top of page
iHive app
Founder
​
Role: UX Research, UI Design
​
My key tasks: Generative Research, survey creation, interviews, user persona, wireframing, user testing, prototyping, presentation.
​
Timeline: Jan 2021- Present
An introduction
About the project
iHive is a mobile app that allows fitness teachers to find cover for their classes. I was responsible for the end to end process from generative research to prototyping.
​
I combined my two expertise , fitness and UX to create a Minimum Viable Product that will provide a solution for instructors around the world in order to get reliable cover for their workouts.
The problem
Fitness teachers need to find a cover instructor when they are sick or go on holidays.
However is quite difficult to find reliable cover because they don't have relevant qualifications, don't show up for classes or don't have enough experience. Some teachers end up loosing their classes at clubs because of this situation.
​
The project goal
The goal is to create a mobile app where teachers can find reliable cover for classes.
Instructors will need to upload their certificates and insurance to be able to access the classes.
Understanding the problem space
What are the challenges that fitness teachers face when need cover for their classes?
I conducted forty surveys with fitness teachers and club managers to understand their needs and pain points when asking cover for classes. All of them experienced some issues when getting cover for their classes.
​
The major questions I asked here were:
- How do you find cover for your classes?
- What challenges did you face?
- What type of help you are looking for?
​
​
​
Here are the main pain points that teachers faced:
Unqualified teachers
A teacher that covered my class didn't have
the correct qualification and experience.
It wasn't a great experience for participants
"
"
Unreliable system to find teachers
I normally use Facebook or WhatsApp Groups
to find cover but it is not reliable
"
"
No show ups
The cover teacher didn't come to cover the
class and left members very dissapointed
"
"
Exploration
Cover Ninja app
What are the potential features based on the main pain points?
I created an affinity map to group the insights into categories in order to determine potential features. This was also an opportunity for me to further understand their needs and gather insights from what was not explicitly mentioned.
​
Insight and possible features:
- Updated qualifications of all teachers
- Reliability rating
- Ability to choose who covers your class
​
​
​
How are similar services designed and how can iHive differentiate?
From the surveys and affinity map, I realized that all the participants had issues at some point to find cover for their classes. I decided to further narrow the scope of my project to get reliable cover teachers and conducted a competitive analysis to understand how other services are designed.
​
​
​
WhatsApp groups
Facebook groups
Opportunities for iHive to differentiate
iHive can differentiate from its competitors by implementing a system where teachers will feel confident about what person is covering their class and also provide extra information to their peers.
​
​
​
Testing main competitor
Testing user journeys
To understand the happy and unhappy paths of the main competitors app we asked 6 participants to re create three user journeys: - Sign up , - Get cover for a class - contact the app. These were the main results:
​
​
​
"
"
I don't like that I can only go to the Homepage if I have uploaded my certs. I would like to know what I am getting into first.
The Homepage is non existent. It looks confusing.
"
There should be a
database for clubs and
postcodes when you ask for cover.
I feel dissapointed that
I can only contact the app via email. A chat
bot would be great.
Based on the insights from the affinity map, the personas, and competitive analysis, I further refined the features for the minimum viable product.
​
​
- Relevant qualifications:
All teachers will have to upload their certificates and insurance in order to ask for cover or pick up classes. If some of the qualifications expired the app will update the instructor.
​
- The teacher can decide who covers their class:
Other apps use "first come first served" system and the teacher can't decide who covers their classes. With this system we allow teachers to curate the best person to deliver their class.
​
- The club manager is immediately notified by iHive of the teacher covering the class at their club:
​
We will make sure that managers are kept on the loop of who is covering classes at their clubs.
​
- Voice notes feature
The teacher will have the option to record notes regarding their classes, invoice and the club.
​
Ideating
Main features
Testing iterations
Ideating for possible solutions
I created several wireframes for the minimum viable product based on the features mentioned above and to quickly determine which layouts made the most sense. Then I conducted user testing on six participants and asked for their feedback.
​
​
​
Refining solutions through user testing
Based on the user feedback, I moved forward in creating the low fidelity prototype and conducted user testing by observing the six participants' behaviors. The notes are comments left from them.
​
​
​
Revisiting low-fidelity prototype
I realized that the design system I was using it was very similar to the main competitor and decided to change it for the high fidelity prototype.
I made sure I was following accessibility guidelines and I used Stark and Contrast Checker.
​
​
​
Proposed solutions
After changing the design system following accessible guidelines I created the high fidelity prototype
Part 1
Teachers will have to upload their certificates and insurance to be able to get cover for a class or pick up some classes to cover. However they will be able to go the homepage without adding their qualifications.
Upload relevant qualifications
Part 2
Part 2
Teachers will be able to add voice notes explaining what the structure of their classes, invoices and any other feedback
Add voice notes
Part 3
Club managers are not keep on the loop about covers and there is a lack of communication between teachers and owners.
Every time a teacher accepts cover for their class the manager will be instantly notified
with all the relevant information
Add club's manager contact
details
Part 4
The app will allow you to see the candidates profile and decide which one will cover your class.
Teachers could choose which candidate is covering their classes
Anchor 1
The video
If you would like to see iHive video with the main user journeys and interactions, click play.
Problems encountered and solutions angled
1. Overwhelming onboarding for instructors.If users are required to input all their availability, class types, certs, and locations upfront, it might feel like too much work.
Risk: Drop-off before completing sign-up.
Solution angle: Break onboarding into smaller steps, progressive disclosure, or skip-and-return flow
2. Unclear value proposition. Instructors or studios might not immediately understand how the app helps them.
Risk: Low activation rate from new signups.
Solution angle: Test value messaging in the hero section, show real-time coverage activity ("15 instructors found a cover today"), or offer a demo mode.
3. No Clear Post-Cover Follow-Up. Problem: After a class is covered, there may be no clear way for users to check on their cover, leave feedback, or rebook the same
instructor.
Solutions angled: - Implement a post-class feedback system where users can rate the experience and leave comments. - Follow-up emails or push notifications can offer users the chance to rate their substitute and provide incentives for repeat engagement. - Show users “Previous Covers” or “Instructor Matches” in their profile, making it easy to book the same person again.
Roadmap
For the next steps for this project I will start looking for investors to make this app a reality.
After all the research it is clear that this app is viable and gives a solution to fitness teachers.
bottom of page