MindFuel Case Study
During my 10 week Bootcamp, I designed a digital experience that provides young adults with the means of credible information in the health and fitness industry. This was completed through research, user testing, prototyping, and designing.
View the full prototype here
Problem Space
Young adults are heavily influenced by social media influencers. It is not uncommon for uncredible sources to promote products and diets as a way to achieving unobtainable health and fitness goals. Studies have shown that an improper diet or overexercising can be detrimental to your overall health and long-term side effects are very common.
Secondary Research
The health and fitness market is targeted at individuals who are insecure and looking to improve their lifestyle habits. The majority of social media content is providing false results by pitching products for weight loss or to remove all signs of bloating.
Young adults are heavily influenced by social media. The ratio of reliable to unreliable health and fitness information is skewed due to this topic being so prominent. Ideally, young adults should only be provided with health-related information that will assist them with their health and fitness goals. Over 70% of normal-weighted women want to be thinner, 34% of men want to be thinner.
Poor body image can often lead to depression, eating disorders, social anxiety, and more. Over 80% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat. Project EAT reveals statistics through how the media plays a huge role in causing young adults to fantasize over celebrity influencers and their health and fitness regimens.
Design Question
“ How might we help young adults improve their health and fitness regiments in order to better their mental and physical health?”
Primary Research
In order to engage with my problem space, I conducted user interviews with a human-centered design approach. This gave me the leverage to understand and connect with my users on a deeper level. My targeted audience was young adults between the age of 19–22 who were familiar with health and fitness.
Common Themes
- Comparison — Subjects felt they were constantly comparing themselves to others on social media. This makes it much hard to create goals based on their own needs.
- Pressure — All interviews said they spent over 6 hours a day scrolling through social media. With over 70% of their feed related to health and fitness, all subjects stated the constant pressure to workout was having negative effects.
- Trust — All believe that the products being promoted are fake and influencers are posting about products they don’t use. This creates trust issues within the health and fitness space.
Persona
After gathering research and conducting my interviews, I designed my persona, Kiera.
Experience Map
Task Flow
As Kiera, I want to find and favourite videos based on my fitness needs so that I can incorporate verified workouts into my lifestyle.
Sketches
Mid-Fi Wireframes
My wireframes display the key-frames outlined in my task flow. I conducted two rounds of user testing using mid-fidelity wireframes so the tester had no distractions of colors and visuals.
User Testing feedback
- Cards are not organized well, hard to tell hierarchy.
- The video screen does not need a preview button when on the preview.
- Login screens were hard to differentiate from a sign-up page.
Hi-Fi Wireframes
Adding design and color for optimal prototype use.
Key Learnings & Takeaways
Pivoting my skills in graphic design and learning how to apply research to my design process has been an eye-opening experience. My way of tackling design challenges is now embraced through a human-centered design approach.
- Have your user in mind at all times and trust the design process
- ALWAYS relate back to your persona
- Embrace the feedback by peers and educators
