UX design and sports
Our fitness can be influenced by the software, products, and services we use to get fit! If they have a great user experience we will enjoy our fitness ambition!
Our fitness can be influenced by the software, products, and services we use to get fit! If they have a great user experience we will enjoy our fitness ambition!
We all know this. Tomorrow we will go to the gym. What happens the next day? We will not go to the gym because we decided to go to the gym the next day - again. I am sure that software, products, or services with a great user experience increase our motivation and fitness! I'm your host, Chris, and this is the UX Globals Podcast!
Motivation plays an essential role when it comes to fitness. The moment we have no friends that join us at the gym and do not yet know someone from there, we might stop going there quite soon again. We, as UX designers, however, can support the people willing to do more sports. It is our responsibility to create awesome solutions that keep the motivation up. It can be a software, like a fitness app, a service, like a training plan creation, or a product, like a fitness tracker or smartwatch.
Let's combine these three different elements and create an app that might make people keep focused on their fitness goals.
One of the essential functions our solution needs is the ability to set goals. Every user needs to have the chance to set concrete goals that can be measured. It can be as simple as gaining five kilograms of muscle or burn seven kilograms of fat within the next three months. These goals are smart because they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based. But our users must have a chance to enter multiple targets. What if he or she wants to gain muscle mass and want to increase his or her endurance? Both goals need to be saved in our solution.
Once these goals are set our app must be able to track the progress of our users' gains. This is very important due to the psychological effects that will have. The moment a person can see the process, he or she will automatically continue with it if it suits his or her interests. Maybe we could even add a feature that the person can take a picture every week or month so he or she can see the gains easier.
That functionality is closely related to reminding our users about their goals. The moment they skipped the training for three days, we must send them a notification that they were doing great, and the progress is incredible, but they need to keep up with the procedure as all the gains will be lost otherwise. It is our responsibility, as a UX designer, to push our users forward. We must never blame or rail at them. Instead, we have to push them towards their own goals politely.
A good chance to do so is to connect them with others either directly within our own app or through social media. We could offer them some matching algorithm that brings together people in similar situations, so they can share their experiences and push each other. In the end, everything we do should make our users feel and become better in some form. If our solution can do that, we did an excellent job, and one of the best ways to achieve that is by connecting people.
So, therefore, join the UX Globals Community on Facebook and remember to always keep pushing! Have a good one!
