Research & Strategy
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Surveys: Collected quantitative feedback to understand general user sentiment and uncover common pain points. Survey questions can be found
here.
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Interviews: Conducted qualitative interviews for deeper insights into user frustrations and desires. Interview questions can be found here.
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Heuristic Evaluation: Applied usability principles to identify design flaws and areas for enhancement.
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Competitive Analysis: Analysed two leading fitness apps, Strong and Jefit, to benchmark best practices and inspire improvements.
Key Points from User Feedback
🧱 Cumbersome Workout Logging
"It takes so many taps just to log a simple workout. I sometimes skip it because it’s a hassle." - Lorena, Occasional User
Solution: Create a simplified, step-by-step logging flow with dropdown filters for faster workout selection.
👓 Lack of Visual Clarity
"The screens are bit overwhelming, when I'm at the gym I don't want to spent too much time on it." - Julie, Frequent User
Solution: Design a cleaner UI with improved visual hierarchy, using exercise icons to make the experience more intuitive.
🎉 Lack of Motivation Features
"Other apps give me badges or streaks - it makes it fun. This feels a bit dull in comparison." - Lorena, Occasional User
Solution: Introduce gamification elements like streaks, badges, and progress-tracking visuals to encourage user retention.
🛠️ No Customisation Options
"I follow a mix of bodyweight and gym workouts, but I can't customise things the way I want." - Ralph, Enthusiastic User
Solution: Add a custom workout creation feature, allowing users to personalise exercises and routines.
Competitor Analysis Insights
Through a comparison of Strong and Jefit fitness apps, I identified some features that enhanced the user experience:
Strong App offers an interactive experience with congratulatory screens after completing exercises, enhancing motivation.
Jefit uses detailed visuals to assist users in selecting exercises by muscle group, making the process more intuitive.
Heuristic Evaluation
To further assess MyFitnessPal’s fitness tracking feature, I conducted a heuristic evaluation using Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics. This process helped identify additional usability issues that may not have surfaced during user interviews and surveys. Key findings included:
✅ Visibility of System Status
Users often felt uncertain if their workout data had been logged successfully due to a lack of clear confirmation messages.
Recommendation: Add clear, immediate feedback upon successful workout entry.
↩️ User Control and Freedom
The absence of an easy undo or edit option during workout logging led to frustration when mistakes were made.
Recommendation: Introduce an "Edit Workout" feature and an undo option to enhance flexibility.
🧽 Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
The interface presented excessive information on a single screen, creating visual clutter and reducing task efficiency.
Recommendation: Implement a cleaner, more focused layout with improved information hierarchy.
🧠 Recognition Rather Than Recall
Users had to rely on memory to find and log exercises, as there were no visual references for workouts.
Recommendation:Incorporate exercise icons and visual categories for easier recognition and faster logging.
Design Solutions
Based on the research findings and competitive analysis, I implemented the following improvements in my redesign whilst maintaining MyFitnessPal's original typography, colours and button styles:
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Simplified Logging Flow: Reduced the number of steps for logging workouts, creating a faster and more intuitive experience.
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Visual Exercise Selection: Developed an image-based selection interface using exercise icons, making it easier to find and add workouts.
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Filtering Options: Introduced dropdown filters to allow users to browse exercises by equipment type (e.g., free weights, machines) or muscle group (e.g., arms, back, legs).
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Workout Summary Enhancements: Used the selected exercise icons in the workout summary for a clear, visual representation of completed workouts.
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Gamification: Incorporated a motivational animation when a exercise is marked as Complete to encourage consistent use.
Next Steps
There are additional opportunities to further enhance the user experience. If given more time, I would recommend the following:
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Improve the visibility of the fitness tracking feature by restructuring the app’s navigation and adding prominent shortcuts on the home screen.
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Update the visual design with a cleaner, more modern interface using improved typography and subtle animations to create a more engaging experience.
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Conduct usability testing on the prototype to gather further feedback.
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Evaluate the impact of the redesign through post-test surveys and performance metrics.
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