Fitpal

Problem Statement  

How might we educate and motivate people on how to reach their fitness goals in an affordable manner?

Problem Background  

Have you ever put a ton of effort into working out and you still did not see results? Or ever heard of people “training for a summer body?” a terminology used to describe a large lack of motivation during the year until summer time.  If your answer is yes you are not alone. 

A core problem around the fitness space is that beginners and intermediate fitness enthusiasts do not have the knowledge to carry out workouts correctly to achieve their fitness goals. Not having the knowledge to carry out these goals creates lack of motivation, abandonment, injuries and frustration. 78% of respondents from my conducted survey mentioned that if there were no constraints they will use trainers to help them reach their goals due to the trainer’s guidance, knowledge and ability to keep trainees accountable. Although, the same respondents did not choose trainers when they considered constraints such as costs. For example, in New York the average salary of a New Yorker is $24.16 per hour, while the average cost of  a personal trainer  is $75-150 per hour. This difference makes meeting fitness goals without adequate knowledge a big challenge. Fitpal aims to increase user’s knowledge when carrying out fitness routines. 

Additionally, Wilson and Brookfied (2009) noted that following a six-week exercise and goal setting program, all participants of their study achieved higher scores based on their motivation level, perceived choice and enjoyment. Having knowledge is not the only important factor when reaching fitness goals. People also need to be able to keep their motivation levels high to use their gained knowledge to reach goals, but people seem to struggle to keep these motivation levels high. According to my research survey, 54% of people abandon their workout goals due to lack of discipline and motivation. Fitpal aims to create a community where people can interact and challenge each other to keep motivation levels up. 

Research Insights

To validate the problem space. A research survey was conducted with 27 participants. The goal of the survey was to understand the following: 

1. How often people set workout goals and whether or not people set workout goals
2. What the current workout goal setting experience looks like
3. Problems with the current experience of setting workout goals
4. What hinders people from meeting their set workout goals
5. What is most important to people when achieving workout goals 

Based on the responses from the conducted survey. The key insights were: 

• People want to be able to reach their desired outcome through some kind of guidance. Most people identified personal trainers as the best source of guidance but the same people will rather do the fitness journey on their own or through more affordable means when they consider budget constraints. 
• Motivation and accountability play a vital role when reaching a desired fitness goal however,  people struggle to keep motivation levels up. 54% of respondents  abandon their workout goals due to lack of discipline, lack of motivation, workouts being ‘harder than it looks’ and ‘not seeing the end results’. 

Please refer to the data synthesis document to find more in depth insights from the conducted survey.  The survey was created to ensure that the problem space was valid and to eliminate any assumptions. While the participants of the survey represent our target customers, it is important to consider there was a 1 week time constraint for the data collection process hence, the responses represent a small subset of the target customers. 

Landing on the Solution 

Based on customer research and survey, the following user stories were created with proposed solutions. In the first release we will be prioritizing our goal of educating our target customers.In future releases we will introduce features to help users build a fitness community.  

1. A user is tasked with completing a workout routine. The acceptance criteria is that the user is able to complete the workout routine and receive positive and negative feedback during the routine. 

• Proposed Solution: The user records themselves as they are working out and an AI tool gives feedback on screen and aloud based on the angles of the user. 

2. A user is interested in tracking their progress overtime and seeing how they are improving. The acceptance criteria for this scenario is that the user is able to see routines they have completed and the routines remaining to hit their set goal. To see how the user is improving, the user should also be able to see a log of all the positive and negative feedback in one place. 

• Proposed Solution: The user clicks on “workout log” that clearly displays completed and remaining workouts based on a set goal. The user clicks on “feedback log” and this is divided into two sections, one for all positive feedback and one for negative feedback based on completed routines. The feedback log will  show consolidated feedback in one place grouped by the specific exercise. 

3. As a user, I want to be able to create workout routines based on my needs, such as my fitness goals, schedule, time and weight. The acceptance criteria for this scenario is the user is able to see workout routine suggestions based on their personal needs and preferences. 

• Proposed Solution: The app will provide a series of questions pertaining to the user's needs. Based on the user’s answers the application provides workout suggestions to the user. 

Mockups 

Future Steps

As my next steps I will be working with a cross functional team which includes Engineers and UI/UX designers to develop the “hows” of my proposed solution. 

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