Improving Fitbit app social experience
Testing the usability of the Fitbit current iOS app
OVERVIEW
Fitbit is a company that offers a compact wireless wearable sensor, that automatically tracks data about a person’s activities, such as calories burned, sleep quality, steps and distance. The user can access this data through a website and a Mobile app, where he can see his personal goals and progress, and share with friends and family. Also, the user can log some health information like weight and nutrition in order to complete a big picture of his health.
Fitbit is one of my favorite products, it’s really useful when tracking my running activity in the morning, or my walking in the city. However, I found some critical issues that users are facing while using the app.
RESEARCH
I followed a research plan to help understand user needs and requirements for the product. I conducted a range of 5 interviews with potential users to identify user goals and pain points, and analyzed current users reviews on the App Store.
After evaluating the research findings, I decided to focus on the improvements of the sharing feature as a value-add to Fitbit.
PERSONAS
Based on the research, USMO (Users, Situation, Motivation and Outcome) and job stories, I created a provisional persona to represent the goals, motivations and behaviors of our target demographic. I used this persona throughout the project to guide design decisions and priorities.
TASK FLOWS
Before starting to create wireframes, I focused on how users will navigate the app and what content they will need to accomplish their goals. During this phase I created a task flow that evolves into a framework to create the wireframes.
UI SKETCHING
Next step was to visualize the Task Flow. I create some sketches to envision the interface before implementing a formal solution.
HI-FI Prototype
Finally, got to test this solution, and found that users felt more intuitive and easy to have access to the achievements related with their activity in the home page.
CONCLUSION
The Fitbit app has a great interface, and I’m a huge fan of the functionality they offer together with their devices.
That said, I really enjoyed doing the guerrilla usability test to see if I could solve one of the issues that I found while using the app. I believe the design process sometimes is complex, and testing is an important step. It’s something that we need to do continuously while keeping track of it to clarify and understand our assumptions, and bring fresh and renewed solutions.
Note: I don’t work for or represent Fitbit, I just happen to be a huge fan of their products and I love to solve puzzles!
Thanks for reading! If you have any feedback, feel free to reach out at smacias@tradecrafted.com or my Twitter: @smacias_
Special thanks to Steven Betts, Mike Park and Udayan W for your feedback on my first Medium post :).
