UWorkout Buds

Duration: 10 weeks

Team: 5 members

Tools: Figma

Project Type: Mobile App Prototype

Overview

THE TASK: Analyze a problem based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and create a solution using design methods.

THE PRODUCT: A University of Washington mobile app that allows students to connect with other UW students based on shared workout and health goals.

MY ROLE:

  • Lead UX Designer

  • Identifying user needs through stakeholder analysis and interviews.

  • Prototyping concepts and iterating based on feedback from mentors and students.

Problem Statement

How might we help fitness-minded UW students connect with one another in order to provide mutual encouragement to follow their workout routines?

User Research - Domain Expert

Our domain expert, the Fitness Manager of UW Recreation, mentioned that the hardest part about working out is making time and small, realistic changes.

  • I addressed this in the design by showing how many people are attending UW Recreation events, encouraging users to work out, as there are other people making time for the same event.

He also said that including both group and individual exercise opportunities can attract people from both ends of the workout spectrum.

  • I included a variety of activities (group workout sessions, individual workout sessions, different sports, etc) to ensure the majority of students interested in working out would feel accommodated.

First Prototype Design Goals

Before prototyping, I set design goals to adhere to based on this research:

  1. Connect UW students to other users.

  2. Foster a supportive workout community on campus.

  3. Create a low-stress space for users of all experience levels to be healthy.

User Research - Students

Interviews with UW students allowed me to empathize with their concerns and the challenges they face in this realm. They helped me answer this question from the main stakeholder perspective: Why is this problem space worth developing?

  • With busy school schedules, fitness-minded undergraduate students find it difficult to carve out time for physical health.

  • Fitness-minded undergraduate students have a difficult time engaging in consistent physical activity.

  • Most students who forgo working out feel unmotivated and lack support, knowledge, and companionship.

Homescreen

We created the option to only login using one’s UW NetID (a UW-specific ID that is only given to enrolled students):

  • Prevents people outside of UW from creating an account and causing harm to other students (Low-stress space).

  • Information will be loaded in from their UW account, creating a seamless transition for users (Low-stress space).

  • UW school colors (purple and gold) to stick with our UW theme. A blurred background of a UW gym gives users a taste of what this app is all about.

Event Screen

An event screen was added to share local workout experiences with students who want to participate with others (Connect users to others, supportive community)

  • The number of people attending in the bottom right corner of each event is added to encourage users that real people are going to these events.

Profile Screen

Users can specify their workout level and experience to be matched to similar students (Connect users to others, inclusion of all experience levels)

  • Filtering by both exercise and experience level will give users a more accurate match-up with other students to work out with.

From matches, users can message matches to potentially meet in-person and create a consistent workout schedule together (Supportive workout community, connect users to others)

Evaluation & Iteration

Major Issues Identified: Privacy, organization

I conducted usability tests with students to iterate the prototype. I learned:

  • The event screen was cluttered and confusing.

  • Because the app is connected to a student’s UW ID and the information provided with it, I assumed we would transfer this data to the user’s profile.

    • However, as one test user pointed out, this means that one’s email, phone number, and middle name are displayed on their profile. A user might not want others to have this information.

Changes:

  • Design clean-up and organization (Low-stress space)

  • Required information changed to only name and school year

    • Other information like email and phone number can be manually added by the user (Connect users to others)

  • Widened the scope of experience levels (Inclusion of all experience levels)

  • Added a pop-up that allows users to learn more about what experience levels mean

  • I didn’t spend enough time mapping out the navigation of the app; we went with the flow, adding and deleting pages and features as seen fit. This made the organization of the design hard to keep track of.

    • Now, I make sure to create maps of key features and where they will be in a navigation bar prior to design.

  • With such a short turnaround, we were unable to get more than one interview with a domain expert.

    • Now, I allot enough time to reach out to a variety of different domain experts and stakeholders (students, directors, staff, etc) in order to learn a variety of perspectives before wireframing.

  • Having a clear, focused Problem Statement in the “How might we…” format was a great help during all parts of this project. It steered us in the right direction and helped me focus on a core demographic.

    • I now make it a point to develop a clear Problem Statement.

Final Pitch & Takeaways

Before

Before

After

After