BeFit
BeFit is a progressive web and mobile application designed for regular gym-goers to address the common problem of providing motivation to our users to go to the gym.
Product Experience
Customer and Need
The customer profile identified are those who consistently go to the gym and exercise at least 2+ days a week. These individuals are those who use the gym as a form of cross-training (for a primary mode of exercise), those who desire to have the most balanced physique, and those who want to reinforce their discipline in unlocking the intrinsic motivation to go to the gym.
Why Solve This Problem Now?
Revenue in the fitness application industry is expected to exceed $19.3B in 2023. Analysts project a CAGR of 14.3% from ‘23-’27, resulting in a projected market size of $33B by 2027. This market is currently saturated by major players such as Nike, MapMyRun, Strava, BTWB, SugarWOD, etc.
We saw that the key to achieve fitness goals is being motivated to attain the goal. In customer studies, 50% of respondents are motivated internally (self), while the other 50% are motivated externally (social media, comparison). We know this is a problem because overall, mental health has been on the decline. From 2019 to 2021, the number of U.S. adults seeking mental health help has increased from 19.2% to 21.6%. This may partly be attributed to the pandemic one can speculate; however, when mental health is on the decline, it stems to other aspects of a person’s life.
Problem Statement
How might we establish a tailored gym routine for a consistent gym-goer so that they can achieve their fitness goals? We know this problem exists because we have all experienced people fall off their fitness goals because of a variety of factors.
We sent a survey about fitness goals to regular gym-goers (2+ days). We asked them about how they measure success. We discovered that the three most common ways people measure success in achieving their goals are:
- Consistency
- Seeing Progress & Improvement
Solution Explanation
BeFit is a fitness companion that will keep you accountable for planning your weekly workouts, going to the gym, and understanding your workout in a simple and intuitive interface. At the beginning of the week, you create your workout plan, and then during the week, the app reminds you that you should be heading to the gym at the time you designate. It boasts integrations with Google Maps and music integration to minimize the amount of manual process in routing to the gym!
The full solution will allow a user to feel good for accomplishing and checking this item off their to-do list, and we will allow users to share their progress on our upcoming social media platform and share it with their network! It will allow regular fitness goers to be more successful in their fitness journey because this application directly encourages consistency and seeing progress & improvement innately.
Lofi & Hifi Mockups
Lofis:
Hifis:
Iterative Design Learnings
User #1
Feedback
- When you have a Map for all the gyms, you don’t have the ability to go to that gym because of membership limitations.
- It does not create or encompass health. People who go to the gym, they might do other types of workouts at home. It’s not an accurate reflection of everything. If you’re trying to make an app, if it could reflect other types of exercise.
- Notification Fatigue - Is it effective? Unless you do it so yo
User #2
Feedback
- Notification Fatigue
- UI is cool in general.
- How would you do your own-at-home gym?
- Pretty simple, user friendly.
User #3
Feedback
- Does not want to hit many buttons to add one exercise; rather, she wants to be able to type in the exercise and reps in a notepad style.
- The UI is easy to navigate.
- Feature of a one-time setup: setting her gym location, creating template/standard workouts for her
- Nike does a guided run (based on GPS) for however many miles you have done, and it makes you motivated.The Guided Run cheers you on as you go through the run.
- App might become too tedious hitting next everytime.
- Workout Templates!
Implementation Details
Technical implementation
Frontend : https://befit-colab.vercel.app/
Backend : https://befit-backend.codinger.net/
Code : https://github.com/Colab20-Team-5
Tech Stack:
Next.js, Sass, Node.js, Express.js, MongoDB
Request Journey:
Request <--> Frontend <--> Backend <--> API(s) <--> Database
Technical challenges
- Figuring out the tech stack of Native application vs Progressive Web Application. The user journeys and stories mapped earlier seemed well for a progressive web application and the engineering team was very comfortable with it. However, after user interviews and updated stories, the requirement for an application suited more.
Right now the app is a Progressive Web App (PWA), but it could have provided a better UX if it was developed in native framework like Flutter / React Native.
- Guided audio generation via Artificial Intelligence.
Scaling Issues
- Not as such, the app itself is not a very big size, and can perfectly handle the inflow of traffic. App is deployed with proper DevOps cycles and CI / CD pipelines.
Key Takeaways:
- We experienced a proper journey from problem statement to a solution. Otherwise in jobs, only specific tasks are allocated. This was a new experience because we felt close to the product right from the initial planning stages.
- Agility, feature planning with the whole cross functional team, brainstorming was a nice takeaway.
- Even though the project duration was limited, we took a proper product approach following the DevOps cultures, CI / CD processes right from the initial development, so that any changes made till the last moments can get immediately published into the live links and should not be stuck due to manual deployments or check ins to the server.
- The individual developers contributed and collaborated together in multiple areas. Resulting in situations where if a person didn’t have knowledge in a specific tech stack, it allowed them to get inspired and understand that particular piece of code from the experienced person.
Future Steps
Our next steps if we were to continue this project would be to incorporate this feedback into our product backlog and execute on these suggested improvements. We would also continue monitoring what other fitness applications are doing to ensure we are staying competitive on the correct feature sets for our persona:
Images
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Wilbur Vale
Reinforced what I had already learned in industry. This program has taught me to work more in the consumer application space, and has shown me the various intricacies that exist between an external facing application vs. an internal application/platform.
Designer Learnings:
Angie Gonzalez
Eye-opening experience that taught me how to work in cross-functional teams by collaborating closely with a Product Manager and developers. I gained valuable insights into product vision, user needs, and aligning my design decisions with project goals. The emphasis on teamwork and communication was crucial and challenging at times throughout this whole process.
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Piyush Dhall
I think Co.Lab has been a great refresher of the build processes and Agile methodologies I needed right as I graduate in my Computer Science Engineering degree. Right from the brainstorming to interviewing users and building the product, a lot has happened within these 2 months. The overall development flow was a huge learning for me.
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
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Salum Habibu
As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
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Salum Habibu
As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
Chetan Sengar
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Salum Habibu
Developer - Chetan
I had never worked in an Agile way before, so working in an Agile way during the course of the program was very beneficial and something I would be doing more and more in the future. I learned to work with a Product Manager and Product Designer as well, which was a very good experience. I also got to know how an actual product is made in the real world. Last but not least, the whole program really helped me get out of my comfort zone and try out new things.
Developer - Salum
During my time in Colab, as a software developer, I had an incredible firsthand experience of witnessing the entire process of designing and developing a real product, from ideation to the deployment. It was an amazing journey filled with creativity and collaboration. I gained valuable insights and learned the power of Agile development using Jira. Additionally, I was thrilled to learn Next.js and successfully implement it in our project. I learned how to interact with Figma design. Collaborating with our Product Designer and having the ability to translate their vision into a functional UI was incredible. Figma proved to be a game-changer in streamlining the design-to-development process.
Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
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Salum Habibu
- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
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Salum Habibu
All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
&
Salum Habibu
I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.
Full Team Learning
Overall, we have gained valuable skills and experience through COLAB20. From gaining exposure to Jira and Figma, going through a rapid cycle of product ideation to launch and feedback, we determined that the work never ends. We can all tirelessly keep on working on this product, and reap the fruits of our work.