Workout
Buddy

Find your gym buddy near you.

Cover hero

0.1 ABOUT

Workout Buddy is an app to connect gym members and organize workout sessions to increase the chance of maintaining healthy exercise habits, reducing customer churn


UX
Visual Design

ROLE

My role for this project as a researcher and designer was to identify a problem and provide a solution for those wanting to work out
The
Problem
Title of the document
1
Inexperienced gym users often don't want to go to the gym because they feel intimidated by the environment and lack the accountability to stick to their goals
Title of the document
2
Many novice gym users lack social support in the gym, and studies show that it's a major factor in maintaining a new exercise routine [1]
Title of the document
3
People are less likely to use the gym when their internal motivation is low, and they lack external motivation
[1] Gjestvang C, Abrahamsen F, Stensrud T, Haakstad LAH. What Makes Individuals Stick to Their Exercise Regime? A One-Year Follow-Up Study Among Novice Exercisers in a Fitness Club Setting. Front Psychol. 2021 May 28;12:638928. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.638928. PMID: 34122230; PMCID: PMC8194699.

PRODUCT
GOAL

Match with others who share your goals. Create motivation and teamwork through goal-sharing. Define bad habits, triggers, and supportive solutions

BUSINESS
GOAL

Sell this service to local gyms for a small subscription fee. Eventually scale the service to national gyms so they can use this service as a value add to their business.

DESIGN
PROCESS

TARGET
AUDIENCE

People who want to workout at the gym with other people

Jack Buffman

  • Regular gym user
  • Likes to work out for 2 hours every day
  • Life is built around gym routine and bodybuilding as a hobby


Goals:

  • Wants to continue making progress and stay motivated
  • Wants to have someone to spot for him and motivate him

Sophie Sometimes

  • On and off gym attendance depending on work schedule
  • Works at a company that moves her for rotating assignments every 1-2 years
  • Works out to blow off steam and stay in shape
  • Doesn’t have many local friends, is always “new to the area”

Goals:

  • Stay in shape
  • Meet others at the gym and make new friends

Learning
Goals

Daily Activities and Behaviors

Barriers to Motivation

Motivation

Q: Describe your physical activity level

Q: What are your physical activity goals?

Q: What’s stopping you from reaching your goals?

Q: Where does most of your physical activity occur?

Q: What is the motivation behind your goal?

Q: What makes you wanted to give up?

Q: Do you prefer to workout alone or with others?

Q: What makes you feel encouraged to persist?

The Gym Rat

  • Maintenance and gains motivation
  • Expert knowledge of gym equipment
  • Motivation and barriers

The Newbie

  • Starting new routine motivation
  • Motivation and barriers
  • Needs to understand gym equipment

The Returning Rebounder

  • Restore previous physique motivation
  • Refresh knowledge gym equipment
  • Motivation and barriers
   Motivation lasts
   a few days,
   but routine
   last forever.
AUDIENCE
NEEDS

Motivation
and Accountability

  • Wanting to live a healthier life style
  • Wanting to build motivation and discipline
  • Wanting to break bad habits of procrastinating goals
Pain Point
  • Needing to have a feeling of personal accountability when internal motivation is low
  • It's easy to put off starting a gym routine until tomorrow...or the next day...or next week...
  • Going to the gym alone is boring
  • User can't maintain motivation long enough to establish a routine
INTERVIEW
QUOTES
"I miss lifting with my football team back in the day"
"When I see everyone in the gym is already so jacked, I feel like I don't belong"
"The only thing that can get me out of bed to work out in the morning is if I know somebody is waiting for me or depending on me"
"I'm not a gym bro, and I feel like I don't know how to meet others who can motivate me"
"I feel intimidated by all the equipment at the gym... I don't know how to do the adjustments"
Learning &
Findings

Assumptions

  • People are not satisfied with their current activity level
  • People who don't go the gym are intimidated by the gym environment
  • People can't stick to a workout routine because they can't make time for it

Findings

  • Everyone interviewed wanted to exercise more
  • Most of them have a history of working out, but no longer due
  • People feel unmotivated when there's no one else pushing them to go
  • People gave up on a gym routine when they started to feel unmotivated
Summary
  • Many users start with motivation but are unable to maintain a workout routine and give up, cancelling their gym membership
  • Many people are lacking the internal motivation to go to the gym when there is no accountability or external motivation
  • Some novice gym users feel self-conscious or intimidated in a gym environment
  • Some novice gym users are held back by not knowing where to start as a beginner

PERSONA

Persona img1 Persona img2
Sarah Snoozer
Naomi Newbie

QUOTES

"My new year's resolution is to start getting up early and working out"
“I want to start working out, but I need someone to go with.”
ABOUT
Francesca is a young professional who isn't as active as she used to be. She wants to get to the gym in the morning before work, but it's much easier to stay in bed and hit the snooze button.
Naomi is a socially active college senior. She wants to start working out to improve her current fitness level, but she finds it hard to commit her time to the gym unless a friend is waiting for her.

the problem

There are far more people who want to work out at a gym than people who do. Many begin with high motivation that fades quickly. Others struggle to prioritize gym time in their busy schedules, or can't summon the motivation.

the solution

A mobile application that allows users to find other members of their gym who can be a workout buddy.

Once the user inputs their availability and fitness goals, they will see a list of potential gym buddies so they can make plans to workout together, increasing motivation and accountability to maintain their exercise habit.

ideation/
concepts

Concept One
Scheduling- Bubble selection
Bubble selection for date and time, calendar by week.
Feedbacks from
user testing:
‍
Users did not find it clear how to differentiate schedules for multiple days. Users enjoyed the loading screen
Concept Two
Scheduling- Calender
Full calendar selection for day followed by time selection on next screen.
Feedbacks from
user testing:

Users appreciated the different days with times, to confirm the differing schedules between days. Users with consistent daily schedules had no preference.

Customer Journey

THE
WORKFLOW

Low Fidelity

Include photos of users "testing" the product

Synthesis
Summary

Learnings

DESIGN
SYSTEM

HIGH-FIDELITY
DESIGN

PROTOTYPE

Related Work

Footer (consistent across website pages)