“I love spending time on training more than climbing on the wall! 😃”
…says no climber ever.
Project Type
Mobile App Design
(Capstone Project)
Timeline
80 Hours
Responsibilities
Research
Prototype
UX Design
UI Design
Context
Injuries are the main reason that prevents people from advancing in climbing or maintaining the climbing lifestyle, but not many climbers actively train when they are not climbing.
From being a climber and talking to people in the community, I've noticed that most have similar struggles to start or keep up with their training when they are not actively climbing on the wall.
Problem
Many climbers lack the motivation to train.
They would much prefer to spend their time climbing on the wall than doing training exercises.
Most training apps on the market don't put a focus on the motivation part of training
Hypothesis
Fewer injuries would occur if we had an app that helps keep climbers motivated to train.
They can advance better and faster
They can sustain their hobbies in the long run
Solution
To create a solution that uses community, a sense of accomplishment, and challenges to keep climbers motivated to train.
Empower climbers to challenge each other
Connect individuals to promote mutual accountability in achieving training goals.
Foster ownership of their training journey
Outcome
Based on user feedback,
4 out of 5 participants think the MVP will help with motivation to train off the wall!
The final design addresses users' struggle to find motivation to sustain and achieve their training goals with the three main features.
💬
Interviewing Climbers to Understand Their Motivations for Climbing
I interviewed 6 active climbers across different climbing levels. Our conversations confirmed that the problem of not being motivated to train is valid. I also learned more about the reasons why they refer to climb than to train.
insight #1
Climbers value community
insight #2
Climbing gives climbers a sense of accomplishment & challenges that training don't give them
recognizing patterns from categorizing interview notes using an affinity map
🤔
Do Apps that Address Climbers' Motivation to Train Already Exist in the Market?
I conducted a competitor analysis to find out if other apps in the market already addressed the problems climbers experience, or if there are any improvements we can make to how they are addresses the problems.
insight
Most apps avaliable do not address climber motivations, but focus more on logging and training knowledge and training courses.
Competitor analysis to understand exisiting apps in the market
Important Decisions that Impacted the MVP
🎯
Using Priortization Matrix to Prioritize Ideas from a Brainstorm Session
Using data gathered during user interview, I had a brainstorm session with possible ideas that involves community, sense of accomplish, and challenge. I then used a prioritization matrix to helped me decide on the main feature to design to promote motivation in climbers to train.
Value vs market differentiation matrx
Initial ideas selected from prioritization matrix:
live training sessions with friends
competition with friends in private group
Weighing the options:
live training sessions with friends requires more time to develop, but
competition with friends in private group require less time and still provides users with value
📱
Design Reviews to Decide on the MVP Screens
I sketched out different wireframes based on what users need to accomplish their goals.
With different wireframes sketched out, I had a design review with my mentor to:
evaluate strengths and weaknesses of each wireframe
ensure alignment with business goals and user needs
Value vs market differentiation matrx
✏️
Iterations based on Usability Testing Data
"It's Hard to See the Timer When I'm Working Out!"
Based on the feedback received from usability testing, I made iterations on the items that would most impact users in achieving their goals with the app:
user-timer interaction
how timer in action is displayed
Initial Prototype
😕 up/down arrows confused users: does the up arrow mean increasing or decreasing time?
adjusting timer
😖 it is hard for users to see the timer especially during workouts
timer in action
Iteration
✅ the iterated version allows users to see the time they are setting, to avoid confusion with the arrows
👍🏻 timer is now full screen so users can see the timer while working out
adjusting workout timer & timer in action
Reflection
➡️
Project Next Steps:
Testing out the iterated design from usability testing
Testing the updated timer to make further interations if needed
Track user experience after MVP release
Sending out periodic survey to track users' motivation and training habits. The data can be used for further iterations or to develop new features
🔁
Something I'd Do Differently:
Optimizing Interviewee Selection Process
Surveys were sent out to some climbers before interviewing them to understand their climbing journey and to help select participants for the interviews. However, the response rate was lower than expected, so the final interviewees were climbers of different levels.
If I could go back to the beginning, I would ensure more participants were solicited for the survey, then select interviewees at similar climbing levels and with similar climbing goals to ensure a target user group with consistent personas.
jch3 design
cj.chang06@gmail.com