Pose helps yogis have a better experience practicing yoga at home.
UX & UI Designer,
Marketing Strategist
Invision
Photoshop
(15-20 h per week)
Play with the Prototype here.
APPROACH
I used the Double Diamond approach to understand my target audience before focusing on solutions. The process had two separate diamonds that allowed me to gain an empathetic perspective.
YOGA PRACTICE AT HOME?
Despite the convenience of practicing yoga at home, there was a disparity in experience compared to a traditional studio practice. Yogis often struggled to find inspiration and motivation to begin the practice due to the lack of a similar atmosphere and engagement found in a studio setting.
I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE
First, I wanted to understand the difference between practicing yoga in the studio and at-home to see if my personal experiences can be validated through research. According to a study, over 36 million Americans engage in yoga, with 67% performing home sessions. Surveys show that home yoga practitioners have expressed feeling blocked, stuck, and uninspired. Students get easily distracted, struggle with self-motivation, and are more likely to wander without specific direction from a teacher.Here is a list of pros and cons of practicing yoga at home:
🥳 Pros
- Remote access to teachers from around the globe
- Taking classes at a convenient time & location
- Eliminate commute time
😞 Cons
- Losing moments to sit before & after class
- No temporal buffer zone
- Interrupted practice & distraction
- No self-motivation
- No sense of community
- Creating bad habits
Improve Home Yoga Experience
HOW MIGHT WE? (V1)
From secondary research, I developed my first design challenge statement:
How might we improve the virtual yoga experience for millennial at-home yoga practitioners so that they have as fulfilling of an experience as in-person classes?
Talking To Yogis Helped
INTERVIEW TARGET USERS
Some highlights from a few of my interviewees:
Having collected all the data, it was crucial to synthesize the findings and identify the problems. This was an important step in refining the scope of my solution to meet the specific needs of my target users and alleviate their most pressing pain points.
Behaviors
Motivation
Pain Points
To understand the audience, I conducted three 15-minute decontextualized one-on-one interviews with millennials. In this process, I gathered qualitative data that included the participant's behaviors toward their current experience practicing yoga at home and in the studio.
I analyzed the interview notes for each participant, extracted quotes, and classified them under three categories shown below.
INTERVIEW INSIGHTS
Key Themes and Insights
With this categorization, I extracted five themes that gave me insights into the problem space. Mentorship was chosen as the core theme because all users agreed that a mentor could boost motivation and consistency in the long run, resulting in a more frequent and healthier exercise routine.
A BETTER HOW MIGHT WE? (V2)
From market research, I refined the design challenge to accurately reflect the insights gathered. In this new version, I attempt to reframe the problem space by focusing on my chosen theme which is mentorship.
How might we mentor people practicing yoga online by providing feedback so that they are as engaged as they would be when practicing in person?
Bringing the Research to Life
Creating a user persona profile and user experience map helped me condense my research findings and make design decisions based on the target user's needs.
DJ on Tour
Yoga
Enthusiast
Practice
Yoga Online
What Does Aida Want?
Authoring Stories
After empathizing with Aida, to guide the ideation process, I authored 30 unique user stories from the perspective of Aida using the following structure:
Epics
Stories were grouped under 4 distinct epics to find similarities and prioritize their relevance. I chose one epic to start developing my user task flow.
Main Epic: Learning and improving yoga poses
“Learning and improving yoga poses” was chosen as my core epic because it aligns the best with the problem space. This core epic was also one of the most challenging parts for my users during their practice at home.
Learn About Yoga Poses
Primary Task
I selected two user stories from my core epic to represent the value proposition of my product in the form of a user task. Based on these stories, I created a step-by-step flow that depicts Aida’s interactions with the app. I validated the primary task by revisiting my opportunities from the user experience map:
How I Designed Pose?
Exploration Sketches
From the sketches, I created a list of basic components on Figma following Apple design principles, simple mid-fi grayscale wireframes, and built a working model for testing with users. The goal was to get feedback from users and make changes quickly so I could make sure my ideas were on the right track before starting on the final design.
I used InVision to compile inspiration from different yoga applications. I used an inspiration board as a reference while sketching initial concept screens on pen and paper.
View UI Inspo Board here.
Feedback Improve Design
User testing
I conducted two rounds of user testing with 5 participants in each round. Users performed six tasks and provided feedback to improve the design.
Creating a Brand
Inspo board
Having completed the prototype stage, I moved on to creating a product brand identity and a highly detailed prototype such as color, imagery, and high-fidelity design elements.
What Identifies My Brand?
Themes and keywords
Why "Pose"?
List of names
Dissatisfied with my brand name options, I began sketching items associated with yoga practice. As soon as I drew a yoga mat, I knew it was the desired logo. To find a name that aligns with my app and logo, I considered the various actions performed on the yoga mat and ultimately named the application "Pose."
Pose described the benefits and focus of my app, sets the app apart from others, and resonates with my target audience. It was also easy to remember.
wordmark
Now it was time to create my wordmark. First, I sketched the yoga mat and pose in varying sizes and weights. I selected the most impactful sketches and transformed them into vector graphics:
The Look and Feel
Mood Board
Colors
I chose the darkest and lightest neutral colors from my mood board to bring a dark studio-like, serene atmosphere. Then added a bright accent color for hierarchy and contrast.
I picked #9FA575 as my accent color, the most aligned color with the brand adjectives.
To help CTA buttons and important icons stand out more, I extended my accent color. Icons, buttons, and tags are some elements using this extended family.
Typography
The primary typefaces used in Pose interface are Helvetica Neue and Diatype types. Due to huge amount of video content, I chose to have two types. One familiar and professional type like Helvetica for headers in different sections and one fun new type for body text to show different content.
Refining the User Interface
UI LIBRARY
Before incorporating colors into the wireframe, the most frequently used background and text color combinations were analyzed for sufficient contrast to guarantee text readability. To enhance accessibility, I aimed for AAA classification in accordance with the WCAG guidelines wherever feasible.
HI-FI PROTOTYPE
After incorporating the UI into each screen and achieving a fully developed refined high-fidelity prototype, I was prepared to proceed with building the actual product.
Play with the Prototype here.
Time To Find New Users
Web and Mobile Website
As part of our go-to-market plan, I crafted a user-centered website that effectively conveys our unique value proposition.
I employed a user-centric approach, similar to that of the mobile app design, by conducting rounds of user testing to identify and eliminate any points of friction.
The website serves three main functions:
- Educate potential users about Pose
- To convert potential users by establishing trust
- Communicating our value proposition.
Play with the Marketing Web and Marketing Mobile here.
Learning & Improving
Key Takeaways
My PM played a critical role
- By offering insightful feedback on my work and collaborating with me.
- By questioning my thought process and guiding me in setting priorities.
Document Document Document!
Throughout the course of this project, I found myself constantly revisiting my notes from the initial research phase to inform crucial design decisions. This highlights the importance of thorough documentation, as it serves as a valuable resource for reference and decision-making.
Revisiting your work is essential! Its okay to go back!
I learned that revisiting and refining previous work is important. By incorporating feedback and new insights, I improved my initial ideas and achieved the best possible outcome. It's important to choose modifications wisely, as they can have a significant impact.
wHATS nEXT?
1. Partner with a developer to create a minimum viable product to validate product-market fit.
2. Create a comprehensive business plan to lay the foundation for successful fundraising efforts.