NewU, a conceptual mobile application.
The Problem
The main problem being targeted are users who are new to exercise or have not exercised in a long time and are attempting to integrate fitness and exercise into their lifestyles due to covid-19 and it's quarantine restrictions.
Duration : 12 weeks
Description
NewU is a phone application that aims to provide individuals who are attempting exercise for the first time or have not exercised in a long while with simple short bite size exercise routines so that they are able to continue to come back and use the app to become fitter.
Main Target Audience
The main target audience for NewU are new comers to exercise.
Goal
The goal of NewU is to reduce the commitment and stress on new comers who are attempting to be healthier through exercise by providing them with bite sized exercise routines that will guide them along without the complicated stuff of planning their own routines.
Conceptualization Process
Research on competitor products
1. "Adidas training"
2. "Ritual Anywhere"
3. "Puma Trac"
Research was done on these applications to understand the onboarding process and how they displayed their exercise routines to the users, especially the part where they walk through the entire exercise routine with the user through timers and rest times. In-depth analysis was also done to various UI elements to understand why one application would be more appealing to an individual as compared to another application. (Full document here)
Flowchart
During the flowchart and task flow process, I focused on the main objectives which was onboarding process and displaying an exercise routine that was easily accessible for the users the moment they opened the application. I decided to remove the additional features such as "create your own workout" and "newsletters" which was seen in the 3 competitor applications as these features were not part of my case study.
Low & Mid Resolution prototyping
I used Balsamiq to create some quick wireframes to understand the general layouts and button placements for NewU and used this to test out the basic usability. These layouts were based on the combination of the 3 competitor applications, taking the most effective elements of each app and integrating it into the wireframes. A small user testing was done on 5 people that did not exercise but were not against trying it out during the covid period.
Key Take-aways:
- Preview of next exercise on the list help them get prepared.
- Not complicated, simple and clear.
- Goal questions made them feel special and that the application really cared.
- Would like to see previews of the exercises before starting the routine.
High Resolution mockups
The high fidelity mockups included the previous feedbacks and I decided to go for a gradient pastel orange to signify high energy and excitement yet make it seem more welcoming as compared to the competitors. Another key point was using images of real people to humanize the application so that users could potentially see what they can become if they started using the application. After completion, there was a final user test to see what could be improved on for future development.
Key Takeaways:
- Title Font choice is slightly difficult to read
- Preview of next exercise is a good feature that allows users to prepare for next exercise
- Pause feature helps users who require a longer rest time
- Users wanted a sharing function to share with their friends on social media
Style Guide
These are the finalised UI elements and style guide for the application.
Competitor Research