Why it matters
Some people love company when they work out. It keeps them motivated, and they learn new things from each other.
02Exercise Buddy
Case studyFitnessMobile app
Find a workout partner, anytime.
Exercise Buddy matches you with someone to train with, whenever you need one. A built-in gym buddy who keeps you motivated, so exercise becomes social again.
01 — Overview
Working out is better with company.
During the pandemic, many people felt lonely because they couldn’t go to the gym or train with friends. Today we’re all busy, which makes it hard to find an exercise buddy.
The idea
An app that connects you with a workout partner whenever you need one, so you can say goodbye to lonely workouts and make exercise a social, fun thing to do.
- 4problems to solve
- 3project phases: discovery, design, delivery
- 10in-person usability tests
- 30minutes per test session
- 8System Usability Scale statements
- 4changes made after testing
02 — Problems & solutions
Four problems, four answers.
We started from what makes it hard to exercise with someone, and sketched a way to solve each part.
Problems and solutions come from the project brief; I paired them by theme.
03 — Project timeline
Discover, design, deliver.
The work ran in three phases, from competitor and user research, through UX and UI, to a UI kit and animated interactions for the developers.
DiscoveryDesignDelivery
ResearchCompetitors & user research
User experienceCJM, personas, user flows, structure, wireframes, prototype testing
User interfaceMVP flows & future concepts
Design systemFor consistency between all pages and sizes
UI kitDeliverable for developers
InteractionsFlow animation
04 — User flow
From first tap to the first workout.
The flow starts with login or sign-up, onboarding and a location permission, then fans out to the main areas: calls and messages, workouts, creating an activity, the calendar and the profile.
05 — Brand
Two letters, one dumbbell.
The logo joins two Ds around a dumbbell: you and your buddy, lifting together. Poppins carries the interface in three weights, and a deep blue palette keeps it energetic.
Typography
Poppins
One family for the whole interface, in three weights.
LightABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklm
0123456789
0123456789
MediumABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklm
0123456789
0123456789
Extra BoldABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklm
0123456789
0123456789
Colour
Click a swatch to copy its hex code.
06 — Interface
The app, screen by screen.
From a splash that sets the mood, to a dashboard with your numbers, the activities around you on a map, and a few taps to create your own.
07 — Usability testing
Ten people, ten tests.
We ran ten in-person tests. The first was on the low-fidelity design, to check how effective and usable the preliminary design and prototype were, and to understand users’ thought processes.
Research goals
- Find out how people use the app and the steps they take to find an exercise buddy.
- See how easy it is to navigate, make a profile and search.
- Measure how long it takes to make a profile and find a buddy.
- Learn from the steps people take across different kinds of searches.
Method
- 10 participants make a profile and search for a partner, then agree a date, time and place on their own.
- Each session lasts 30 minutes: an introduction, a list of tasks and a short questionnaire.
- Participants said they had suffered from loneliness during the pandemic.
Participants
- Men, women and nonbinary participants, aged 25 to 75.
- 2 users of assistive technology (a screen reader).
- 1 user who isn’t fluent in English.
Measures
- Time on task
- Conversion rates
- User error rates
- Bounce
Script
Open the app on your phone and find a buddy to exercise with. Do your best to talk me through your thought process.
Follow-upHow easy do you feel it is to find a person you are likely to exercise with through the search options? Which kind of search did you use? What was easy, and what was challenging?
If I said, “create a profile for yourself and find a person for an exact time and date”, would you know what to do?
Follow-upTry it out now, please. Did you find anything confusing?
This app includes extra facilities, like a translator. If you wanted to use them, how would you do it?
Follow-upDo these facilities meet your needs? Did you find anything confusing?
How did you feel about the app overall? What did you like or dislike?
Follow-upWhat is the first thing you would change?
System Usability Scale
Each participant scored eight statements from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree.
- I found the app unnecessarily complex.
- I thought the app was easy to use.
- I think I would need the support of a technical person to use this app.
- I found the various functions in this app well integrated.
- I thought there was too much inconsistency in this app.
- I would imagine most people would learn to use this app very quickly.
- I found the app very cumbersome to use.
- I felt very confident using the app.
08 — Why test early
Test before the branding.
While building the wireframes, I was also building the flow and prototype for testing. I ran a round of usability testing before adding any UI, to get more valid and actionable input without branding getting in the way.
- Find out how satisfied participants are with the experience of the app.
- Check that users understand every feature and button.
- Make sure they are comfortable moving around the app.
09 — Key findings
What we changed.
Fewer steps
In the interviews, users got frustrated by taking several steps. We cut the steps and merged them into one page.
A clearer profile
In Settings, users didn’t understand what the edit icon meant, so we added clear Edit profile and Settings buttons. A notification icon now tells users about new messages and invitations. And because people like to share their activities and stats, we added Overall stats to encourage sharing with followers.
