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The Brief.

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Sector: Health and fitness

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Challenge: Neoyoga is a brand new studio based in London that would like to create an online presence for members and new users. The mission was to create a mobile app where people could join the studio and book classes on the go. This app should be easy to navigate, with information that is relevant to users and makes them want to sign up for classes.

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My role: Generative research, Interviews, Validation research, Information architecture, Interface design, Branding

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Project time: 6 weeks

What I did.

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Brand and strategy kick off

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For the generative research, I focused on researching of the main competitor apps: Triyoga, One Yoga, Yoga Haven and More Yoga. This produced some unexpected insights: 

  1. All apps were created from the same template.

  2. The user interface design was generally poor.

  3. Some user journeys were difficult to complete: reset password, contact information and teacher information.

  4. The filter options were too basic for an average yoga enthusiast.

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Competitor app evaluation research 

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This was conducted with 6 participants matching our target audience. Some of them regularly attended yoga classes and some didn’t. There was also a mix of participants who regularly used smartphone apps and those who didn’t. 

Participants were set three tasks to see how well the competitor apps handled three key user journeys: Sign up, book a class and find contact/teacher information.

These were the results: 

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  1. Participants found the log in process easy but long, but felt they had to input unnecessary personal information. 

  2. They were happy with the timetable, but found the design was quite poor.

  3. All participants were happy to pay by credit card.

  4. Finding contact information was generally easy for participants, but they found the information provided wasn’t enough. 

  5. All participants were disappointed to find that there was no information about yoga instructors. 

customer journey final.png

User personas 

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In order to empathize with our target audience, we developed so-called proto-personas. These serve as a starting point to reflect on the needs and challenges of the user and possible solutions that can be considered later designing the new Neoyoga app.

persona.png

Information Architecture

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Content plan

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To get an idea of the content that would be required for the new app, I created a spreadsheet showing the hierarchy of the screens and the content they would contain. This was a useful step towards the site map and prototypes, because I was able to plan the content that had to be written.

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Sitemap and User Journey maps

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A sitemap was developed to organise the content in the most logical and user-centric way possible. Three user journey maps were then created to show how users would navigate through the app to complete the three tasks that were tested in the generative research: Sign up, book a class and contact information.

site map neoyoga.png
User journey book a class.png
User journey register facebook.png
User journey find a teacher.png

Design

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Wireframe prototype for evaluation research 

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Now it was time to test my ideas for a new, better app with people. Combining the inputs so far, I used Adobe XD to create a wireframe prototype.

Wireframe one.png
Wireframe two.png
Wireframe three.png
Wireframe four.png

First round of evaluation research 

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The same participants used in the competitor app research gave feedback again. The key insights from this round of research were:

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  • Participants were satisfied with the new signing up process. They found it easy to do. 

  • The timetable page was a success. Participants said that it contained all the information they needed and it was easy to navigate through.

  • They applauded the filter options that were provided.

  • "Find a teacher page" was one of the biggest hits. Participants found this information relevant and useful.

  • On the Contact us screen, participants were pleased to see a chat option box. They suggested to add few improvements, such as a link to Google Maps and parking information.

 

 

Final high fidelity prototype

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The next step was to add interface design to the prototype, along with the enhancements suggested by participants in the previous round of research. The same user journeys were tackled, as these were relevant to members and non-members: 1. Registration, 2. Class booking and 3. View a teacher profile. 

neoyoga paint 1.png
neoyoga paint 2.png
Neoyoga final 9.png

Second round of evaluation research 

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Research was conducted with three more participants, and here is some of their feedback:

  • “I really like the colour palette you used - it is very calm”.

  • “I love the filter options you are providing”.

  • “The teacher profile is a great addition”. 

  • “Booking a class is very easy”.

  • “I really like that the signing up process is simple and doesn’t ask you for endless information”.

  • “It is simple and straightforward. Great!”

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After the second round of research, hardly any revisions were required. I believe this was a result of testing little and often to make sure the app was in tune with its audience.

 

 

 

The Result

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The Neoyoga app project was very exciting for me, because it gave me the chance to combine two of my passions – user experience and yoga, which I teach regularly at Virgin Active gyms around London. 

One day, I hope to launch a yoga business and will use the app to help get it off the ground.

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