Fiit Airbike experience
Integrating connected fitness hardware to level up the interactive workout experience.
When
2021
Team
Lead Product Designer (me)
Product manager & Head of product
Engineers (hardware, iOS, Android, JS)
Fitness experts
Marketing manager
Results
Strategic partnership with Assault Fitness established and helped with the US launch
Unlocked new category and partnerships with WIT and The Gym Group
Generated Airbike pre-orders through increased community engagement
Challenge
After the fitness market landscape had changed drastically in 2020, I worked closely with the Head of Product and the 3 founders to define the next phase of user experience on the Fiit platform. We agreed that it was essential to go beyond mat-only workouts and that connected equipment was going to be the next focus. Specifically, Air Bikes have been proven to boost functional fitness, however, no digital interactive experience existed for them yet.
2. High level flows
I started off my mapping out the new architecture of the app. There were multiple explorations of the longer term vision, but I gradually shifted focus to the MVP: adding the air bike tab. Other fitness machines would follow later (e.g. Tread and Rower).
3. Defining the air bike metrics
The biggest question was - what metrics and competition mechanics will drive users to push harder?
Together with the fitness team we recruited a group of external testers. I then conducted remote interviews to get their feedback. I created and showed them the following mock ups of pre and post-class journeys.
Key learnings
Core metrics: users preferred to see repetitions (reps) on mat + calories on bike metrics for the air bike experience. “that’s how I would work out: 20 thrusters + 20 calories on the bike”
Competition: they were all interested in seeing a leaderboard showing a total score (which is a sum of reps+bike cals). They related it to their previous physical Crossfit class experiences.
Filtering: users didn’t mind competing with others of different sex, weight or fitness level. However, they were keen to filter by those similar to them.
4. Purchase journey
Together with product managers and marketing we mapped out the experience for opening the air bike experience to the first batch of users. The challenge was to create a straightforward sign up flow for both free and already premium users.
5. Designing in-app flows
I worked closely with the fitness team to understand how the new Airbike content will be filmed and packaged. Airbike classes were grouped into 3 types: Train, Recover and Compete. I structured the pages to align with the fitness team’s vision. I created designs in line with Fiit’s design system in Figma, and contributed a number of components.
One of the challenges I wrestled with as part of creating UI flows was a reorganisation of the information architecture. Some of the other sections had to be deprioritised (e.g. 3 studios featuring mat-based classes). By prototyping and discussing various flows with the team and users I arrived at the final designs.
6. Prototyping
To communicate my vision for how the Airbike experience will change the structure of the Fiit app, I created multiple prototypes in Figma, such as the one below.
7. In-class views for mobile and TV
The in-class experience was an evolution of existing in-class views. I had to rearrange some metric components and validate these updates with developers. As the user moves from the mat to the bike and back during the class, I had to consider various active/inactive states.
8. Final UI
The final experience shows reps of exercises on the mat and kcals burnt on the bike. The sum of the 2 metrics comprises a score which then gets shown in the leaderboard after the class. I worked closely with developers to clarify all flows and design states.
After releasing the MVP experience to the beta testers, the feedback was largely positive - users were excited to see real-time metrics coming form the air bike on their phone or TV screen. This was the first time this experience was created for an Air Bike fitness machine.
9. Results / impact
Buzz in the social community
Strategic partnership with Assault Fitness established and helped with the US launch
Unlocked new category and partnerships with WIT and The Gym Group
