Nike Training Club
Concept Case Study done during a 3 week UX Course by Smartcademy
My Role: UX Designer
Tools: Miro, Figma
Timeline: July 2020 (3 Weeks)
Deliverables: Sketches, Interactive Figma Prototype, Research Findings, Presentation Slide Deck
Team: Rou Shan, Bryson and myself
About NTC
The Nike Training Club App helps you reach your fitness goals with expertly designed workouts from our world-class Nike Master Trainers. NTC is perfect for training at home, in the gym or on the road, with everything from bodyweight-only to full-equipment workouts for everyone at all fitness levels. - Nike.com
Context of Project
Amidst the circuit breaker (a government imposed lock-down in Singapore due to the COVID-19 pandemic), there is an increasing surge in the number of downloads. However,statistics show that the retention rate is decreasing. Approximately 5-10 days after, users are deleting the application.
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Possible problems include
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User confusion on app usage due to lack of instruction
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Inability for users to combine individual workouts into a single workout 'playlist'
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High drop off rates when user are waiting for workout to be downloaded
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Lack of social features for users to workout together with friends
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Inability to schedule a workout and set a weekly routine
Challenge Statement
Investigate and propose how might we increase the retention rate. (e.g motivating users to join community base training, live group workouts, creating scheduled routine training, active reminders, articles, nutritions and more)
The Approach
Double Diamond Design Framework
Initial Brainstorming
Prior to conducting any research, the team conducted a braining storming exercising to identity as many opportunities or problems within the challenge statement.
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We voted on which problems which would guide in the rest of the design process
Research
After the initial brain storming, we proceeded with a simple market analysis of competitor apps.
We decided to analyse the competition based on the amount of features their app possessed.
Comparison analysis of features
After knowing how the NTC app fared against competitor apps, we also wanted to know how others perceived the NTC app and fitness apps in general.
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We conducted a total of 6 user interviews and had 6 research objectives which we aimed to find out.
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What Motivates users to exercise generally
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Find out the general fitness levels of users
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What are the aims and goals of the user when they download a fitness app
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Why is it important for them to want to use the app
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What is attractive about the app they are using as compared to others
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How an app can motivate users to exercise
Some quotes from our interviewees
“I feel that the app itself serves its purpose but if I had to add a feature that would be a fitness community so that we can motivate each other to keep fit, especially during this pandemic.”
- Donovan
How we did our user testing while social distancing!
“I get motivated because I’m able to workout with my friends and keeping a positive body image. Exercising is also a form of destress for me eg. going for a run after work and it’s also a great time to catch up with my buddies.”
- Alvin
Findings
We collated all the qualitative data and did an affinity mapping exercise to find out the common themes of what the interviewees had shared.
Research Summary
Through our user research, we've found out that most research participants turned to using fitness apps during this pandemic to remain active. What was interesting was that due to the pandemic, with the restrictions of Circuit Breaker, they had
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more spare time at home and
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frequent updates on social media.
More young adults are also using applications to track their fitness and to also stay motivated during workouts. Though we interviewed different participants, they mostly had the same goals and frustrations.
User Persona
Based on the research, we developed a user persona about a person who started regular exercise during the circuit breaker period.
Persona of Mary Tan
We boiled down the results of our research and found out the main problem is..
MOTIVATION
The biggest problem young adults face today is getting motivated to
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Start working out
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Finish the workout
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Schedule the next workout
Ideation
From our research, we came up with the problem statement which users are most concerned with.
"I want to stay motivated''
We then crafted a "How Might We" statement that presents a design opportunity to solve the problem.
"How might we motivate users to continue exercising using the app?''
With this in mind, we knew that we had to come up with a solution that can entice users to not only exercise but exercise using the app.
In order to do so, we did a solution generation, paper prototyping exercise called Crazy 8s where each team member were given 8 minutes to sketch 8 different paper prototype solutions.
My prototypes
Roushan's
Bryson's
After two iterations of the exercise, we decided on my solution where the app pushes out weekly exercise challenges which users are encouraged to do together with friends.
User Scenario and Task Analysis
Combining our user persona and chosen solution, we came up with a user scenario and performed a task analysis of the steps required for the user to achieve their goal.
"As a Young Adult staying at home, when I am home right now due to the pandemic, I want to be able to complete workout challenges together with other people, so as to keep myself motivated to exercise."
We then sketched out a paper prototype highlighting the steps the user takes when using our new feature.
1. User notified of new challenge
2. User opens app
3. Details of challenge displayed
4. Choice given to start or schedule workout
8. Complete workout challenge
7. Do stated challenge
6. Choose to do workout alone or with others
5. Choose when to schedule workout
Low-Fidelity User Testing
With our paper prototype, we proceeded to perform a lo-fi user test using a phone app called POP! by Marvel.
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Based on the feedback gathered from the usability tests, we reiterated our paper prototype and made some tweaks which included :
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Redesigned the interface to be less clunky
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Included buttons that allow user to back out of the challenge
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Included a notification popup after clicking start to allow user choice to invite friends or do workout solo
Reiterated paper prototype
High Fidelity Prototype
After being satisfied with our paper prototype reiteration, we then proceeded to making a high-fidelity prototype on Figma.
Takeaways
This being the first real UX design project I have undertaken, my two biggest takeaways are:
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1. RESEARCH. Research is what truly makes or breaks your product. Don't skimp on it and create a solid foundation which will result in a superb product
2. Iterate,Iterate,Iterate. The value of reiteration shows when testing highlights the flaws of the initial design. Never think your product is perfect at the first try!