W & W FITNESS
A computer supported cooperative app for college students interested in recreation
Time Duration
April 2023- June 2023
(1 month)
Tool
Figma & Google Docs
OVERVIEW
For this project I designed an app which focuses on building and supporting interactions between students interested in physical activity and creation. The inspiration and idea behind this app were Twitter and Yik Yak which are also CSCWs.
THE PROBLEM
The social skills of most university students are underdeveloped which prevents them from finding social communities on campus. The purpose of this app is to allow students to make friends and adapt in a community without having to reveal too much personal information.
KEY GOAL
Create a space for students interested in fitness, health and physical recreation to socialize with one another.
TIMELINE
BRAINSTORMING
I started by reflecting on what frustrates me about the CSCW/social computing tools I currently use. Perhaps it’s the UI of an in-car touchscreen or the UX of a shopping website. After brainstorming these design challenges, I developed an initial proposal for an app with the intention of building something that people would want to interact with even if they are in close proximity with the other person.
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Initially, the idea was to create an app that recommends loyalty programs based on the birthday gifts or rewards users receive. The inspiration came from my personal experience of redeeming free brownies, sandwiches, makeup, and more from companies I have accounts with each year.
Jottings of my initial idea + taxonomy flows
Hi there!
This project is currently being redesigned with an improved layout to better convey my story. It will be ready by March 26th, 2025 :)
- Anita Nwude-Chenge
BREAKING DOWN THE PROCESS
With the use of paper prototypes and user cases I had a clearer vision of the functions and designs the app would carry.
Use Cases
Use cases give a description of how users will perform specific tasks on a website or an app
Use Case #1
Actor: University students, faculty or trainers.
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Basic Flow: Everyday after the user is done exercising, they check for the Shake Smart daily post for protein shake of the day. They log in with their Arizona NetID and on the home screen they click the tab on the side for verified accounts. They click on Shake Smart profile and look for the pinned discussion thread which is what the drink/meal of the say is. The Shakes Smart profile updates it weekly.
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Alternative Flow: If Shake Smart has not posted the shake of the day they exit the app and revisit it later in the day.
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Alternative Flow #2: The user has drunk the shake of the day in the past, so they check the Shakesmart website for their menu of items.
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Alternative Flow #3: The user does not want a protein shake that day or can’t afford one so they don’t visit the Shake Smart Profile.
Use Case #2
Actor: Student name is Jane Doe
Basic Flow: Jane is looking for advice on her deadlift form. She logs onto the app and starts a discussion thread titled “Advice with Deadlift Form”. Under the description of the thread she describes her problems with deadlifts and asks other users to reply under the forum. She clicks posts and waits for replies with good answers
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Alternative Flow: No one replies to her thread for an hour so Jane visits one of the trainers or verified profiles and searches for advice on deadlift forms.
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Alternative Flow #2: Jane uploads a video of her current RDL form and asks for help. Maybe uploading a video will grab more users attention
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Alternative Flow #3: Jane sends a direct message to one of her online friends asking if her friend has any helpful advice to improve her form.
Persona
A proto-persona helped me stay anchored on the users and avoid letting the desire for features drown user needs.
Storyboards for the Use Cases
TITLE OF THE CALLOUT BLOCK
LESSONS LEARNED
Computer Supported Cooperative designs require a lot of attention, planning and user research.
With this project I learnt that apps whose success depend on interactions and communication between users involve a lot of human attention from the designers. It's important to not loose sight of the target audience which in this case would be recreational college students.​