Project
INtroduction
When people do high-intensity interval training (HIIT), They need a timer to count down each exercise and rest. Most of the timer apps in the App Store require a monthly subscription. And, the iOS timer can not satisfy users' needs. The user has to tap the screen twice to stop and restart the timer after each exercise. It is also impossible to adjust the timer every round. I ran 3 weeks of design sprints and designed a prototype of an iOS interval timer that allows users to set up exercise and rest time, and round for HIIT trainers.
TYPE
Individual Project
DURATION
3 weeks
MY ROLE
Research, Persona, Define Features,
Prototype, Interaction Design
Youtube
Research
I did research with the viewers who watched the most popular HIIT videos on YouTube. First, I replied to their posts and asked them if they would like to answer some questions about their HIIT experience and if they used a timer. Then, I emailed them the questions and got 5 responses finally.
Affinity
map
I wrote down answers from responses and put them on sticky notes and grouped them on a wall to make the affinity map to analyze and synthesize user research findings.
Project
Personas
Research
findings
Most of the users of my research are beginner-level of HIIT. They would like the timer app to have basic functions like a warm-up, work, rest, round setup, and voice alert. It should be simple and easy to use.
Pain
Points
• Monthly subscription
• No voice alert
• Too complicated and not easy to use
• Too many functions
• No voice alert
• Too complicated and not easy to use
• Too many functions
App Store
Reviews
From using four popular interval timer apps and reading their user reviews on the Apple app store, I tried to get some user empathies of competitor’s products.
competitive
Research
To define the features of my timer app, I compared all the features of the four interval timer apps and summarized them in the following table.
define
features
Based on my research on users and competitors, I adopted the MoSCoW method to prioritize essential features into four phases. The first phase features focus on the must-have initiatives.
paper
prototype
Design
solution
reflection &
Next step
The hardest job was finding the HIIT users who were willing to contribute to my research on internet. Since all personas in the research were from all over the world, it was impossible to learn more about their lifestyles and personalities in details. What I learnt that the competitor research was necessary when similar products were already on the market. That helped me to divide the product features into four priority phases.
This interval timer enriches the functionality of iOS timer, but that need user feedback to prove its value. Next step, I will find right users to do the hi-fi prototype test. If the value is proven and all the features work well, the next iteration will focus on the planned features of should-have initiatives.
