FitGamer
FitGamer is a mobile app that offers personalized recommendations for physical activities to encourage a healthy balance for gaming enthusiasts and professionals, preventing long-term health issues.
Duration
6 weeks
Team
4 Designers
Tools
Figma, Adobe XD, Miro
Canva
My Contribution
Formative Research, Design System, Storyboard, Wireframing Prototyping, Visual Design and Usability Testing
Problem Statement
Our main goal is to suggest replacement activities for gaming professionals and casual gamers who are playing for long hours and prevent them from getting long-term physical health implications.
Project Background
The most widespread form of entertainment in modern societies is computer games, which people of all ages enjoy. Due to their addictive nature, these games have become today's youth's most popular recreational activity. Games can be an escape from reality, but they can also cause anxiety, depression, wrist neck and elbow pain, obesity, peripheral neuropathy, blood clots and sleeping disorders.
Pain Points
01
Lack of awareness among people. Even if people are aware, they aren't motivated enough to take action.
02
They get too engrossed in the game they are playing that they neglect their health or take breaks.
03
Non availability of the right resources
Key Features
01
Suggest events based on gaming activity
The overall goal of this feature is to address the problem of gaming addiction by providing alternatives of things to do than play games and creating a community of people who are attending these events or participating in these activities. The application would track gaming activity; provide recommendations for physical activities.
02
Introducing Buddy
We provide an option to attend the event with a buddy (who is equivalent to a sponsor) they’ve been where you are, they’re an example of success, they can provide you with hope and strength and who keeps the user accountable.
03
Notifications to take frequent breaks
Achievements to track progress
Tips to take care of physical health
Diving deeper into the process
Formative Research
During the research phase, we carried out a thorough evaluation of the literature that included journal papers, web articles, interviews, fieldwork, and market research.
Interviews
Took interviews of an employed adult who was 25 years old and a graduate student who was 23 years old. People don't always understand the true repercussions of gaming addiction but when I was conducting interviews I realized that both my interviewees knew the extent of damage that would cause in their personal and professional life but still they conducted to carry on playing for hours together.
Observations
We carried out a field study at various sites that helped us understand the user's behavior in natural surroundings. To capture our observations, we jotted down the notes and created rough sketches. These insights aided in our analysis of the user behavior patterns.
Analyzing Data
In the affinity diagram we jotted down our insights from the interviews we conducted and grouped them into different categories. We used an empathy map to synthesize our observations to get a better understanding of the user's behaviors, emotions and attitudes.
User Patterns and Theme
2016
Word Health Organization recognized gaming addiction as a disorder for the first time
7.71 hrs
The average time spent playing video games is 7.71 hours per week in the US
8.5%
Children and teenagers under 18 around the addicted to gaming
40%
40% of the players do not participate in any kind of physical activity
Key User Requirements
01
Increasing Social Interactions
Although playing video games requires interaction with others in virtual spaces, they don't necessarily prepare one for the reality of peer socialization. We would want to encourage and incentivize learning how to communicate with other individuals in a real-world setting, which is a crucial social skill.
02
Building Awareness About Game Addiction
We observed that addiction to video games was a significant problem in modern society. This problem affected far too many individuals, particularly kids, and needed to be brought to people's attention.We believe that it is necessary to raise awareness of the problem, which is evident in today's society on an ever-growing scale.
03
Mental reminder on the time spent on playing video games:
Games are fun and can be extremely immersive to a point that the player can lose track of the time they end up spending on video games. Notifications about the time they are spending on a particular game can help them manage their time better and prioritize their activities.
Persona
Ideation
To explore the maximum number of opportunities, we conducted three brainstorming sessions generating at least 80 ideas with this issue in mind: to get the best ideas from our team members and ensure we had enough information for our user's needs.
Rationale behind the design
Requirements
It's necessary to engage in regular physical activity, take frequent breaks during gaming sessions, and be mindful of the duration and impact of gaming on your health.
The solution must be developed within the constraints of not forcing users to perform tasks and respecting their privacy, while still effectively promoting physical activity and healthy gaming habits.
Constraints
Features
Some features that can be included in a solution to promote physical activity and healthy gaming habits are recommending replacement activities based on gaming activity, an option to have a buddy/sponsor for support, alerts and break reminders, tips for maintaining physical fitness, and achievements to track progress.
Storyboarding
I wanted to ensure that I considered all the significant aspects of our problem statement when choosing solutions. Suggesting events based on gaming activity solutions appeared to be the most appropriate for addressing the problem space as it addressed all the problems that primary and secondary research suggested the target users are encountering while also being economically, socially, and technically feasible.
Design
With Figma, we could collaborate efficiently with other team members, making adjustments without sending files back and forth. This made the flow of the design process more intuitive and streamlined.
Wireframe
Our team created wireframes as a low-fidelity prototype using Adobe XD. The wireframes represented the skeleton of our application and helped conduct usability evaluations. Moreover, these wireframes allowed us to experiment with additional features which were unsure of adding to the final application.
Prototyping
We created the high fidelity in Figma to accurately represent the final application. This allowed us to ensure that our design met the users' needs and that the users could use the design effectively.
Montserrat
Primary
Aa
Regular
Aa
Semi Bold
Aa
Medium
#1BCF9A
Secondary
Aa
Bold
#68C4F8
#05070A
#C3C3C3
#FFFFFF
#ECAD33
Suggesting Events
Health Tips
Activity Tracking
Players Attending Event
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Navigation Bar
Search Bar
Age Slider
Primary
Secondary
App Buttons
Journey Tabs
We created the high fidelity in Figma to accurately represent the final application. This allowed us to ensure that our design met the users' needs and that the users could use the design effectively. We used a dark theme user interface since dark UI is gentler for the eyes than blue light.
Explore it on your own
Evaluation and Testing
In order to evaluate the design choices and overall effectiveness of the product, we conducted a series of assessments including expert reviews, heuristic evaluations, and usability testing with potential consumers. Our evaluations yielded several key findings and insights.
What worked well?
The combination of offering customization options and providing helpful tips for managing gaming addiction worked well in satisfying users' needs and interests.
What could have been done better?
The application could have benefited from an introductory, interactive tutorial that guided users through the categories, achievements, and buddy options, improving overall user comprehension.
My Learnings
01
Smooth sailing in a project largely depends on effective communication.
To navigate the path to success, setting clear objectives and roles is vital. As the team's captain, I emphasized open and attentive communication, valuing every team member's input and concerns.
02
The path to finding the perfect solution is paved with numerous iterations.
In addressing the challenge, we took an iterative approach, conducting interviews to refine our problem statement. With collaborative efforts, we analyzed observations and engaged in discussions to reach a conclusive approach. This commitment led to an effective and user-friendly solution, enhancing the overall user experience.
03
A project's success hinges on following the correct UX approach.
The project provided valuable insights into the core elements of UX processes. Through user research, persona development, and design iteration with wireframes and prototypes, we achieved a user-friendly and highly intuitive solution. This experience underscores the impact of adopting the correct UX process, yielding exceptional results.