Summary

What happens when 3 geeky Computer Science PhDs (Igor, Matej and moi) want to motivate themselves to exercise more? JIM is born, the mobile and web application to bring fun and simplicity to strength training.

Problem

There’s a ton of activity trackers and fitness applications out there. All following the same patterns of manually entering parameters. But, do you want to swipe and type on your phone while sweating in the gym? Neither do we.

Solution

The solution is an application for fitness trainers as much as it is for trainees. A brutally simple, straightforward mobile application backed by a powerful web back-office. JIM allows trainers to onboard more trainees as it gives them a clear overview. And gives trainees a portable trainer to keep at all times in their pocket.

My role

I wore several hats. User research, product design as well as branding.

Results

Reached the Imagine Cup Finals
Paused development 2013-2014, resumed in 2015 and currently in beta testing with 3 fitness chains

Gamify Research

None of us had the domain expertise, so we involved the fitness trainers. With the help of gamification and my EPUI methodology they became active co-designers.

JIM - the Persona

The persona was called... JIM. And later came the brand.

User stories

Together with the 2 dev friends we were outlining the scenarios we observed during research.

JIM. The brand.

My friends know that I'm a sucker for naming products. The same as with Edgar, we also hit the jackpot with the name with JIM. It's a great wordplay and together with Marusa, we designed a cool matching identity.

Paper prototypes - Mobile

We iterated super fast and cheap. Using post-it notes, and plain sheets of paper and a bunch of Skype/Hangout calls. Every paper prototype was tested with the users as soon as possible. But firstly, we tested it as a "paper UI story" in the team.

One Button to rule them all

There is only 1 button that also serves as the main display for current activity.

One-way traffic

Users get their training regime by the trainer and all they do in the gym is follow the instructions. Machine occupied? Well, do it later.

Interact with the trainer

If needed, trainees can always see how they're doing and ask for expert advice/help. The request is sent to the trainers's dashboard.

Congratz. High five!

Information such as progress report is served to the user when needed. In a slick, visual way. Of course.

No fuzz

The UI is straightforward to eliminate any unnecessary interruptions during training. If needed, one finger is enough to operate the app.

Hi-fi mockups

We launched the Windows Phone version first - partly because we won the Imagine Cup Finals and wanted to build on that momentum.

The interface is extremely clean and I used a strictly no-nonsense design. The one-button concept was a complete hit both with trainers and trainees.

The web application is still a work in progress, but it is fully operational and the beta trials are running smoothly.

The web application is used mainly by trainers as they prepare the training and monitor the activity of their trainees. With JIM, they are able to work with more trainees at a lower price point.