What is Version Two?
Version Two (V2) symbolizes the concept of continuous self-improvement. An embodiment of one's evolving self, striving for enhancement each day. Inspired by this philosophy of perpetual growth and progress, the mobile application was born.
This is the story of how this ideology became the main driving point for my Master of Art's Final Capstone project.
The Challenge
Popular workout apps are not free.
They do not teach you according to your biomechanics - if they do, they make you pay more for it.
Most apps boast cookie-cutter exercise plans that will not work for most individuals, given their specific goals and situations in mind.
Why pay for an online program that costs more than a gym membership itself? Not to mention, people don't have the time or motivation to learn the education behind the science. The result is a bunch of people training incorrectly or ineffectively, increasing injury rates and left with dissatisfaction over the long-term.
Target Users
• Young Adults (18-35) who are beginner to intermediate stage fitness enthusiasts and college students.
• Fitness Enthusiasts (Beginner to Intermediate)
• College Students
Workout applications should be geared towards users with a sense of educational upbringing and community togetherness.
The earlier individuals can begin learning about their own health & well-being, the greater the possibility for a long and healthy future. This is the target group where the majority of individuals have been starting to pay attention to it - why not make this information easily accessible?
Moodboard
Persona
User Journey
Objectives
Envisioned to be an intuitive, easy-to-use workout tool that allows users to track and accomplish their motives. The structure of this mobile app was crafted to work well with any experience-level user.
Task Flows
I generated user flows for the principle mechanics of the application, taking into consideration the paths of least resistance in terms of cognitive load.
Create Workout Flow
Research Exercise Flow
Wireframes
Intro Screen
Sign Up
Log In
Preferences A
Preferences B
Preferences C
Home
Workouts
Selected Exercises
Workout Overview
Profile A
Profile B
1st Usability Test
Specific tasks performed and test results can be found within the full documentation .pdf
Onboarding Mockups
Main Splash
Create an Account
Login
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Workout Creation & Library Mockups
Home
Workouts
Workout Preview
Workout in Progress
Exercise Library
Create your Workout
Add Workout
Choose Sets/Reps
Exercise Information
Exercise Info. (video playing)
Key Improvements
After analyzing usability test results, the following key improvements were included into the design:
• For logging into the app, social media integration provides easy and alternative methods to speed up the process of user onboarding as well as pre-setting social sharing metrics. Two birds with one stone.
• Sign-up preferences were updated to reflect gender inclusivity, also showing detailed fitness labels, and improving the recommended workout framework.
• Custom workout creation provides an intuitive feel as if users are "shopping" for exercises while allowing quick modification to plans. This worked very well within testing.
2nd Usability Test
Specific tasks performed and test results can be found within the full documentation .pdf
Limitations
The COVID-19 Pandemic affected the production of this application in two major ways:
1. This project was exclusively worked on during a 15-week period for the 2020 Spring Semester Master of Arts in Interactive Media Capstone. Usability tests required online alternatives for surveying and questionnaires.
2. Collegiate discussions and professional feedback was delayed constantly for the on-going iterations after testing.
This special circumstance showed a valuable lesson, it was imperative for me to overcome obstacles constantly to help me become a strong user experience designer.
Developing More Features
In ideation, there was room to implement a social media & reward system for users. This sort of system boosts engagement for the users and promotes active use of the application.
Extensive features such as: messaging, hashtags, stories, and other modern reward systems that social medias integrate were not explored during this project - although they are 100% considered for future revisiting.
In measuring longevity for key metrics, it would be imperative to research which features are used the most (workout creation, exercise research, and social media) as well as implementation and close-tracking of AI workout recommendations.
