An inclusive fitness coaching app, providing training for all individuals seeking a balanced life.
An inclusive fitness coaching app, providing training for all individuals seeking a balanced life.
PART ONE
PROJECT OVERVIEW
An Australian fitness coaching app, providing inclusive fitness training for all individuals seeking a balanced life. The primary target users are adults of all ages, particularly those new to fitness or with limited motor function.
Proposed client
Balance Fitness
Role
UX/UI Designer for end-to-end delivery of product, from user research through to hi-fidelity design and prototypes.
Responsibilities
Conducting user research & interviews
Defining user flows & information architecture
Paper and digital wireframing
Low and high fidelity prototyping
Designing user interface mockups
Conducting usability studies
Iterating on designs
Accounting for accessibility
Responsive design for mobile, tablet and desktop
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Most fitness coaching apps are designed for the able-bodied. The specific needs of people with limited motor function are often overlooked. Users are also overwhelmed by the surplus of information, or have trouble starting or staying motivated when using fitness apps.
01
Don’t know where to start learning
02
Difficulty staying motivated
03
Training programs are not inclusive
04
Apps are not user friendly
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Design an inclusive fitness coaching app that will help people, especially those with limited motor function, achieve a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Cater to a wide range of user goals - losing weight, gaining strength, improving fitness, recovering from an injury, and more.
01
Consider all levels from basic to advanced
02
Allow users to track their progress
03
Provide inclusive fitness training programs
04
Design a useful, usable, and accessible app
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Static, high-fidelity mockups were produced in Figma using foundational elements of visual design such as typography, colour and iconography. This provided an indication of the look and feel of the final product.
It’s easy to get started. Users can create an account with their email or use an existing social account.
Users can input their health statistics in a simple 5-step onboarding flow to get recommendations that best suit their goals and pain points.
The homescreen is personalised for every user. It summarises the most useful information, such as daily insights and current training programs.
Users can opt to join a certified training program or choose a workout under specific training styles.
Each training program contains a collection of hand-picked workouts, and each workout contains a collection of exercises. Together, they help users reach their goal.
As a user progresses through the workout, each exercise has a demonstration video and step-by-step instructions on how to achieve proper form.
Users can view their past workouts, resume current workouts, or schedule future workouts in the planner. This tool helps keep them on track.
Users can see their daily statistics and progress over time under the insights tab. Customisable widgets allow for a personalised experience.
PART TWO
UNDERSTANDING THE USER
I conducted a series of in-depth user interviews with people who want to be fit, but are restricted by either low mobility, lack of motivation, or limited knowledge about the fitness world. This helped me develop a detailed understanding of user opinions, thoughts, experiences and feelings.
I’ve always wanted to get into fitness but there’s just so much to learn and I don’t know where to start.
Fitness beginner
Gym routines never work out for me. They always include exercises that I’m not able to do because of my restrictions.
Person with limited mobility
I’ve never had a personal trainer. I prefer to do everything self directed and at my own pace.
Self motivated individual
UNDERSTANDING THE USER
Fictional personas were built using data gathered from user research interviews. Their goals and characteristics represent the needs of a larger group of users. This helped me build empathy, identify patterns of behaviour, stress-test designs and humanise user groups.
Problem statement 01
Athena is a busy mother with a baby, who needs to learn the basics of fitness and commit to an exercise routine to regain their strength in the postpartum period.
Problem statement 02
Rob is an elderly person with a sports injury, who needs to practice gentle, physio-approved exercises to maintain their fitness level and stay occupied during recovery.
UNDERSTANDING THE USER
With insights from user research, I created a journey map to analyse the series of experiences a user may have when they interact with the product. This helped me empathise with the user, create a seamless user flow, highlight pain points or improvement opportunities and reduce the impact of designer bias.
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PART THREE
STARTING THE DESIGN
A Crazy Eights ideation exercise was used to find solutions addressing the lack of inclusivity in current fitness coaching apps. Pen and paper allowed me to innovate freely and focus on the quantity of ideas, rather than the quality.
STARTING THE DESIGN
I reviewed the foundational UX laws - a series of best practices for building user interfaces. Using psychology in design helped shed light on user expectations, improving the overall user experience.
Fitt’s Law
Large buttons placed in the thumb zone ensure users can quickly, easily and accurately access major functions
Hick’s Law
User flows, such as progressive onboarding, are simplified to minimise cognitive load
Jakob’s Law
Demonstration videos are organised on the screen in a similar way to other video hosting platforms to provide familiarity
Von Restorff Effect
A distinct colour palette of indigo and turquoise guides users through each step of the core task flow
Zeigarnik Effect
Progress bars on training programs remind users about their current status and incomplete tasks
Gestalt Principles
STARTING THE DESIGN
I created initial designs for the Balance app in Figma to define the core user flow, outline the basic structure of the app and organise elements in a logical way.
STARTING THE DESIGN
To prepare for the first round of usability testing, I created an interactive low-fidelity prototype connecting all relevant screens. It established the core user flows - set up an account and take coaching through each step of a fitness workout.
STARTING THE DESIGN
I conducted a usability study to assess how easy it was for users to complete core tasks in the design. Study results were analysed and insights were used to iterate on the designs.
Study type
Unmoderated usability study
Location
Sydney, Australia | Remote
Participants
5 people
Length
30 minutes each
STARTING THE DESIGN
Research data and observations from the usability study were organised into related groups. An affinity diagram helped identify common themes and patterns to form actionable insights.
The onboarding process should be quick, easy and inclusive. Users can easily navigate through this section, but would like to see more options for people with low motor function or other disabilities.
In addition to having a looping demonstration video of each exercise, there should also be a set of written instructions. This text should be compatible with screen readers.
Because there are so many different workout programs and videos, it would take a long time to browse through them all. There should be an easier way for users to search for specific results.
PART FOUR
REFINING THE DESIGN
Mockup screens were connected to form a user flow, simulating the look and feel of the final interactive product.
View the Balance hi-fidelity prototype.REFINING THE DESIGN
Specifications such as brand guidelines, visual styles and user interface elements were established. This ensures consistency, reinforces brand identity and increases efficiency throughout the design process.
REFINING THE DESIGN
Products and features that are created for people with disabilities often end up helping everyone. Designing for accessibility helped me consider all users’ journeys, keeping their permanent, temporary or situational disabilities in mind.
Audio transcript
This app caters for people with both visual and hearing impairments. The fitness coaching page allows users to choose between a demonstration video or written instructions, which are compatible with screen readers.
Inclusive training
The onboarding flow and recommendation feature of this app is inclusive of people who want to be fit, but are limited by their disabilities. Users can select specific areas of their body to limit intensity or avoid entirely.
Clear navigation
The home screen is focused on personalised recommendations such as health insights and current training programs. This helps users define the primary flow and complete their task quickly.
PART FIVE
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
After completing the native mobile app, I created a complementary responsive website. I outlined the information architecture on a sitemap, guiding the organisational structure of each screen to ensure a cohesive and consistent experience across all devices.
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
I built responsive designs for mobile, tablet, laptop and desktop web applications. They are optimised to fit the specific user needs of each device, screen size and use case scenario.
PART SIX
GOING FORWARD
While creating a fitness coaching tool for people with limited motor function, I discovered that when you design for people with disabilities, you also make the user experience better for those who are able bodied. Almost everyone will experience some sort of disability in their life, whether it’s situational, temporary or permanent. Every person in the world can benefit from universally accessible design.
I love that you’ve even gone down to the detail of tailoring for injury and specific areas of the body.
Inclusiveness
The icons for overview and equipment are simple and effective at creating a visual stimulus for the user.
Visual design
There is great attention to detail around exercise technique, especially for those who have not set foot in a gym or with no prior knowledge of the proper form. The video and written cues are clear, concise and methodical.
Usefulness
GOING FORWARD
Users have said that this app is inclusive, usable and has met the needs of people who live with disabilities but want to achieve their unique fitness goals. But a product can always be improved further.
Usability test no.3
Conduct another round of high-fidelity usability testing after design changes were made. Try to incorporate more people with limited mobility and other disabilities.
Nutrition tracking
Some users have expressed an interest in an integrated food macro tracking feature, where they can accurately measure energy consumed vs. burned.
Social community
Establish an in-app social feature, where members of the Balance fitness community can create challenges, meet new friends, share content and view scoreboards.
UX/UI designer
Karen Lin
Tools
Figma
Photoshop
Graphics
Unsplash
Pexels
Flaticon
Iconfinder
