FitSquad
Boosting user engagement through integrated social features, enabling you to connect, share progress, and stay motivated.
ROLE
UX/UI Designer
DURATION
160 hours
TOOLS
FIigma, Miro, Photoshop
project description.
FitSquad is a fitness app that blends social networking with fitness tracking, allowing users to build a community, share workout routines, and engage in health-focused interactions, fostering connections among like-minded individuals.
The Problem.
FitSquad was experiencing high user drop-off after the first three weeks of app usage. Users initially engaged but soon deleted the app due to a lack of sustained motivation.
The goal.
To introduce a messaging feature to increase user interaction, promote community building, and encourage long-term usage by fostering peer-to-peer motivation.
Objective.
The project aimed to design and implement an integrated messaging feature in FitSquad that complements the app’s fitness and health-tracking functionality. The messaging feature would allow users to:
1
Share their fitness goals, achievements, and routines.
2
Engage with friends and community members.
3
Increase overall user engagement by providing a comprehensive, user-friendly messaging experience.
Design Process.
Competitive Analysis.
To understand how other fitness apps maintain engagement, I analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of industry leaders - Fitless & Nike Fit. Insights from this analysis helped identify opportunities for FitSquad’s messaging feature.
key findings.
Enhancing messaging features—like direct messaging, custom groups, and social notifications—in fitness apps boosts user interaction and enriches functionality, creating a more dynamic experience and increasing retention rates.
Survey Insights.
To gather data on user behaviors and preferences, I conducted an online survey. The survey revealed key trends in how users engage with social and fitness apps, providing valuable input for the messaging feature design.
"I collected 50 responses by posting a survey on Facebook to collect quantativie data"
Survey Findings:
discovery.
These key findings guided the solution:
42% of users communicate about fitness weekly, showing interest in fitness conversations.
98% engage daily on social media, indicating the potential for social features in a fitness app.
62% would use social features, and 66% enjoy receiving feedback on their content, emphasizing the value of community interactions.
These insights highlight the need for messaging and social features, which align with user habits and preferences, to boost long-term engagement and retention in FitSquad.
User Interviews.
Through user interviews, I gathered detailed feedback on their experiences with current fitness and health apps.
Participants for user research were selected based on their workout frequency, fitness goals, and preferences for social engagement in fitness. I focused on both casual and dedicated fitness enthusiasts, as well as those who enjoy working out with friends or within a community.
key findings.
All interviewees emphasized that social interaction in fitness apps motivates them to maintain their workout routines.
Sharing workout results and receiving feedback is important for building motivation.
Seeing others' activities, especially friends, encourages more frequent app usage.
Persona/ Empathy Map.
To better understand and empathize with the target user's needs, goals, and behaviors, I created two personas (including empathy map). These will serve as a guide for design decisions that prioritize user needs.
“Sharing my achievements with others keeps me motivated.”
View Persona
“I need guidance and support to develop a sustainable workout routine.”
View Persona
FitSquad aims to redefine fitness engagement by introducing a robust social component through messaging, profiles, and community-driven workout sharing.
Messaging
Users can message friends directly or create groups to share workouts and progress.
User Profiles
Users can create profiles & showcase their journey, set goals, and share their progress.
user-generated content
Ability to share workouts, comment, and like others’ activities.
Notifications and Alerts
Push notifications of social interactions, and messages to keep users engaged.
Workout Logging
Users can log their workouts and fitness activities and share them to the community.
Workout Library
FitSquad offers a library of workout routines, catering to different fitness levels and goals.
I designed wireframes focusing on key user flows, including the onboarding process, home screen interactions, and community engagement through messaging. The wireframes emphasized a clean, intuitive interface to ensure users could easily navigate through the app.
Wireframes focused on collecting user data to customize workout recommendations and populate the social feed with relevant content.
Users can view their fitness progress, see others’ achievements, and access the messaging feature for direct communication.
Users can easily share workouts they’ve completed, receive comments, and engage with notifications.
The usability test for FitSquad simplified navigation, improved clarity of workout levels, made goals more visible, and added a calendar for easy workout scheduling.
Solution: simplified tabs to single page, developed bottom navigation bar, changed terminology of workout levels
Solution: simplified tabs to 2 pages, placed goals on top to be more visible, added in calender to schedule
FitSquad tackles the challenge of keeping users engaged in their fitness journey by introducing social interaction and messaging features into the app. Through continuous user testing and design iteration, the final solution provided a more streamlined, user-friendly experience that encourages long-term usage by fostering community engagement and goal sharing.
Key Take-Aways
✓ Simplicity
I learned that reducing multiple tabs into a single page with a bottom navigation bar made the app easier to use and improved engagement.
✓ Visibility Increases Interaction
By placing goals at the top of the screen, users were more likely to set and track their fitness progress, showing the value of prominent features.
✓ Social Features Boost Engagement
Adding messaging and social interactions helped create a sense of community, which increased user motivation and long-term app usage.
