We revolutionize the running experience with a captivating mobile interface, turning it into an immersive journey. Users seamlessly integrate achievable goals, connect with running pals, and transform hard work into points for avatars, gamifying the running experience.
My Role
Product Design on New Feature
User Research
Team Members
1 Design Lead
2 Product Designers
Client
Joyrun Tech.
Award
2017 Sina Annual Most Popular Running App
Timeline
4 weeks in 2017
FINAL OUTCOME
9,000 Running Groups
5 million+ Activate Monthly Users
The success of this groundbreaking feature propelled the evolution of the JoyRun App, with registered users surpassing 53 million. In 2017, it was recognized as the Sina Annual Most Popular Running App. The running pal and group-forming features became so popular that they transformed into a standalone product, gaining immense popularity within the running community.
PROJECT BACKGROUND & PROBLEM
It's difficult for young adults to be consistent in running.
Joyrun, an app catering to runners of all levels, reached out to us to promote the app among young adult users. Currently, there's a concerning trend of inactivity among this demographic, crucial for the app's success. I'm designing new features for young adults to boost engagement and improve their overall experience for JoyRun 3.0.
THE SOLUTION
Motivation Boosters and Community Support tailored for young adults to keep them lacing up!
Provide achievable running plans to improve motivation, prevent becoming overwhelmed, and maintain consistency in the long run.
- Start small achievable milestones and build up gradually for young adults to kick off and stick to it
- A sense of accomplishment and self-improvement can keep them motivated
- A gentle progression to avoid mentally overwhelmed and physically injured
Incorporating missions with rewards to make running attractive and satisfying
- An average of 82% of possible sessions were initiated.
- Keep it entertaining and amusing the brain, don’t let it link to boring and difficult.
- Seeing a record of accomplishment can be both satisfying and motivational.
Create a community for young adult runners to celebrate their achievements, share experiences, and provide support and accountability for each other.
- Running with a group can increase running frequency by up to 57% and running duration by up to 125% from baseline.*
- Users can find new running partners through this community or bring their existing squads here. By joining the community, young adults can gain a sense of belonging and strengthen their habits and bonds
- Tracking progress and celebrating small successes, provide a source of extrinsic motivation and rewards to stay accountable
*according to the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
DESIGN STRATEGIC
- Product Understanding
Research and understand the product, computers, business objective, and our users.
- Product Definition
Observe the users and explore the problems. Define the goal for this project and generate creative ideas.
- Iteration
Explore the best possible design from low-fidelity wireframes and user testing on prototypes. Iterate and refine to solve the problem effectively.
- Implement
Refine with users’ feedback and put the vision into effect!
WHITE PAPER RESEARCH
An approach to increase the success rate of running sessions, running frequency, and running duration!
I initiated my research by delving into studies and articles on running, covering topics such as starting and maintaining a running habit, especially among young adults. My exploration extended to psychology, focusing on empowering habit formation. In this process, I uncovered surprising statistics and findings:
“…to get through that first step of training is to break running down into manageable bite-size pieces.”
from Ryan Hall, Olympian, and American record holder in the half-marathon
“Runners with grouped activities recorded 78% more active time, respectively, than their solo counterparts.”
from New York Times
”… use of social media had a positive effect on increasing physical activity. Participants reported an increase in running frequency to 57%, running duration up to 125% from baseline”
from Journal of Sports Medicine and Science
“4 laws building habits that stick: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy and make it satisfying.”
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS + THE OPPORTUNITY
No competitors have taken the necessary steps to incorporate running plans into motivation and reward strategies.
While considering the above statistics and findings, I analyzed the five most popular apps designed for runners at the time. None of them integrated both motivational boosting and celebration into running plans to assist young adults in maintaining their running goals. This then became my opportunity for a solution.
USER INTERVIEWS
My interviewees were 76% more likely to complete a running section when there were fun elements and rewards for achieving their goals.
Research indicates that motivation with attainable running plans and social support is key to maintaining a running habit. To understand why young adults fail to keep running as a routine, I conducted interviews with 20 individuals to find trends on why they sometimes fail to keep up a running habit and posed the following questions. I then organized my data through affinity mapping.
Important Research Questions:
- How was your most recent run? How did you feel before and after it?
- What inspired, supported, and motivated you to keep running?
- What was it like the last time you tried to run, but found it difficult to get started?
- What was the most challenging aspect of maintaining this routine for you?
- Can you explain the process of trying to maintain a running routine?
- What running apps do you use, and what do you like and dislike about them?
THE MAIN INSIGHT
None of the previous apps my interviewees used worked due to a LACK of entertaining motivation, and reward achievements.
Analyzing the trends in the affinity map, I observed that WITHOUT bringing together achievable plans, entertainment, a supportive community, and celebrations, young adults tend to lose motivation, as was the case with previous apps.
Theme: Motivation
- Running is daunting and requires significant effort for young adults who are not used to running.
- It's difficult to maintain enthusiasm and dedication when running solo and having no one to share the experience with.
- Young adults are more likely to remain committed if there are motivating elements, interesting aspects, or rewards involved.
Theme: Support
- Even if they may be willing to let training slide, they are less likely to disappoint a friend.
- They enjoyed the run socially and can go longer than working out alone
- The knowledge base and the support of having runners who can share tips on training and injury prevention is also a huge boon.
- Making connections with running friends can become real friends, and is crucial to overall health and well-being
Theme: Celebration
- Seeing all accumulating achievements gives them a tangible, visible reminder of progress and motivates them to keep running.
- If you’ve already tried running and didn’t enjoy it, that negative association will pop into your head every time you think about hitting the pavement.
- When celebrating success, they can’t wait to get started on each small goal on the way to ultimate achievement.
Theme: Achievable
- Young adults don’t have the patience to go slow, they usually think all or nothing.
- Young adults don't care to have a plan or schedule; so they usually end up doing something else.
- Young adults are more likely to remain committed if they have an interesting and refreshing running plan
THE YOUNG ADULT PERSONA
DESIGN
Feasibility and sustainability check
We spent a week investigating various possibilities: promoting new route tasks every week and introducing augmented reality along route geolocation to provide variety.
However, when I thought about the user experience of the whole flow, I understood that pushing tasks for young adults could bring stress and have a negative effect if they fail to complete one in the sequence.
Launching new routes in major cities weekly could raise safety concerns, and using AR requires more research with the user’s mental models and interaction with our app during running and could be uncomfortable for individuals who have not previously experienced it. More research and experimentation are needed for two features. These features are in the more complex quadrant of the Impact-Effort Matrix, and may not be feasible at the current scale. Thus, they are not the top priority for this product currently.
I stuck to the direction for my final solution because our newly designed features can achieve the same effects.
USABILITY TESTING
Usability testing revealed that users were less inclined to wait for running partners to connect within the running app. Instead, they expressed a preference for communication through more common messaging apps, such as text messages or Messenger. Additionally, users emphasized the desire for a feature to store favorite items for future point changes, enhancing their ability to achieve their running goals. I incorporated the insights gained from this usability testing, along with feedback from stakeholders, to shape the final prototype design, as showcased below.
