ActivePal
Promoting Physical Activity through Design
ActivePal is a digital solution looking to promote physical activities by letting users sign up for a variety of free and paid local physical activity class or events. There is a wide range of activities to fit all kinds of interest or physical limitations. ActivePal create social accountability by allowing users to connect with friends and family and join classes and events together.
Time:
8 Weeks Duration
(4 Two Week Sprints)
Roles:
UX Researcher, UX| UI Designer, Branding
Project Type:
Academic | App for IOS
Tools:
Figma
Slack
InVision
Understanding the Problem
Americans Lack Physical Activity
Only half of the US population gets the physical activity they need to help reduce and prevent chronic disease.
More about the Problem
Why Americans Don't Exercise
Benefits of Physical Activity
Regular exercise and physical activity may help:
Regular exercise and physical activity may help:
My Assuptions
My Hypothesis
My
Assumptions
I believe that americans do not participate in physical activity because they are not sure how to implement physical activity in to their lives.
I will know I am right when 70 percent or more of interviewees express their uncertainty on how to start implementing physical activity into their lives.
Interviews
Listening to Understand
With statistical information about the problem and my assumptions and hypothesis established, I looked to speak to four americans and to listen and understand their reasons as to why they lack physical activity.
Affinity Map
Understanding Interview Insights
I organized participants pain points, motivations, and behaviors.
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Pain Points
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Problems that they are experiencing that prevent them from physical activity ​
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Motivations
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What drives them to seek physical activity​
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Behaviors
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How are they or are not physically active​
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Insights Themes
I categorized all of the insight into similar themes and chose one to focus on.
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Social Accountability ​​​
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Physical Activity is Boring​​​​
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Lack of Knowledge
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No Time and Energy
Persona
User Centered Design
Using the qualitative data from interviews, I created a user persona that encopasses aspects of information given from participants. Their voices and insights can help me better empathize with my main user groups and prioritize goals according to their needs.
Design Challenge
How might we encourage American adults to be more physically active in order to reduce their chances of developing chronic diseases?
Task Flow
Helping Users Find Fun Physical Activities
Here you can see how a user will interact with product to perform the task of signing up for a physical activity class. Users looking to connect with fun physical activities will search, find, and reserve a spot for activity classes they would like yo take.
Sketches
Sketching it Out
Using UI inspiration and the user persona as inspiration, I sketched out different ideas.
After reviewing a all of the sketches, I choose the sketches that facilitated the users tasks of signing up for a physical activity class.
The final chosen sketches facilitated users signing up for classes and adding a friend for social accountability and motivation.
User Testing
Observing Users to Gather Usability Data
With a Usability Testing Plan and went on to have 2 different usability testing sessions. I tested the first iteration of the low-fidelity prototype on five people made changes and tested on five more people.
Usability Testing Design Changes
Modifying Designs Based on Users
I modified and created new iterations of the designs based on the usability issues and feedback from user testing.
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I changed the interaction so that users can just type Taekwondo on the search bar. Since during testing is was always their fisr way of tyring to search.
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Made the card bigger with more spacing to look less cluttered
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Tested user were confused about the wording and numbering in order to bring a friend along
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At first I just changed the wording but testers were still confused about the process so I decided to change the layout
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Brand & Visual Identity
Listening to Users to create a Brand
In an effort to refine the brands visual identity that will entice target users, I brainstormed words that would convey how users wanted to feel as they used the apps. I put out a survey with over 40 participants to test names and create a user centered brand.
ActivePal encompases both the physical activy aspect and the connect with friends aspect of the app
Injecting Brand Identity
Screen Evolution
To inject the brand identity to the prototype, I added, colors, images, copy and implemented all usability changes.
Key Learnings
Design Impact
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It’s important to understand how certain features work in order to design them in a way a user will understand
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User feedback is essential in design
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Designing for accessibility requires intentional design as well as a lot of trial and error
ActivePal when launched will connect thousands of people to friends, local businesses, and events that will encourage them to participate in physical activity they enjoy and can afford. By connecting with friends, users will be able to create a community of family, friends, and others that enjoy similar activity to help them stay accountable and reach their goals.
