UNDERSTAND THE USERS
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
In the past, the app has been evolving organically without an overall brand strategy. It’s unclear what their target audience are and whether it wants to be a goal oriented fitness app or a leisure app about exploring and experiences different places. We very quickly identified that, not knowing our users is why we are having a lot of the problems. We believe that using a series of user research will help us unlock the questions and guide us along the design process.
Our research objective is to really understand our target audience’s fitness journeys, what a good workout experience look like, and how Bitgym can help to fill up their needs.
MY ROLES
I acted as the research lead. I made research plan and help the entire team participate in user interviews and the research synthesis process.
USER INTERVIEWS
We sent out surveys to 1000 current Bitgym users and picked 22 of them for in-depth interviews. We also leveraged online research tools to talk to folks use exercise equipments at home to get a better idea of the total home fitness market. We then created research learnings and 4 key personas.
RESEARCH LEARNINGS
Keep a workout routine
They decide to make cardio part of their lives. Using a home exercise machine is one of their best options. It helps to keep their workout routine consistent.
Make it less boring
They know they will hate to use the exercise machine—it’s boring and mindless. Bitgym was found because they want cardio to be LESS boring.
Keep me mentally engaged
Working out with Bitgym transforms their experience of being on the machine. Time flies by. It feels like they are really outdoors exploring real places.
Feel accomplished
A good workout experience is that it’s over before they know it. They are able to look back and feel good and accomplished about the fitness thing they’ve done.
6 Personas
PRODUCT DIRECTION
Mission: To transform cardio exercise into an immersive and engaging experience with the interactive virtual tours, making workouts more enjoyable and motivating for users worldwide.
Where exploration meets mindfulness
Explore the world from your home, revisit where you’ve been and where you want to visit. We want to tap in emotions and aspiration by using inspiring language and visuals.
Speed interactivity is good, but not a must
The app has been putting a lot of emphasis on its speed interactivity feature. However we find out many of the users actually use it without it, but it does make them frustrated when not working properly.
Simplicity wins
The current setup requires users to go through several steps—selecting a tour type, choosing their exercise machine, setting up camera tracking—which can make their first experience with the app feel overwhelming. We aim to streamline this process to ensure users can enjoy at least one smooth, delightful tour right from the start.
Better you, not better than
People choose Bitgym to relax and indulge in the beautiful scenes, not to compete with others. It’s more important for people like Dan and Wendy to be their better self than to rank amongst the others. Use data visualization to show progress tracking
Annie’s experience journey: the discovery of Bitgym
