Usability Testing: Gym Application Usability Study

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Community Design

Community and Design space

• Overview
• Objective: Evaluate the design of a multiple applications and design a robust gym application
• Project Type: Usability Study
• Length: 3 months
• Methods: Usability testing, field research, survey, semi-structured interview, task analysis, heuristic evaluation
• Community: Those who like to be active primarily those that go to the Gym.
• Design space: A application to help newcomers find friends and buildup mentorship to motivate individuals to exercise more
• Goal: Help newcomers find friends and buildup mentors to motivate them exercise more

Qualitative Interview Questions Survey

• Do you go to the gym on a routinely basis?� If you answered yes to the previous question, how often do you go the gym?� If you answered yes to the first question, what are your main motivations to going to the gym?� If you answered no to the first question, what are some reasons as to why you don’t go to the gym (either at all or on a routinely basis)?
• If you go to the gym, what type of exercises do you do?
• If you either go or don’t go to the gym, which exercises would you like to start doing?
• Do you have a desire to make friends or meet people at the gym?� If you answered Yes to the previous question, what are reasons as to why you would like to socialize at the gym?� If you answered No to “Do you have a desire to make friends or meet people at the gym?” what are the reasons as to why you do not want to socialize at the gym?

Qualitative Interview Questions Survey

• Have you ever made friends through your gym experience? If so, how?
• If you have any information you would like to provide regarding your gym experience, please list so below.
• Which of the following functions would you like to see in an app that is designed for making connections at the gym?
• Which of the following functions would you like to see in an app that is designed for making connections at the gym?
• Which of the following app functions would motivate you to socialize more at the gym?
• Please list any other suggestions you have for our gym community app.

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Qualitative Survey Results

• Have you ever made friends through your gym experience? If so, how?
• If you have any information you would like to provide regarding your gym experience, please list so below.
• Which of the following functions would you like to see in an app that is designed for making connections at the gym?
• Which of the following functions would you like to see in an app that is designed for making connections at the gym?
• Which of the following app functions would motivate you to socialize more at the gym?
• Please list any other suggestions you have for our gym community app.

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Qualitative Interview Questions Survey

• Reasons for socializing at gym:� People want exercising to be a fun experience� People want to learn from someone who is more experienced� People want to be held accountable towards exercising regularly
• Frequently mentioned features for social connections:� Pairing with someone with more experience� Pairing with someone of a similar experience level� Pairing based on shared goals (ex. Becoming stronger)� Pairing based on shared fitness interests (ex. pilates)� Pairing based on similar age� Pairing based on schedule availability
• Most popular suggested feature for motivation:� Public badges/achievements – To encourage competitive play

Conclusions and Design Recommendations

• Overall, the Gym Application Usability Study provided good user experience. Most participants said they would recommend it to a friend as well as try it again themselves. Many users primarily enjoyed the squad match experience as it was akin to dating applications, which allowed users to seamlessly browse through potential gym partners. However, the app encountered safety issues as the squad match feature struggled to verify the identities of individuals. Despite these safety concerns, numerous inexperienced users expressed positive feedback, emphasizing the app’s simplicity and intuitive design. Many found it easy to navigate, and some users commended its resemblance to well-known applications, which contributed to the overall user-friendly experience. Despite safety challenges, all users successfully accomplished essential tasks with minimal guidance, underscoring the application’s ease of use.