The future of at-home fitness
brand design • product design
This project was done with We Design Better as part of an entire rebrand in Sacramento, CA.
The project brief
The concept
Being at home during the COVID-19 crisis changed the landscape of the at-home fitness space more rapidly than anyone anticipated. Pivoting to meet these demands would be key for Flawless Boxing's success. In doing so, they wanted to ensure their offering met the needs of their users based on class availability, times classes are offered, equipment users already own, and the technology used to stream virtual classes. I conducted exploration of what it would look like to build an at-home fitness product from the ground up.
Flawless Boxing is creating the next movement in home fitness. Designed to be free standing, the bag fits in the home as a piece of furniture rather than an at-home gym. We aimed to set Flawless Boxing's bag apart in the fitness equipment space by setting the new standard of beauty and branding.
2020 · 6 weeks · we design better
• USER INTERVIEWS
• COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
• comparative analysis
• JOURNEY MAPPING
• BRAND & UX AUDIT
• DATA ANALYSIS OF FUNNEL TO IDENTIFY pain POINTS
• SHORT & LONG TERM STRATEGY
• COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
• comparative analysis
• JOURNEY MAPPING
• BRAND & UX AUDIT
• DATA ANALYSIS OF FUNNEL TO IDENTIFY pain POINTS
• SHORT & LONG TERM STRATEGY
In-depth research & interviews
We kicked off the project with an in-depth research involving user interviews, competitor analysis, comparative analysis, customer journey and more. These techniques let us better understand Flawless’ audience and how the product needed to be designed to fit into customer’s lifestyle better.
We proposed an research plan to help us gain customer insights and identify pain points and opportunities for improvement. This helped us establish short and long-term strategies for the business.
CURRENT COMPETITOR Equipment
Assumptions
• With regard to time, people shifted their workout times due to family and work now being at home.
• Users did not workout in their living room, most users worked out in their garages or outside, due to space. This was also regional as most customers were based in Sacramento, CA.
• Most user used their laptops to stream virtual classes.
• Most of the users we interviewed were existing clients. They were waking up later due to the quarantine.
• Most users didn't have a heavy bag in their homes.
• Most user users worked out in their garages in their home.
• Users were working out in the middle of the day or evening.
• Users did not workout in their living room, most users worked out in their garages or outside, due to space. This was also regional as most customers were based in Sacramento, CA.
• Most user used their laptops to stream virtual classes.
• Most of the users we interviewed were existing clients. They were waking up later due to the quarantine.
• Most users didn't have a heavy bag in their homes.
• Most user users worked out in their garages in their home.
• Users were working out in the middle of the day or evening.
What we learned:
• Punching bag users could use within their homes.
• At-home fitness is done outside of the normal hour clients would typically go to the gym due to quarantine.
• People do not have the necessary equipment to complete a full at-home boxing workout.
• People are streaming from their laptops and cell phones to complete virtual workouts.
• People like technology that provides insight into their workouts.
• At-home fitness is done outside of the normal hour clients would typically go to the gym due to quarantine.
• People do not have the necessary equipment to complete a full at-home boxing workout.
• People are streaming from their laptops and cell phones to complete virtual workouts.
• People like technology that provides insight into their workouts.
During the research phase, we learned 1) the design of the bag needed to stand out as there were a other fitness bags competitors 2) a tech component would be needed to pair with the bag and 3) any app design would have to utilize onboarding to its full potential. We were aware that the at-home fitness industry was growing and listed the following assumptions:
01 —
Prototyping the physical product
Prototyping the physical product
The prototyping of this project had two main parts. The first part was understanding the actual physical setup of the bag. The second part was the design of the bag that stands apart from current existing solutions in the market.
From our research we found most users were working out in their garage and hanging bag would take up more space, so it would not be ideal. Also, the bag was designed with a bright red color similar to the color used in the rebrand to set itself apart from other bags already in the market space.
02 —
Making of the accompanying app
Making of the accompanying app
After finalizing the bag design. Flawless wanted to explore a technology option (tablet, punch tracker, etc.) to accompany the bag, but due to budgetary concerns we focused on an iOS app. However, given the current uncertainty during the COVID-19 crisis we were only able to explore the onboarding process.
Flawless still wanted to explore a technology option (tablet, punch tracker, etc.) to accompany the bag so I began designing after looking to each option we decided on an iOS app. These designs were only an exploration of the onboarding process due to budgetary concerns.
Having a well established design system laid the foundation for the bag and app design. Having the foundation helped to achieve our goals by breaking the flow into distinct and intuitive steps, changing the language to be more relatable and digestible to the fitness journey. And finally, introducing visual prompts to guide the customer’s journey.
03 —
The final design
The final design
The final bag design was well received both by the Flawless team and their clientele. These designs were such a hit that the bags sold out immediately!
The final setup
During 2020, Flawless did see a 20% increase in revenue where so many other gyms either took a loss or had to close their doors. Unfortunately, due to the cost to develop an app and technology component Flawless Boxing focused on their online video content development, the owner's Instagram channel and will explore future iterations of an iOS app when the time and resources are more readily available.
The final bag design was well received both by the Flawless team and their clientele. See the above comment from the bag manufacturer about the design itself.
The reaction
