Rapid UX: From Mind to Design in 4 Days

On October 31st 2016, 14 aspiring UX designers gathered in an industrial building in Chicago, IL. The User Experience Design Immersive at General Assembly Chicago had begun, and instructors wasted no time in giving us an introductory project: Define a problem that could be solved with a simple mobile app. The problem should be based around research and a core user; in this case, a fellow classmate. Research your problem, interview your core user and others to determine needs and desires, and sketch and prototype an app based on user feedback that offers design solutions. Week 1 has wrapped and I’m proud to say that we all came away with completed projects and a greater understanding of UX design and its processes. Read on to see how the rapid process unfolded for my app, Run With It.

The Problem

“What do I wear when I work out?”

My primary user loves to run, but sometimes she feels uncomfortable in her workout clothes. She’d like a solution so she knows what to wear when she runs indoors as well as outdoors.

With running as a start point, I sought out other users who were regular exercisers to see if their wants/needs matched with my partner. From other runners, to a yoga enthusiast, to a classmate who practiced different fitness routines every day of the week, I found that there were two major challenges associated with clothing choices and workout conditions.

Challenge 1: Organize the Closet — Not a Shopping Solution

Users don’t need more clothes, but they want to utilize what they have.

The first theme that emerged from user research was that women didn’t need more workout gear. From the five users I interviewed, their wardrobe was 30%-60% workout wear. Not only that, but users did extensive research before they purchased new pieces. From high-end providers like Lululemon to more accessible brands like Old Navy, every interviewee took their routine, budget, and style preferences into account before they made a purchase. The problem arose when it was time to prepare for a workout. More often then not, users forgot what was in their closet. A design solution will offer a way to organize the user’s closet so they can know what’s where.

Challenge 2: Tailor the Clothes to the Workout — They Must Work Together

Wrong = Clothes that are not ideal for their chosen activity

When users are in a rush, they might pick what’s closest or what’s familiar, not always what’s best.

The second theme was that users needed a way to match their clothes to their workout. The time between workout clothing research and actual implementation could be weeks or months. From my interviews I learned that users may have known at one time that certain apparel was superior to another, but that didn’t mean they’d always remember or seek out what’s better. Habits can get in the way of making better choices. One user told a story where she was running late for a spinning class and she grabbed a pair of running shorts before leaving her apartment. Normally, she wears 3/4 length leggings so she doesn’t get too warm and everything stays in place. In this class, she was uncomfortable and embarrassed within ten minutes because her shorts kept riding up. “Had I had the time to look for what I knew I needed, I would’ve avoided this problem,” she told me. “But sometimes I’ll go for what’s there vs. what’s best.” Clothes and workout should go together. A design solution will allow users to create frequent workout situations and match them to clothes.

Sketches and Prototype

As I began to design the app, I created an early feedback loop by having users vote on screens that looked intuitive and least cumbersome. I had a lot of ideas on how the closet build might look, for instance, and one design quickly emerged as the favorite.

Figure 1 shows some failed iterations of the “build closet” feature. Users didn’t like the idea of having to take pictures of individual wardrobe items, entering item numbers that would correspond to store inventories, or making a generic list. They needed a focused alternative.

Figure 1: Unpopular iterations of the “Build My Closet” feature

Figure 2: The preferred (yet still flawed) closet build

Figure 2 was the overwhelming favorite for a personal closet build. Structured like an e-commerce site, the user has the chance to filter by brand and type of clothing to select the items they own and add them to their virtual closet. While this was the most popular method, some critical users pointed out that this may discourage them from using the app altogether because of the pressure on the user to put their closet together.

I recognize that this iteration of the closet does require a certain amount of upfront user effort, similar to other showcase apps like Poshmark, Etsy, or an Ebay shop, which asks each user to construct their home base. The user puts in a fixed time for set-up, but it’s a one and done. All other functionality working properly, future interactions should be smoother and more time efficient. Interviewed users had had enough mishaps with their workout clothes and routines that the thought of building a closet and workouts to eliminate future stress was worth it for them. If I were to revisit this project in the future, however, I would dedicate more time to finding a streamlined closet solution to appeal to a larger user base.

The below prototype screenshots show the preferred closet method.

From left to right: Login screen — A user’s saved closet — Search feature to add new items to a closet

The second challenge was creating a way to save frequent workouts. This feature was much easier to design. A simple survey evaluates a workout type, duration, and intensity.

Workout Build Feature

The final piece was to match our two challenges together. Using your curated closet and personal activities, Run With It matches your clothes to your workout, addressing both the problem of a disorganized closet and a workout match-up in one solution.

From left to right: Workout selection — Buffering page — Final selections

Reflections and Future Improvements

I enjoyed this project because it allowed me to think outside my normal routine. As a swimmer, my workout apparel is fairly fixed. I researched racing suits, bought two, and have been using them for years. I never need to worry if I’ve made a poor choice for my workout because my wardrobe and activity are entrenched in one another. In this situation, I got to interview many different kinds of users, each with their own workout challenges, and seek to create a solution that would assist them in more than one scenario.

For the future, I’d like to streamline the closet build (as mentioned earlier), have the ability to mark items as “used” or “in laundry” so that the app does not repeat itself from one day to the next, and add a ratings feature so future matches can be more tailor made to each individual user.

If you’re curious, the link to my interactive prototype can be found here.

Onto the next!