Buddy Up
Buddy Up is an app that aims to make it easy to meet people to go to the gym with. Users can match and communicate with others to find partners for their next gym visit.
UX Team Members
Allison Lee
- Phase 1: Wrote method description, collaborated on findings, wrote caveats, and wrote personas.
- Phase 2: Collaborated on wireframe and prototype (60%), collaborated on report page content.
- Phase 3: Collaborated on prototype, wrote executive summary, wrote summary on heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough feedback.
Luke Sakal
- Phase 1: Wrote executive summary, collaborated on findings, wrote conclusion, wrote scenarios, edited and finalized report.
- Phase 2: Collaborated on wireframe and prototype (40%), collaborated on report content, wrote executive summary.
- Phase 3: Collaborated on prototype, wrote task and questions explanations, wrote study approach, wrote summary on results.
User-Centered Design Artifacts
Phase 1: Requirements Gathering
Executive Summary
Buddy Up’s goal is to connect gym-goers to potential gym partners. In this requirements gathering phase, we collected information to help us understand the needs and current habits of potential users.
We surveyed people interested in going to the gym to understand their habits and desires:
Our online survey received (n=42) responses
- There is a mix of experience and comfort levels with the gym:
- 40% of respondents report never going to the gym
- 40% of respondents go to the gym either daily or several times a week
- Respondents tend not consider themselves to be experienced with gym equipment
- On a 5-point scale (1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree) the average was 2.4
- Most respondents find that going to the gym solo is intimidating
- On a 5-point scale (1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree) the average was 3.9
- People have multiple reasons for going to the gym:
- 88% had more than one reason for going
- Strength training, cardio, weight loss, and lifestyle improvement were the most common goals
- Respondents tend to want a single, long-term gym partner who share their interests and will motivate them:
- 74% of respondents would prefer a single gym partner
- 76% would prefer a long-term gym partner (lasting months or years)
- Most respondents agreed that sharing common interests with their gym partner was important
- On a 5-point scale (1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree) the average was 3.8
- Respondents commonly felt that they needed someone to motivate them to go to the gym
- On a 5-point scale (1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree) the average was 3.6
- 33% of descriptions regarding the respondents’ best gym experiences included mentions of going with other people
- Respondents prefer if gyms are close by and not too busy:
- 40% would not travel more than 5 miles to a gym
- 42% of descriptions regarding the respondents’ worst gym experiences mentioned the gym being too busy
From our requirements gathering, we’ve discovered the following:
- Gym-goers need a way to express their experience level with the gym
- People want gym partners who they connect with, facilitating communication between users is essential and users may desire a way to quickly learn about or match with a potential partner
- Many people report bad experiences when the gym is busy and may want a way to avoid peak hours
- Most are unwilling to travel far to go to a gym; proximal establishments would be preferable
Full phase 1 report
Phase 2: Interaction Design
Executive Summary
In this interaction design phase, we have created wireframes and click-through prototypes that reflect the needs of our users.
Wireframes are basic framework of the project’s layout, giving us an idea of where to place different elements, without needing to code. The click-through prototype provides an interactive experience and illustrates the different flows that users may experience when using our app.
Both the wireframe and click-through prototype feature:
- Pages for signing up:
- Each page represents different details to build the user’s profile, such as name, age, photos, hobbies, experience level, goals, activities of interest, and gym location
- Pages for logging in
- Pages for resetting a password
- Home page featuring different users’ profiles and the buttons for matching or rejecting
- Pages for showing a detailed view of users’ profiles
- A page for editing the user’s own profile
- Pages to show how users message one another
- A menu that has buttons for navigating the app, customizing settings, logging out, and account information
- Pages showing settings and informational pages
Full phase 2 report
Phase 3: Usability Evaluation
Executive Summary
For the final phase of the project, we received feedback from our heuristic evaluations and used cognitive walkthroughs to modify the click-through prototype. From those findings, we finalized our higher fidelity click-through prototype and created a protocol to prepare for a pilot evaluation and usability test.
Heuristic evaluations are a way of measuring usability problems within the user interface design, typically judged against common, recognized usability principles.
Cognitive walkthroughs are similar in that it identifies usability issues within interactive systems by identifying the user goal, the tasks to accomplish the goal and recording the experience while completing the tasks.
Protocols define the way in which a usability testing session will be executed. This includes the script and instructions that the moderator will follow and read aloud to the user.
Our protocol includes:
- An introduction to familiarize the user with what is about to take place
- Background questions to survey the user’s prior experience of meeting new people
- Various tasks to evaluate the user’s experience
- Creating an account
- Looking for someone matching specific criteria
- Editing profile and settings
- Ratings on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being Difficult and 5 being Easy, for each task
- A section to wrap up the user test and ask users to rate their overall experience with the app
Full phase 3 report