UX Research
Jun 2016 — Jul 2017
Since I was already taking classes at the studio for several months I was already familiar with the company's philosophy in how they aim to create an effective and fun workout. Their business management tool, Mindbody, did not reinforce any of their values, nor did it feature a user journey similar to the in studio one. The bottom line is that there was almost no continuity. Speaking with desk workers, manages, instructors, and clients revealed many kinds of frustrations on their part. I would simply ask them if there was anything frustrating about the app and assembled a list prioritized by frequency and pain levels.
To be able to build a list of paint points and opportunities I interviewed several front desk workers and their manager. I simply asked them to tell me about their experience using Mindbody and how it was helping them or not helping them accomplish their goals.
As they were describing their experience I wrote down several problems they mentioned and after they were done speaking I asked them to rate the pain painfulness and frequency of each problem.
Painfulness 0-4: 0 (No Pain) - 4 (Unbearable)
Frequency 0-4: 0 (Never) - 4 (Constant)
Problems and Pain
1) Missing a water bottle sale because the platform doesn't have an efficient way to record transactions to charge later after peak attendance hours.
Painfulness: 3 (Very Painful)
Frequency: 3 (Often)
Painfulness Total: 6/8
2) Check-in process is slow. Accessing class information to answer client questions takes about 15-20 seconds per questions because of information is behind multiple button presses.
Painfulness: 1 (Annoying)
Frequency: 3 (Often)
Painfulness Total: 4/8
3) Scheduling process is slow and grueling. Assembling and viewing the schedule doesn't give clear vision. No photos to help learn and recall instructors' names and faces while scheduling.
Painfulness: 2 (Frustrating)
Frequency: 3 (Often)
Painfulness Total: 5/8
4) Understanding business performance feels scattered and slightly vague. Insight into sales of a particular item and comparing class capacities could be more clear.
Painfulness: 2 (Frustrating)
Frequency: 2 (Sometimes)
Painfulness Total: 4/8
Since I was already taking classes at the studio for several months I was already familiar with the company's philosophy in how they aim to create an effective and fun workout. Their business management tool, Mindbody, did not reinforce any of their values, nor did it feature a user journey similar to the in studio one. The bottom line is that there was almost no continuity. Speaking with desk workers, manages, instructors, and clients revealed many kinds of frustrations on their part. I would simply ask them if there was anything frustrating about the app and assembled a list prioritized by frequency and pain levels.
They also gave me a few possible solutions to the issues they were experiencing.
To search for more areas of opportunity to improve I turned to other management websites. I watched videos and downloaded several and look to see how they organized features and what steps they take users through. I essentially took the most straight forward and useful elements from these and MindBody to form a list of opportunities I can pursue. Additionally, I looked at the Uforia brand and studio layouts. I took colors and icons from the Uforia website, and explored a couple to studios to capture what the in-studio experience was like before, during, and after class. What textures, patterns, and colors were most prominent? The answers to the questions, thankfully, came fairly easily was implemented into the designs you see below.