Fitpose

OVERVIEW

Technology and the epidemic are depriving chances of people to do exercise like in previous ways. With the increasing need in home workout, problems appeared in unsupervised exercise. What are the obstacles for homeworkout? How to solve unsupervised exercise issue? This project provides a systematic and techinical solution as the answer.

MY ROLE

TYPE

TOOL

DURATION

User Research
Usability Testing
UX/UI Design
Product Design
Machine Training
(Individual work, all work shown below)

Internet of Things
Machine Training

Figma
Photoshop
Illustrator
ML5
P5.js

Oct. 2021 - Dec. 2021

CHALLENGE - A MODERN PROBLEM

People are being deprived of chances to do physical works, partly because technology has made our life easier, and partly due to the epidemic.

We drive cars or take public transport. Machines wash our clothes. We entertain ourselves in front of a TV or computer screen.

Fewer people are doing manual work, and most of us have jobs that involve little physical effort.

Quarantine has made it harder to go to the gyms or even go around outside to take a walk.

RESEARCH

- WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES?

Direct research was taken to gain an in-depth understanding of the cause of modern exercise issue.

INTERVIEW

Qualitative understanding of the motivations and obstacles for doing exercise.

- Children: 1 -
- Senior: 1 -
- Middle-aged adult: 3 -

SURVEY

Quantitative analysis of obstacles in home workout.

- People with age 12~18: 10 -
- People with age 18~55: 30 -
- People with age 55+: 10 -

Interview Results

Motivations for Exercise

Obstacles for Gym Exercise

Obstacles for Home Workout

Get Healthier

Get Relaxed

Improve Performance

Kevin, 33, Programmer

TI do exercise for losing weight, and also for relaxation after work. It helps me emty my mind and escape temporiraly from all the burdens in life. Socialize with others, listening to motivated musics and sweatering, those make my feel really good, both physically and mentally after workouts.

Limited Budget

Limited Time

Social Distancing

Shimeng Wei, 27, Designer

The gym is a little distant to my apartment. And often I’m too busy to go to the gym, but the cost of gym is high. Besides, you have to wait for the equipment you want, which is frustrating. The last reason is that I don’t want to be bothered by other people, especially the coaches advertising themselves when I workout.

Equipment Limitation

Lack of Supervision

Lack of Plan

Darren, 31, Phd Student

It’s hard to know whether your gesture is good without others watching on you. And you have to count down by yourself, which is even harder when you’re doing some strenuous exercise. Moreover, you need to be careful not making too much noises that annoys your neighbors.

Survey Results

RESEARCH INSIGHTS

The increasing need in home workout requires a systematic solution.

Smart devices providing direct feedback to users are needed.

DEFINE

PERSONA & USER JOURNEY

Based on the survey results, I created these personas to further empathize with our participants’ needs and frustrations. Then I created the journey map accordingly, which finds the painpoints and opportunities of target users.

IDEATION

MAIN SOLUTIONS

Based on issues identified, ideas were generated from the purpose of providing "Exercise Suggestions" and "Movement Feedback" to the users.
By brainstorming detailed functions around the two pivot solutions, a question about the type of supporting devices were then put forward.

01 EXERCISE SUGGESTION

02 MOVEMENT FEEDBACK

WORKOUT PLAN & NOTIFICATION

EXERCISE RECORDS & ANALYSIS

Workout Plan

Workout History

Workout Suggestion

Exercise Rminder

Body Statistics

Workout Summary

Performance Analysis

MOVEMENT MONITORING
‍

POSTURE WARNING
‍

Movement Reflection

Heart Rate Monitoring

Workout Demonstration

Time Countdown

Image Capture

Correction Reminder

Voice Instruction

Movement Detection

Real-time Adjustment Guidence

Next Step Question:

What device to use?

DEVICE · LOW-FI TESTING

Based on ideas generated, I firstly made paper-cut low-fidelity models for testing. 3 participants who have certain experience in home workouts offered their valued feedbacks.

EXTENTED INTERFACE · VR

In order to provide “more open interface”, I came up with changing the mirror to VR. Then I conducted the low-fi test by using the "glass room" to simulate the VR scene.

WHY VR?

Comparing to the fixed-viewd mirror, VR has the following advantages:

A. No boundary
B. Portable equipment
C. Flexible interface layout
D. Free viewport
...

Testing

Key Findings

Two people were asked to perform as the user and VR character respectively, and do the workout together. Cut-out paper low-fi were attached to the glass, simulating VR interface.

VR workout experience is better than mirror.
Direct body warning methods are still lacking.

WEARABLE DEVICE · VIBPATCH

For the wearable device, I firstly made several design principles based on previous testing results, then I tested different device forms, and finally made the detail design.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

In order to alert the inaccurate postures at the body level, the following principles were used for design evaluation:

① Easy to wear and put off
② Fits different parts of the body
③ Doesn’t impede body movement
④ Portable and reusable

Testing

Result

I came up with several possible device forms, and tested them by evaluating their conformity with the design principles.

"Patches" works best in achieving the needed functions.

Design

The device should be able to send signals to body directly, thus signalling and vibrating function was added to the device. I sketched the structure of the device, further modeled its shape and finally gave it a name -- VibPatch.

Machine Training

To get the motion recognition algorithm, I used posenet and did the machine training.

Method

The basic calculating principle is to identify and compare user's postures to the trained model. If the difference was exceding a certain percent, warning message would be sent to user interface.

‍

Training Code

Posture A

Posture B

Posture C