Client:
Torrens University
My Role:
UX & UI Design
Type of Work:
App Design
Skip to:
1. The Problem
2. The Survey
3. Personas & User Journeys
4. Concepts
5. User Flows
6. Wireframing
7. Prototype
8. Usability Testing
9. Challenges Faced
10. Conclusion
The task: thinking of a problem that could be solved with the right app design, and then designing the ideal solution, all within a 12-week deadline.
The problem I chose was one that affected me personally and so many others – the lack of accessible, easy-to-digest fitness apps for beginners. The fitness app industry is loaded with products that are intimidating, overly complex, or hyper-gendered. I wanted to create something that could simplify the fitness journey, make it appealing for a beginner audience, and make fitness accessible.
How might we… make fitness for beginners less intimidating and more inclusive?
1. The Problem
It goes without saying that fitness is important when it comes to our health and wellbeing. But the idea of working out doesn’t sit well with everyone.
Between gym stereotypes and culture proving intimidating (a concept known as ‘gymtimidation’), to equipment looking complicated and leaving beginners wondering what to do, working out can bring about more anxiety than joy for many people.
I started by conducting some research, and the findings were fascinating. To summarise:
- 37% of people feel that others believe they aren’t good enough to go to the gym (Gladwell, 2019)
- 33% worry that others will think they ‘won’t know what they’re doing’ in the gym (Gladwell, 2019)
- Feeling ‘judged’ when working out affects 18-24 year olds the most (Gladwell, 2019)
- 48% of people think the number of fitness classes, routines and workouts is daunting (Valerio, 2019)
- 1 in 4 women experience ‘gymtimidation’ and don’t exercise as a result (Morris, 2019)
- Psychotherapist Dulcinea Pitagora notes that fitness apps and ‘hypergendered’ – either overly masculine or overly feminine and nothing in between, which she notes can make people feel invisible (Duncan, 2021)
After the initial problem research phase, I did a root cause analysis to dig a little deeper. By asking questions layered on top of questions, I was able to get down to the core of the problem I was trying to solve.
With the problem well defined, it was time to look at what was currently on the market. I spent some time on the App store finding, downloading and using four of the top fitness app options.
The results from this were quite interesting – of the top fitness apps, only one used inclusive imagery, and female-focused features (such as pregnancy workouts) and mental health features were generally not included without a seperate app entirely.
In a world where we’re driving for better health for everyone, these are critical.
2. The Survey
I started the UX design process with a survey. My survey had 16 respondants of mixed genders, ages and backgrounds, giving me a solid data set to begin with.
The survey opened by confirming gender – a core element to see how different genders felt about working out – before following on to questions surrounding how frequently they work out, what’s stopping them from working out more, whether or not they have downloaded a fitness app, and what key features would inspire them in an app.
3. Personas & Journey Maps
My next step was – through analysing the problem, the target audience and survey data – to create user personas and their user journeys. My personas helped to create realistic reflections of the audience, what drives them, and their wants and needs from a fitness app. Below is a sample of some of the personas and their user journeys I worked on.
4. Concepts
I worked through a huge amount of ideas, before narrowing down to three main concepts for the app experience. I decided on my third idea, a holistic design that incorporated mental health aspects along with physical workouts, and the use of an intuitive daily quiz to suggest the right exercises based on how the user is feeling.
5. User Flows
With the concept finalised, I began to consider how the user flows for this idea might look. Below are a few samples for different types of users in different stages of the app, such as doing the Workout Matcher quiz or creating a profile.
6. Wireframing
With some draft user flows down pat, I could start on designing the bare bones of the app. Wireframing allowed me to refine the structure and start to develop the user experience, at a low-fidelity level.
7. Prototype
The final high-res design uses bright purple and pops of yellow, a friendly look and feel, and imagery that shows a variety of people and fitness levels. The tone of voice is warm and friendly, especially in the workout matcher quiz where honest answers from the user are needed (e.g. “How did you sleep last night?” with a few qualitative options to choose from).
8. Usability Testing
Participants: 5 individuals
The purpose of my usability testing for the prototype was to:
- Discover any glitches or errors previously not known
- Discover any roadblocks or flaws in the user experience
- Gather insights on how the user experience, design and mechanisms of the product could be improved to maximise user enjoyment and ease-of-use of the app
- Understand whether or not the product is able to meet its goals and solve the original problem
The tasks for each user to complete were:
- Create a profile, and then turn on push notifications.
- Use the Workout Matcher quiz and do a suggested workout.
- Find a Yoga program and complete it.
- Log your own Strength workout. This workout should consist of four sets of Lat Pulldowns (own choice of weight and reps).
Summary of Findings
4 out of 5 users thought the app was easy to navigate
5 out of 5 users understood the app purpose
5 out of 5 users thought the app was beginner-friendly
5 out of 5 users thought the app ultimately made working out seem more accessible and less intimidating
Design Recommendations
Participants giving some constructive feedback helped me to make some changes to the design to improve the UX. Below are a couple of the changes made based on the usability testing sessions.
A revised Next Up button
The ‘next up’ button gives the user the chance to skip to the next movement in a workout, but users noted that it was too subtle. I revised the button to make it a stronger call to action.
Revising the Strength exercise screen
When choosing to log their own Strength workout, the user can choose an exercise from the dropdown, and add their sets, weights and reps. Users noted that the carrot to pull down the drop menu was hard to see, and that the Add Set button wasn’t obvious. I made the dropdown functionaity clearer, increased the visibility of the +Set button, and removed the background designs for visibility.
Adding a Pause button
Several participants noted that the timer that runs during workouts isn’t able to be paused, which would be helpful for taking a break. A pause button was added next to the timer.
9. Challenges Faced
Equal parts challenging and rewarding, this project got me thinking on my feet and consistently problem solving. One difficulty I faced was doing usability testing with such a varied group of individuals – both fitness afficianados and total beginners – which meant still doing the usability testing sessions in a fair and equal way, whilst giving a sufficient amount of guidance for those that didn’t know the workout terminology and such.
Another hurdle I faced was needing to pivot at almost every step. Features were added and removed in the design stage based on what I discovered did or did not suit, in the prototype phase, and in the testing phase. It was immensely rewarding though to go along what felt like a journey of refining the project, towards something I knew would be a positive UX experience.
10. Conclusion
The goal of MyFit is to make working out less intimidating and more accesible, for everyone. With features like a workout matcher quiz, mental and physical workout programs, workouts for during pregnancy and inclusive imagery, MyFit is designed to make getting healthier and fitter easier for all. This project was a delight to create, and I hope this is just the beginning for MyFit.