MotivUs
A health-tracking app that allows users within a group to see how others are doing regarding health and fitness
OVERVIEW
Three years ago, MotivUs launched a family and friends health tracking app. The company wants to expand the features of the app to create sustained engagement to support goals/achievements.
Project Manager’s hypothesis: if peers can message the entire group throughout the experience, there will be an increase in engagement and repeat usage.
ROLES
UI/UX Designer
PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS + DELIVERABLES
Dec 2022 - Jan 2023 (1 month)
Interaction Design: High Fidelity Interactive Prototype
UX/UI Design
Competitive Analysis
User Surveys and Interviews
Affinity Mapping
User Personas
User Flows
User Testing
User Interviews
Problem
Create a solution that will encourage sustained engagement among users
Determine the need for creating a messaging option to increase socialization
Solution
To increase peer interaction and engagement, a social component was introduced. Users will be able to “like” their friends’ activities. In addition, they can start health and fitness goals with them. It brings gamification to the app to increase user engagement and encourage more people to use.
“It is important that features of the app to create sustained engagement to support goals/achievements”
RESEARCH
Better understanding through Competitive Analysis
During UX research, I conducted a competitive analysis of Nike Run Club, Fitlist, and Map My Run. These apps emerged as strong social platforms for sharing workouts and connecting with friends. However, I discovered a gap in the market for apps that facilitate health and fitness goal setting while also providing social engagement with friends.
Audience’s Voice
The first step was to conduct user research. There was a total of ten responses to the initial screening survey. Five out of ten participants met the criteria and agreed to participate in user interviews. The criteria includes:
18-34 years old
very tech-savvy
motivated by social engagement
“I find myself more motivated by social interactions on fitness apps. It helps me stay consistent with my workouts”
“I love to share statistics with friends. I love the competition and it keeps me on track!”
“Having tips to support my fitness performance and health goals is very important to me.”
Through User Surveys, I discovered that participants did not find a messaging portion useful. As an alternative, they preferred simple “likes” and “group goal setting” to be more beneficial in health/fitness app engagement. This guided the design process to replace a “send a message” to “liking activities on the feed”.
Meet Nina
Even with her busy schedule, Nina uses MotivUs to keep track of her monthly health/fitness goals. She finds it helpful that she can create goals with peers for accountability.
DESIGN
Style Guide
PROTOTYPE + TEST
Usability Testing
Using all the data gathered from user research, I created low fidelity screens to reflect the given feedback. The participants were able to easily navigate through the home page and add/view friends.
Changes were made to the initial screens:
Certain icons were confusing (ie. the icon for “goals” was changed from star to checklist icon
Record button was changed to a muted red to decrease initial attention on home page
Adjustments to CTA buttons to increase ease in user flows
Emphasis on active goals vs. future activities
High Fidelity Prototype
Let’s walk through the app, MotivUs! I’ve included some screens from the prototype to show the user flow for our red routes. A full prototype is also included to access the whole app.
Viewing & Setting Goals
When the user opens the dashboard, their active fitness and health goals are on the screen. It helps remind the user their progress towards their monthly goal.
Social Engagement
The user can like/unlike friend’s activities on the Activity Feed, Add Friends, View Friend’s Progress and Leaderboard.
This concept gamifies the health/fitness activities to help motivate users to meet their goals.
Tracking Run/Cycle Activities
When the workout is finished, the user has the option to share photos with friends. It saves onto the activity feed. This allows friends to follow each other’s progress towards their fitness goals.
WRAP UP
Reflection
Future Considerations
Through user interviews, I learned that the company’s hypothesis (installing a messaging portion will increase social engagement) was not aligned with the users’ views. With all the current messaging platforms, the users did not feel a messaging portion was necessary.
The placement of typography can affect the user’s ability to access the app. It is also crucial to “not reinvent” the icons meanings. In my initial prototype, I used the “star” icon to symbolize goals. Users believed the star symbol represented “favorites” instead of goals. It caused some confusion during the usability testings, as users did not know how to access their goals.
I would like to expand on the alignment and spacing in UI designs. In addition, I want to explore different mediums to measure goal progress and different statistics.