As the fitness industry continues to evolve, innovative apps are revolutionizing the way people engage with their health and wellness. In this case study, we'll explore how ThriveOn transformed its video streaming app development journey to create a seamless experience for users.
Initially, ThriveOn's website hosted editorial videos online, but as their audience grew, they realized the need for a mobile app where users could access their content at their leisure. I was brought on board by the Operating Advisor and CTO to strategize a new vision for ThriveOn, serving as the sole designer on the team. My role wasn't just limited to product design; I also created marketing media on top of the product development process.
Reimagining the User Experience
To create an overall synergistic experience, we combined user and market research with developing a new visual language and product design. This allowed us to craft an intuitive mobile app that integrated video streaming with social interaction. The goal was to make it easy for users to navigate ThriveOn's content and connect with like-minded individuals.
Challenges and Opportunities
ThriveOn delivered content to a global audience, but the problem lay in navigating their content. Their website was cluttered with walls of text and 13 sectors that were unclear and outdated. The site wasn't mobile-friendly, making it difficult for users to access their content on-the-go. This was especially crucial during the pandemic when users craved social interaction around their media, outside of Facebook Groups.
Fitness App Development: A New Beginning
From the ground up, ThriveOn needed a fresh mobile app that would integrate video streaming with social interaction. The 13 sectors were important to stakeholders, so we had to find a way to incorporate them seamlessly. With the launch of the mobile app aligned with the next video launch, we worked quickly to design the product itself, custom iconography, and marketing collateral.
The Design Process
Our design process involved:
- User research
- Personas
- Competitive market research
- Journey mapping
- Collaborating with stakeholders to define priorities
- Working with data analysis
- Information architecture
- Sketching
- Digital wireframing
- Experience flows
- Prototyping
- User testing
- Illustration
- Graphic design
Key Insights and Findings
Our research revealed that users are looking for people who share similar interests, and finding real people legitimizes the experience. We also discovered that current UI patterns make it difficult to find people with like interests. The 13 sectors were misunderstood by users as superfluous information, but they could be a helpful tool if utilized properly to facilitate connecting people via their area of interests.
Designing for Empathy
To create a sense of empathy for our team and stakeholders, I created social media cards that brought the personas to life. This gave us all a "I might just know that person" feeling. We also developed scenario maps to align on how users would interact with our product, as well as user flows and architectural site maps.
Visual Direction
As the sole designer, I worked on visual design, structure, and architecture. I created visual direction deliverables based on key takeaways from user studies and what kind of experience users wanted. Many sketches were executed and brought into Figma for rapid prototyping in the form of lo-fi wireframes.
By taking an empathetic approach throughout the journey, we ensured that the final product was a seamless and engaging fitness app development that met the needs of ThriveOn's audience.