Arrange

The first step to running is getting out the door…which is arguably one of the most challenging parts.

This project aims to help users reduce the obstacles in their lives that prevent them from running like not eating enough, not sleeping enough, injury prevention, and finding the time to do it all while also keeping them accountable.

Goal: Create an end-to-end MVP lifestyle mobile app for people who run

Role:

  • UX Researcher

  • UX/UI Designer

Project Duration: 100 hours

Tools: Figma (for design), Google Docs and Google Sheets (for research and interviews)

Constraints:

  • Creating deliverables within set timeline

  • Competitive industry

Background

There are many running apps and programs out there, but many people still struggle to train at the frequency and/or to the level that they want, making it harder to achieve their running/fitness goal(s)

  • In the United States alone, almost 50 million people participated in running and jogging (Statista, 2021)

  • 41.9% of adults have obesity (Trust for America’s Health, 2023)

Discover

Research

Research Goal

The goal is to learn how people approach running and at what capacity in their lives so that we can create a lifestyle application that connects users to the resources they would need/want in order to minimize any barriers in their way and successfully train to the level they desire.

Research Methods

Secondary Research: Competitive SWOT Analysis

  • Observe and understand what other competitors are currently doing in this space

    • Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, core competencies, demographic, and product features

Competitive SWOT Analysis

Key Takeaways

    • A lot of overlap between competitors and their product features

      • Training plans/workouts

      • Goal setting

      • Compatibility with wearable devices and other app integrations

      • Activity tracking

      • Performance data tracking and analysis

      • Community groups and challenges

      • Social network

    • Most apps are only focused on running or a limited range of activities

    • To get all the benefits of the app, users have to give up a lot of personal data

    • Subscription may polarize and price people out

    • Striking the balance between how much personal data people are willing to provide and how much the platform needs in order to create the desired levels of personalization for users

    • Including other sports and activities

    • Meeting users where they are (experience, goals, etc.)

    • Offer subscription plans in correlation with users’ perceived benefits gained and price point

Primary Research: User Interviews

  • Conducted remote interviews with people who run as their form of exercise (beginner, intermediate, and experienced-level runners)

  • Heard users’ first-hand stories about their running journeys and in turn – better comprehend their motivations, preferences, feelings, experiences, and challenges

  • Synthesized interviews through affinity mapping, noting any patterns and reoccurring sentiments, and deriving insights to inform problem definition and problem solving.

Affinity Map

Key Takeaways

  • People run because…

    • They highly value health

    • Like the self-improvement aspect that creates concrete results

    • Acts as a means for getting outdoors

    • Creates alone time dedicated for themselves and nothing else

  • Managing multiple aspects of life to the level they want and get the most out of their runs is tough for people

    • Work-life balance is a challenge for people and their training schedules and performance

    • Eating sufficiently enough is hard for people to manage and maintain in conjunction with training

    • Sleep is important to optimal training

    Running naturally requires physical demands, but also requires mental demands that prove to be important and influences performance

    • Managing + mustering continual self-motivation to run is challenging for people

    • Sense of accountability would help keep people on track

      • With peers to train with

        • Running with other people is often inconvenient as people are on different schedule

      • With a coach to monitor and guide them

        • Can be expensive

    • Training regimen specific to user’s goal/objective

    • People want variety and some variability/flexibility in their training

Define

Research

Who is the User?

Two distinct personas developed from research synthesis.

Taking all learnings from user interviews and boiling that down into a characterization of who the user is. This helps ground me in a narrative to fully understand and empathize with the user and provide a framework for what potential solution can remedy them.

Personas

What is the Problem?

  • Managing busy and ever-changing schedules

  • Improving mental toughness / maintaining self-motivation

“How Might We” Solve the Problem?

Coming up with and posing “How might we?” questions based off of insights, needs, and POV statements to ideate potential solutions for users.

How might we help people who like to run dedicate time in their busy schedules for their training on a regular basis so they can stay consistent with running and get the most out of their runs?

How might we help people who like to run improve their mental toughness and maintain constant levels of self-motivation so they can feel empowered and have optimal training results?

“How Might We” Statements

What is the Solution?

A mobile application for people who like to run and need help managing the obstacles in their schedule that hinder their training regimen.

Once the previous was determined, it was time to lay out the groundwork for the mobile app: what it does, how it will be structured, and how users will navigate their way through it.

Project Goals Where the business and users can be satisfied and what is technologically attainable

Feature Road Map Prioritizing what product features are essential for an MVP

Site Map Documenting what pages are needed and where features will live

User Flows Defining key tasks users will perform in order to reach their goal and what that corresponds to in the MVP’s architecture

Key Tasks

  • Onboarding

  • Managing changes to schedule

  • Marking activity as complete and posting to feed

Develop

Design

LoFi Wireframes

With a strong foundation established, it was time to start building the application starting with creating key screens based off of the main user flows (onboarding, making changes to the schedule, and marking activity as complete).

Flow 1: Onboarding

Flow 2: Managing Changes in Schedule

Flow 3: Marking Activity Complete and Posting to Feed

Test

Design

Usability Testing | LoFi Wireframes

To make sure designs were on the right track, remote usability testing was conducted on the low-fidelity wireframes in order to:

  • Evaluate ease of use, efficiency, and overall experience

  • Identify pain points and challenges users face when navigating screens/through task flows

  • Learn what changes can be made to improve user experience

Results & Feedback

Average ease of Task 1: 9.4

Average ease of Task 2: 9.2

Average ease of Task 3: 9.6

Average overall satisfaction: 9.4

*Rated on scale of 1 to 10

All users were able to complete each task with minimal to no errors. Overall, tasks were deemed easy and users were satisfied. However, there was still room for improvement with these revisions:

  • Make editing activity function easier

  • Modify how medical history is entered in onboarding

Develop

Design

UI & Branding

Because users are already inundated with their hectic lives and not in a headspace to be overstimulated when coming to this app, I wanted the branding to be simple, clean, and organized. Everything from the text to the icons and other styling come across as basic (in a good way), but still with some personality. Although the main palette is pretty neutral, I wanted to add a pop of color for an athletic feel and convey the energy/motivation I am trying to encourage for users.

Moodboard

Early Style Tile

UI Library

HiFi Wireframes & Revisions

With the developed brand identity and findings from early usability testing, it was time to take the wireframes to a higher fidelity and implement changes.

Flow 1: Onboarding

Modify how medical history is entered in onboarding: Mimicked patterns already present in the onboarding flow and what users commonly expect to see by adding a dropdown to select option(s).

Flow 2: Managing Changes in Schedule

Make editing activity function easier: Now, users can quickly edit the individual activity item directly on their homepage by clicking on the ellipses icon. Users can also still access and change their schedules by navigating to the calendar page or clicking “View Calendar”.

Test

Design

Usability Testing | HiFi Wireframes

Remote usability testing was conducted on the high-fidelity wireframes in order to:

  • Evaluate ease of use, efficiency, and overall experience

  • Identify pain points and challenges users face when navigating screens/through task flows

  • Learn what changes can be made to improve user experience

Results & Feedback

All users were able to successfully complete each task. Scores for each rating increased indicating that revisions made were helpful for users. Just to polish off the prototype more before delivering, there were minimal edits to make:

  • Add edit function directly on “Review my Responses” page

  • Add back button to subscription plan page in on-boarding flow

Average ease of Task 1: 10

Average ease of Task 2: 9.6

Average ease of Task 3: 10

Average overall satisfaction: 10

*Rated on scale of 1 to 10

Deliver

Design

Prototype

Next Steps

  • Advance product offerings to include training plan

  • Include wearable device data integrated into app

Conclusion

Much of design does not require reinventing the wheel. Boiling things down and sticking to simplicity can make an effective solution, especially if it is focused and informed. Although there are plenty of successful competitors out there, by keenly listening to users and observing what is missing in the current space (as well as what is being done in other industries), I ended up coming up with something that isn’t necessarily new and novel – but ultimately fulfills users’ needs.

It was extremely satisfying and validating to come up with a solution that user testing participants wanted in real life!

Flow 1: Onboarding

Flow 2: Managing Changes in Schedule

Flow 3: Marking Activity Complete and Posting to Feed

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