Katarina Blind

Post-workout on Apple Watch

This project was part of my internship at Freeletics - an AI powered home fitness app. It introduces a phone feature to the Apple Watch, enabling workout completion from your wrist.

Time

6 weeks (Jul - Sep 2020)

Team

Apple Watch team (PM, Engineer)

Tools

Figma, UserTesting.com

Role

UXR, UX, UI, QA, User testing

Post-workout on Apple Watch

Time frame: 6 weeks (Jul - Sep 2020)

Team: Apple Watch team (PM, Engineer)

Tools: Figma, UserTesting.com

Responsibilities: UXR, UX, UI, QA, testing

Problem

After completing a workout, users give feedback to help AI adapt their future workouts.

This feedback flow didn't exist yet on the Apple Watch which meant that users had to switch to their phones after a single workout or session (up to 5 workouts).

The frequent cross-device interactions constantly disrupted the users' experience and often required them to remember details of several workouts.

Measuring success

We wanted to improve the week 1 retention for Apple Watch to consistently be more than 50%. The amount of completed workouts and overall user satisfaction was also very important to understand if the experience improved.

Solution

We created a standalone flow for the Apple Watch to log feedback right after a workout.

The feature reduced 80–90% of clicks in the post-workout experience, increased run workouts by 20% and resonated very well with our ambassadors and community memebers. Our very experienced PM also hypothesized it to drastically increase the Apple Watch retention.

Key learnings
  • Cross-functional collaboration: syncing with team, communicating design

  • Experience context: considering the device form factor, real-world experience implications and switch between devices

  • Localization: designing for multiple languages

Research

I was an active part of qualitative interviews to understand Apple Watch users and their general expectations for fitness apps.

To comprehend the specific problem better, I interviewed Freeletics Apple Watch power users and did my Freeletics workouts on the Apple Watch.

Key insights
  • As little interactions as possible: fatigued after workout, small screen

  • Similar flow to current phone feedback: current Freeletics users want a seamless switch from phone to watch

Inital flow

This is the original flow to give feedback when starting workouts form the Apple Watch.

Since the Apple Watch team was very small (one PM intern, a PM for guidance and one engineer), communication was very open and frequent throughout the project. The goal for this project was very clear and a the mobile flow served as a guide.

So, I created one flow to then discuss with the design & research as well as Apple Watch team in terms of experience and feasibility.

Exploration

I received very helpful feedback that the flow wasn't optimal for the small screen. It also seemed too transactional and would probably benefit from slightly fun and quirky elements.

The design and research team also reminded me to think about localization and gave me advice on how that affect my design.

Refined flow

After discussing my explorations with the engineer, we were able to decide what would work best for the time frame. I then refined only that version to avoid spending extra time.

The direction we decided on is a fun, yet mature approach that fits into Freeletics' already established product. It also focuses on creating an experience for exhausted post workout users, using little text and interactions while increasing visuals.

User testing

We planned in depth external user testing quite some time after the launch to get insights into long term impressions.

I conducted some internal pre-launch usability testing to identify potential blockers from shipping the first version. The users had little to no problem navigating the flow and really liked its convenience.

Further development

The Apple Watch feedback flow shipped at the end of my internship.

Throughout the project, I assessed, discussed and presented opportunities for continuing the post workout experience which I received very positive feedback on.

I created a flow to simplify the experience of logging all Apple Watch workouts on the phone which was approved by the design team.