PULSE FITNESS

APP, BRANDING, & PRODUCT DESIGN

  • Pulse Fitness is a dedicated fitness platform that uses a social challenge direction to help keep the user and friends motivated and inspired to try new activities.

  • We based our design through secondary market research, and various forms of user mapping Developed from February 3rd to present.

  • I worked on all aspects of the design from UX to UI.

  • https://ianhoward597896.invisionapp.com/console/share/2F2CAUHIEX/563733398

OBJECTIVE

Create a socially conscious fitness app that allows and creates a challenging environment for user and friends to play and learn new activities.

The Problem Space

The application that was originally presented to me was given an inherent issue that it lacked a messaging feature. This feature would need to be implemented into the new UI design to not just be functional but essential. From here the app needed to be designed with fitness tracking as the platform function.

RESEARCH

Secondary research along with a User Focused Mapping process to develop our User Personas and Most Viable Product.

SECONDARY RESEARCH

  • MAP MY RUN

    Running app to help track your runs and access UNDER ARMOUR products.

  • PRODUCTIVE HABIT TRACKER

    General purpose app to help form healthy habits.

  • NIKE RUN CLUB

    Workout app and Distance Tracker. Gives you access and to training plans and nike product support.

  • FITLIST

    Workout Tracker and Planner

MESSAGING & RETENTION

Though we are looking to solve the issue of Messaging in our fitness app, there is an underlying issue of retention in this area of the fitness market. Most users who use these apps are doing so since they are already active, where we need to create a competitive environment between friends to retain our users. Messaging in these apps are not a priority where the structures rely on self accountability.

AFFINITY MAPPING

Making the messaging between the User and their “Friends” the primary feature. The app will allow the User and Friends to “Challenge” each other while being able to track the activities they are doing with creating a competitive environment to drive usage and retention of users.

PERSONAS

ALEX

  • 30

  • Male

  • Active

  • App User

Alex is an “Active” person who makes his health a priority and does a variety of activities.

He likes knowing his runs are tracked accurately.

He likes being aware of what his friends on the app are doing.

He likes the challenges that the app presents. A lot of his friends are not as active or not into running so sometimes he lacks Inspiration.

  • 31

  • Male

  • Active

  • No Apps

“Active” person who does a variety of activities.

He has never used an app for his workouts.

He feels like most apps are one dimensional.

Prefers using a whiteboard to better visualize and give a larger sense of his metrics for activities.

MAC

IDEATE

Utilizing the research to create wireframes showing our most viable product and how our customer would use the platform.

WIREFRAMES

WIREFLOW

HIGH FIDELITY

Taking a Wireframe base and incorporating branding, a style guide and Creating a High-Def UI Design into a functional Prototype.

LOGO AND COLORING

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REFLECTIONS

Lessons learned and opportunities with the app.

This UX design presented many challenges during the process of identifying my users and made me have to adjust my methods and timing of my research plan. The lack of active users with fitness apps made different avenues of research essential in understanding a wider variety of issues with fitness apps in their UX designs and how messaging was just a result of the root issue in fitness tracking designs where social interaction or the lack thereof was causing retention issues.

Understanding that the majority of users of fitness apps already value their health makes the importance of making an app easy to use and provide a variety of activities. This is important in making sure everyone can enjoy it, bringing in new active users while still providing for its original base. Making “Challenges” in the app creates that action to add users, retain users, and create a platform where messaging is essential and promoted.