A couple years ago, a friend of mine created a simple webapp to host social workout challenges. We would record the number of push-ups, squats, etc. that you did each day, and the app would give you points to compete with your friends.
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The app was fun for everyone the first couple weeks, but there was one recurring problem: the most fit users dominated the rankings every week. Ultimately, for those trying to just remain active, it became demotivating to end up in the same rank every week. Not only was losing discouraging, but the app also gave no incentive to grow - the priority was points, however haphazardly you could obtain them. A few months after it started, the challenges died down and many of us were still struggling with maintaining fitness.

During my UX class, when choosing a first design project, I thought of this app again and I wondered if the product could be redesigned to use competition better.

The original fitness challenge app. Designed by my friend, Joe Emprayil.

user research

To begin, I conducted phone interviews with potential users that fell into my target persona category. This was mainly adults between the ages of 20-40, mainly with desk jobs. My instinct was that people in cubicles/working from home with busy desk jobs would find it hard to be motivated to stay active. Based on the interviews, I identified four key pain points that users had.

Following the phone interviews, I developed a User Persona and a User Journey focused on a key insight: most interviewees desired to workout, but lacked motivation and a sense of accomplishment to exercise. My intended user, James, is a remote technical worker who is trying to stay motivated to be active. A key element of the application in my mind would be measurable statistics to motivate a user to stay active.

Finally, I conducted a competitive audit to form a picture of what platforms were even available to users that were trying to solve this problem. None of the other platforms directly addressed the key need that we had, and most fitness apps today are heavily focused on fitness coaching content as primary modes of monetization. I concluded that an app focused on its competitive functionality to encourage its users would fill a market gap in the at-home workout space.

design process

I began by brainstorming and sketching out paper wireframes to imagine what the app’s screens could look like to capture the desired functionality. These sketches were focused on identifying the minimum number of pages that were needed to accomplish the main goals of the app.

Using these paper wireframes, I built digital wireframes and prototypes using Figma to test user flows for the app. I conducted two rounds of usability studies with 5 study participants, first with low-fidelity prototypes and again with high-fidelity prototypes.

Following the usability studies, I compiled the feedback from the study using an affinity diagram to identify patterns in the data. These patterns informed insights about the design which I used to iterate the high-fidelity prototype. Try the prototype at the link below.

Try the Prototype!

accessibility

To follow W3C and WCAG guidelines, the final mockup uses high-contrast colors to ensure readability. Additionally, to account for screen readers, any icon is always accompanied by text that explains it.

takeaways

Many of the study participants shared that if this app were a usable product, it would help motivate them to be physically active. I was most surprised by how many simple issues could be missed in the first iteration of a design.

After creating a fully functional prototype, the next phase would be testing with a larger cohort and ultimately releasing a full-fledged app. In the future, it would be possible to partner with a fitness company or developer to develop a cohesive branding and to make the app a fully-functional platform that anyone could use.

Fitness Challenge App Case Study

user research

design process

accessibility

takeaways