help himself and the world; to create this miracle tool that will bring everyone together in one click and, of course, bring money into the business.
The goals were as follows:
- Create a new digital competitive gym marketplace in 3 months and get 500 registered users.
- Take over more than 5% of the local gym market within six months
KICKOFF STAGE
The idea was clear. Where do we start? Our client had a general idea of the future platform and its mobile version visualized by hand-drawn sketches. He even envisioned that “in this corner, there should be a blue button labeled “for companies.”
Then we took Jacob in hand and asked him if he had researched the market. We also asked him questions taken from our checklist; without answers to the following questions, it was impossible to start the project:
Jacob didn’t have all the answers, but he couldn’t wait to get started with the research to understand whether it was worth investing. We went on looking for answers together and for that, we had a Research cycle.
To confirm the demand on the marketplace and understand what would help solve existing problems, we conducted personal interviews with several people; visitors and coaches of our client’s gyms, the audience of competitive platforms, as well as with owners of other gyms.
As a result, Jacob received a report from us with a list of existing tasks and problems from different TA. The information included an assessment of their criticality, as well as the criteria by which clients and coaches choose a gym.
UX key features report:
Jobs to be done report:
We conducted similar interviews with the TA to determine which issues are solved on our competitors’ online gym platforms. Our future marketplace solved most of these issues. It meant that our client could safely invest in the marketplace!
HOW DID WE DESIGN A UX / UI THAT LED THE USER DIRECTLY TO THE GYM
Jacob wanted to see several types of users on the platform: gym clients who can search for coaches or gyms, leave reviews, and ratings, coaches with personal accounts, which will be linked on their gym’s profile, and lastly, gym accounts.
Since the client didn’t have a working app or a web platform, we went for the competitors ‘ users. We conducted real-time UX testing, observed their steps on the competitors’ platforms: what they find, what they like, what is missing, and if there are any barriers to the “book a lesson” button.
We received the CJM, a checklist of barriers, a features-must-have list, and a wishlist.
Also, during the testing, it became clear that many clients wouldn’t mind leaving reviews about the coaches or the gyms; however, they had to take too many steps to do so. Feedback is essential for gyms, coaches, and the platform. Then we thought that a coach or a gym administrator could fill out the information about their client in their account, generate a link and share it. The client clicks on the link immediately, sees the desired coach/gym’s profile on the website or on the app, and leaves a review.
It turned out that we needed to add on the platform :
- unregistered users who select a gym/coach, leave reviews;
- registered users: clients, coaches, gym owners.
With all this knowledge, artifacts, and the client’s wishes, we moved on to the next Design cycle, organized a design sprint, and put together a future platform prototype with the client. Our team didn’t believe whether some buttons and prototype sections were user-friendly, but the client had his vision. We offered to test his wishes and get user feedback. After all, they were the ones who had to use the app and pay for it.
Here are a couple of screenshots from the main page of the prototype:
The next step was to test our prototype, remove unnecessary functionality, and ensure that our UI/UX is enjoyable, understandable, and user-friendly while still carrying all the necessary features.
Check out PART 2 of the article!
