mobile app • Research / UX / Prototyping • 2019

Effitive

Background Information

"Fitness equipment jam" is a common problem in fitness centres, especially during peak hours. People need to spend a lot of time waiting for the fitness equipment.

Problem

Due to space and operating cost constraints, there is only one weightlifting machine of each type in most fitness exercises, so users may spend a lot of time waiting for the training machine, especially popular ones.

Goal

Design a system that can reduce the waiting time of users by arranging their training plan and maximising machine usage.

Research

To ensure the user's needs, we do a survey from fitness centre users to collect their training habits and pain points. After the survey, we had got some important feedbacks which showed that the lack of fitness equipment really affected their training experience.

Nearly 80% of respondents said that training equipment will be their first consideration, compared to location and environment.

More than 90% of respondents have experienced that the machine they plan to use is occupied by others, and more than 30% of them have experienced it frequently.

Nearly 20% of the respondents said that they need to spend 10 to 20 minutes waiting for the machine. Also, if the machine is occupied, more than 20% will simply give up using it.

Process

The main function of the app is let people select the training machine they want to use and help them arrange the most effective schedule. People can know the waiting time of the machines and adjust their training plan.

Prototype

Indicate the position of machines

The first design draft was to use a floor plan to show the location of the training machine, but considering that the uses might not be used to looking at the floor plan, the final draft was switched to a 360-degree image. Thus, users can select the equipment they are going to use by swiping left and right and zooming in and out.

Select the machines easier

Apart for searching function, user can filter the equipments by selecting tags and the system will highlight the related machines.

Adjust the training machines

The user can adjust the order of using the machine according to different factors, such as the shortest waiting time, the preset training schedule, and the lower body first. Also, the system will predict their waiting time.

Final Design

Outcome

This project was a great opportunity for me to learn about how to research and find out the pain points of users. I feel grateful that I can apply the knowledge of design thinking to find a solution to this problem, and my instructor and classmates also gave me a lot of suggestion.