Testing the user experience of a fitness start-up’s service and platform
WEFLEX
Role
UX Researcher. Created with Harness Projects.
CONTEXTTimeline
8 weeks (January - March 2023)
Background
WeFlex is a start-up that connects people living with a disability or mental illness to NDIS-accredited personal trainers. With the mission to make mainstream fitness accessible and inclusive, providing tailored fitness programs for unique needs.
WeFlex engaged Harness Projects to learn more about what is important to clients when choosing a trainer, who the decision maker is when signing up for training, how clients/trainers use the platform, and what features could be developed to support their needs.
Limitations
A very small sample size of existing clients
We were not able to interview any existing clients who had used the platform
Only half of the personal trainers had WeFlex client and used the platform
Limited recruitment budget
Design Process
Hypothesis & Objectives
Stakeholder Interview
We conducted a stakeholder interview with brand manager Alexander Perkins to understand;
Current state: Business model, goals and measures of success, customer acquisition strategy, competitors, and value proposition.
Platform: Current stage of development, role in client/trainer experience, accessibility considerations.
Customers: User needs and motivators, common barriers to training, current trainer/client matching process, and customer journey including backstage actions.
Stakeholder interview affinity map
Scope Increase
From the stakeholder interview, we learned:
The platform only launched within the last month.
Personal trainer-to-client ratio is low. The focus for 2023 is to gain more clients and increase the website conversion rate.
The current onboarding process requires too much hand-holding and is not scaleable.
For our research to support business goals the project scope increased to include the website user journey.
Hypothesis & Objectives
Lean UX Canvas draft
From what we have learned so far, I created a Lean UX Canvas to define high-level hypotheses and research objectives keeping our aim in mind - to evaluate the user’s experience of the service offering, website, and platform and find opportunities for improvement.
Hypothesis
Prospective Clients
We believe that the conversion rate will increase if clients find a trainer & location that suits their needs sooner with upfront relevant information.
Personal Trainers
We believe that onboarding completion time will reduce if personal trainers can become NDIS accredited, and start helping WeFlex clients sooner with fewer steps and streamlined processes.
Objectives
Understand how clients’ unique needs impact their approach to health and fitness
Identify what matters most when searching for a fitness professional and who is involved in the decision-making process
Understand the process of becoming a client and trainer
Understand prospective client customer journey, frustrations, and motivators to take action
Evaluate how useful the platform is, what tasks are difficult, and what tasks do users expect to be able to complete
Methods & Conduct
Recruitment
Next, research methods were selected, usability test plans and interview script guides were created. Participants were recruited from WeFlex client list, Askable, NDIS facebook support groups, and personal networks.
User Surveys
We conducted user surveys to compare WeFlex’s demographic profile assumptions with our respondents and understand where to place emphasis in usability interviews.
We obtained data from 6 existing clients, 34 prospective clients, and 14 personal trainers.
Key survey insights:
Personal trainers are the least popular health and fitness service prospective clients have looked into.
The majority of people living with a disability make decisions about health and fitness themselves.
Personal trainers are generally satisfied with WeFlex’s service apart from the matching process.
Google form survey responses of prospective clients
Usability Test Interviews
To gain a deeper understanding of user motivations, goals, values and unmet needs I conducted eight usability test interviews. The structure of interviews was split into half personal context and half website & platform usability testing.
Personal trainer usability interview guide
Prospective client usability interview themes
Synthesis
Based on the qualitative and quantitative data gathered, I created various artifacts to consolidate synthesise common user needs/goals, to get into the mind of the user, and begin ideating recommendations.
We did not gather enough data from existing clients to produce statistically significant insights. So my synthesis focused on prospective clients and their experience of the website.
Key Insights & Reccomendations
Clients want autonomy over their choice of trainer - and can’t find what matters to them most the people behind the service.
Clients are stuck in the information -gathering stage, confused about the service offering and if it will suit them.
PROSPECT CLIENTSTransparency & choice: Reduce the clicks it takes to find a trainer and bring clients into the purchasing mindset earlier. E.g. matching questionnaire sign-up, trainer bios, gym location & facilities page, and the option to meet and greet.
Relevance: Use customisation to let clients select who and where they are to see only relevant, inclusive content.
New trainers aren’t sure what to expect next while they are waiting for their first client match and disengage.
Trainers have little reason to use the platform and rely on WeFlex staff to complete essential tasks.
PERSONAL TRAINERSExpectations & support: End the radio silence after onboarding with automated communications to keep trainers motivated, informed, and supported e.g. onboarding drip sequence email series, satisfaction surveys, and community board.
Platform value: Increase overall functionality, self-service, and engagement with tooltips, integrated calendar, and gamification to earn social proof badges for module and profile competition.
Custom reporting: Enable more specific session reporting that directly supports fitness and NDIS goals. E.g. custom goal fields and data measurements to track and prove incremental progress with data.
Client progress is long-term and unique. Success is more holistic than just physical improvement.
BOTH TRAINERS & CLIENTSUser Flow
Based on prospective clients’ recommendations I mapped out a high-level user flow that prioritises transparency and supports clients to find and book in with a personal trainer in the fewest amount of steps.
This process pushed me to consider each step and the different screens users may meet based on their unique circumstances.
Client Feedback
“Outstanding work Leona, well constructed, well articulated, totally understood. A lot of the stuff you said very much resonates with the things I think in my gut I think we should be doing. Your research was spot on, that was incredibly useful”
Tommy Trout, WeFlex Founder
Next steps if more time
Understand the value behind manual matching
Before moving forward with the new model that allows clients to self-select their personal trainer, to make sure it’s in the right direction, it would be useful to understand the backstage steps of the existing matching process with stakeholders. From here I could determine if there is any value for prospective clients in retaining manual steps completed by WeFlex staff.Usability testing with existing clients
Incentivise current clients with pay to participate in user testing and surveys. Gather insight into their platform experience and who the decision makers are (individuals living with the disability or someone in their support network).Go deeper into NDIS funding problem space
During the second round of client interviews, explore the hypothesis that clients don’t have enough NDIS funding, and want to train more often, and reports with data-based improvements will build a stronger case for more funding when it comes time for clients NDIS plan review.
Biggest Lesson
Keep questions open and always prepare for multiple user scenarios
The interview questions I prepared were based on the assumption that trainers/clients had used the platform and were actively training with WeFlex. During my first two interviews, I learned quickly this would not be the case for all users but was not prepared enough to pivot effectively. Moving forward this was a great reminder to start with grand-tour questions, keep interview goals top of mind, be comfortable with silence, and follow up with TEDW questions.
