MSc in User Experience Design — User Research and Interaction Design

Project Overview

As part of the second module of the MSc in UX Design, we had to research, iteratively design and test an interactive digital wireframe prototype of an application that required an improved user experience as well as finding an opportunity (based on the existing app) to innovate a new UX design.

I was part of the group Mars, together with Ellen, Rebecca and Mikey. We chose the GymShark app for our re-design.

Name and link of the original app: GymShark (https://central.gymshark.com/article/the-gymshark-training-app-for-ios-and-android)

Project Development

The iterative research and design process is covered by the following blog posts:

• Planning
• Research
• Design

Key Learnings & Findings

• User research: It was crucial to understand the target audience (Gymphobes and Novices), our personas, they main challenges around exercising and fitness apps (intimidating, difficult to use, not designed for beginners), and also the main gaps and issues of the current GymShark application (overwhelming, confuse and difficult to understand);
• Ideation and design: Long process for a short timeframe, prioritization of the problems was necessary (focus on app onboarding and making the journey simple and more intuitive for beginners). We had to learn also how to use the tool (not Figma experts in the group).
• Usability testing: A key lesson learned was about the preparation needed for conducting a usability testing. With a clear script, the tasks, goals and follow-up questionnaire, we could gather valuable feedback and created a backlog for implementation. We were not able to implement all points we would like from the feedback, because of the timeframe, but we prioritized that changes on the onboarding and exercising execution, as they would have more impact on the overall journey.

Appendix

Sharepoint folder — Group Mars

Content:

• Research
• Testing
• Online work (Miro board; Surveys)
• Group presentation