Giving fitness a new face
Michigan Fitness Association
MFA found in 2020 with the objective to provide fitness businesses with a voice in the industry in the state of Michigan.
Alyssa Tushman, Vice Chair of the Michigan Fitness Association, reached out to me via Upwork with a bold vision for an innovative fitness community platform. The goal was to create a dynamic hub where users could track their fitness progress, participate in events, connect with influencers, and explore a curated marketplace offering discounted fitness accessories—all within an intuitive and engaging experience. As a freelance designer, I collaborated closely with her team to bring this vision to life, integrating advanced AI features to elevate usability and deliver a state-of-the-art platform tailored to the unique needs of the fitness community.
Founding Designer (Freelance)
2023 - Retainer Project
Our challenge was to develop a unified fitness platform that sets itself apart in a saturated market by offering a seamless user experience. By combining tracking, community features, events, and a marketplace, we aimed to empower users with all their fitness needs in one cohesive ecosystem.
Understanding who we are designing for is crucial. Through user interviews, analyzing user stories, and listening to client insights, we identified the key user groups our design would cater to:
HOW WE SOLVED THE PROBLEM
Designing an MVP
An MVP is the simplest version of your product that allows you to learn about the business viability of the product. The goal is to determine whether or not the problem you’re trying to solve is worthwhile as early as possible, with limited time and resources invested. The tricky part can be identifying the core functionality required to provide value to your users.
Oopss!! I missed the Onboarding Journey…
Like most fitness apps, the sign-in process can be a headache, requiring users to enter a lot of details.
As a designer, I proposed introducing a pre-login journey to reduce drop-offs and improve user engagement. This approach would allow potential users to explore the app's value before committing to signing up. However, the stakeholders initially prioritized completing the login journey. They wanted to capture detailed user data upfront to better understand what different users were seeking within the app. While this approach offered valuable insights, it presented a challenge in balancing the business need for data collection with the user experience goal of minimizing friction and drop-offs.
The progress tracking experience
To differentiate our progress tracking experience from competitors, I delved into the UX of the entire journey to identify opportunities for innovation and improvement.
Here's what made a great impact on the product.
Feeling overwhelmed by all the information?
Let me share some UI designs to keep things engaging before we dive into the more exciting aspects of the product.
Transforming a product into a profitable business
We dedicated significant time to researching the fitness events market in Michigan, aiming to attract users to our platform and inspire them to participate in the events we host.
Here's how we made $250K in revenue just from "Events"
Events were a key focus of the MVP, aligning with the founder's vision to build a platform that redefined how users engage with fitness events. The goal was to provide a comprehensive catalog where users could explore various events, easily find ones that matched their interests, and book them seamlessly—all in one place.
We offered exclusive discounts on event prices to attract more users and ensure they completed their bookings. Additionally, we introduced a feature allowing users to watch events live for free, enhancing engagement and value.
Within six months of launching the MVP, we generated $250K in revenue solely from ticket bookings, showcasing the platform's success and user appeal.
Thoughtfully crafted UI elements that added a personal and polished touch to the app.
Impact we made on the first MVP launch and what we have to improve on the product.
Events were a key focus of the MVP, aligning with the founder's vision to build a platform that redefined how users engage with fitness events. The goal was to provide a comprehensive catalog where users could explore various events, easily find ones that matched their interests, and book them seamlessly—all in one place.
We offered exclusive discounts on event prices to attract more users and ensure they completed their bookings. Additionally, we introduced a feature allowing users to watch events live for free, enhancing engagement and value.
Within six months of launching the MVP, we generated $250K in revenue solely from ticket bookings, showcasing the platform's success and user appeal.
