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80% of users abandon fitness apps within the first month.
Workouts feel too difficult or repetitive
Lack of motivation and progress visibility
No accountability or social reinforcement
Generic plans that don’t adapt to user lifestyle
How might we design a fitness experience that keeps users consistently engaged beyond 30 days by making workouts adaptive, rewarding, and socially accountable?
Users want quick wins early
Motivation drops when progress feels invisible
Social accountability increases adherence by ~40%
Overly intense workouts cause early churn
Together, these represent the fragmented fitness ecosystem users currently navigate.
Users combine:
→ This creates friction + drop-off
👉 None focus deeply on habit formation + motivation
→ Leads to user burnout
First Workout
1st Week Usage
Motivation Drop (Critical Point)
Retention or Churn
Confusing onboarding
No personalization
No visible progress
Lack of engagement loop
Adaptive onboarding
Instant rewards
Social triggers
AI coaching nudges
Start Small, Win Fast
Make Progress Visible
Design for Habit Formation
Leverage Social Motivation
Personalization Over Generalization
AI adjusts difficulty based on performance
Prevents burnout & boredom
XP points, streaks, badges
Daily goals → instant gratification
Compete with friends
Weekly leaderboards
Personalized nudges
Smart reminders (“You’re 1 workout away from a streak!”)
Created interactive prototypes for key user journeys including: onboarding, first workout, 1st week usage, motivation drop (Critical Point), and retention
8 participants
Task-based testing
Tools: Maze / Figma prototype
Complete onboarding
Start a workout
Join a challenge
Track progress
→ So we had to introduce micro-achievements
→ Which boosted daily retention
→ So we simplified to 4-step flow
After implementation, the redesign aims to show strong improvements.
Patient portal usage increasing
Administrative calls decreasing
Patient satisfaction improving
This project reinforced the importance of designing healthcare experiences for accessibility and simplicity.
Key takeaways:
• Progressive disclosure reduces cognitive load
• Mobile-first design improves accessibility
• Simplifying core tasks drives adoption
Have a project in mind? I’d love to hear about it. Send me a message and let’s discuss how I can help bring your vision to life.
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Designed & Developed by Sammy Tarlah