No Sweat

Inspired by my own trip back to the gym

No Sweat is a personal project for people looking to get back in shape and rejoin a gym, or join one for the first time, but who feel some trepidation about it. It helps them find a gym that’s right for them, and motivates them to take those first steps.

The inspiration came from… me. I found it hard to go back to the gym after many years away.

Self-conscious about starting

A potential new customer who doubts they can get back into shape wants to join a gym, but having to visit one makes them feel self-conscious.

Struggling to win them over

A gym owner worried about staying in business needs to reach new customers, but faces their trepidation.

Talking to people who’d been there

Online surveys came first. They gave limited results, but enough basic insights to shape a question script for 1-on-1 interviews, where I expected the real insights to come from.

Interview participants were easy to find: plenty of people around me shared these same doubts about joining a gym, and were happy to tell their stories. It was comforting to know so many others felt the way I once did.

Online surveys

Limited results, but useful for shaping the interview script.

1-on-1 interviews

The main source of insight, real stories from people who felt the same doubts.

Customers were the main focus, but the gyms’ view mattered too. An extra interview with a gym manager and personal trainer gave valuable insights.

Keeping customers long term, beyond a fleeting New Year’s resolution, helps the business, and gives staff real satisfaction when someone finds their motivation.

Their biggest frustrations: keeping customers motivated, and managing their expectations.

From sticky notes to insights

With the interviews done and plenty of data to sort, I organised it into an affinity map to form initial insights, then again into an empathy map to confirm them.

Marvel fans will recognise the name. It started as a placeholder, but it stuck, and that’s exactly what a persona should do.

A persona is who you design for, so it’s important they’re memorable, especially when you’re juggling other projects. This Steve may not be Captain America, but he definitely sticks. (I like to think he’s a bit of a Marvel fan, too.)

Narrowing in on what matters to Steve

With Steve in place, I set the MVP for the first iteration of No Sweat. A value vs. effort chart narrowed the insights down to the ones that mattered most for him.

Somewhere he feels comfortable

A gym where he feels at ease, with staff and other members who suit his support and social needs.

Somewhere that fits his life

A gym with a suitable location and pricing plan.

Pen to paper, then into Adobe XD

Time to put pen to paper. A user flow mapped how I’d ideally like Steve to move through the app to reach his goals, and sketched wireframes laid the base for a first prototype.

From that pile of sketches, I built a prototype in Adobe XD. It came together nicely, and gave me something to test.

Onboarding confused people

Testers weren’t sure how to answer the onboarding questions, and onboarding is the key step in helping Steve find a gym.

Reworked and reworded

I reworked that part of the prototype and rewrote many of the questions to make them clearer.

Future opportunities

To keep No Sweat moving forward, the next steps are: