YEAR
2023
DESCRIPTION
Fitness and wellness brand identity and app design case study with a focused attention on creating a product that bridges the gap between physical and mental health.
MY ROLE
brand design / ux + ui design
PROGRAMS
The Vantage Point (VP) studio is developing a fitness and wellness app for audiences to access at home easily. The primary mission of VP is to help people realize that fitness and wellness goals go hand-in-hand and are attainable through easy-to-follow, low-commitment at-home practices. The app will not only include a wealth of at-home workouts, but it will also have a significant portion focused on mental health and wellness check-ins. The app is the avenue that VP will use to bring these resources to their audience.
The fitness app market has many big brands with significant resources and investors. Vantage Point must find a way to stand out from all these competitors. After researching and using other fitness apps, it was evident that although they provide workout and dietary wellness resources, there isn't much emphasis on mental health. The solution is to fill this gap and create an app that puts equal emphasis on physical and mental health.
jump to app design
The inspiration behind the name VP comes from the idea that changing our perspective is beneficial, even integral, at certain points in our lives. The ability to adjust one's vantage point allows us to heal, adapt, and reset our expectations so that we don't get bogged down by the hand life has dealt us. For the branding, the idea of a vantage point is visually interpreted as a mountain peak. In the word mark logo, a small peak is represented in the "O" in the word POINT, which can be a standalone brand mark.
The VP app is the central product of this project. The app invites users to participate in different workout practices, opportunities to reflect on and learn more about those practices through journaling, and educational articles. It caters to the target audience through the use of bright colors, emojis, and relatable copywriting.
PROGRAMS USED: FIGMA / ILLUSTRATOR
Throughout the planning process, considerable time was spent performing competitive analysis research of other fitness apps—taking note of the pros and cons of how they present metrics, set up workout flows, and what functions are essential for a fitness app to function seamlessly. The following were key aspects of the process:
The target audience is professional young working women between the ages of 24 and 32 who care about fitness, wellness, and aesthetics. The app caters to the user who has previously tried many fitness apps and found the mental health resources lacking or altogether missing in those apps. The app should expand their fitness horizons and give them space to track their emotions, reflect on their day, and learn more about the internal workings of their mind. Functionality and aesthetics go hand-in-hand; the app must inspire and motivate while matching their style and broader cultural trends.
Initial brainstorming on app offerings and ideas to incorporate in application including some initial home page sketches.
User flow sketch and big-picture planning on key services included in application.
Aesthetic and thematic brainstorming and initial user persona ideation.
Creating the wireframes allowed gaining user flow clarity and helped expand the initial plans. Throughout the design process, the wireframes were continuously referenced to keep us focused.
Building out the component library, user flows, animations, illustrations, etc. is the most enjoyable part of the creative process. It lets us see the app come to life and fix any shortcomings. Key screens, user flows, and features included in the app are highlighted below:
The launch screen introduces VP to the user, displays the mission statement, and prompts users to sign in or sign up. A custom VP illustrated wave background sets up the tone and aesthetic of the app.
The home screen launches with unique motivational line of copy every day. The use of emojis creates a relatable vibe that connects with the app's millennial/gen-z audience. The home page includes key features like quick access to the user's current workout program and a daily wellness check survey. There are also different workout programs and wellness resources for easy access.
The programs and workout pages are the key features, and they include custom illustrations for the various practices and featured workouts catered to each user. This experience includes quick access to the user's current program, a countdown clock for each exercise, a prominent pause/play button, images that demonstrate the exercise, a preview of the exercises to come, and an "end workout" button that allows users to opt-out whenever they desire.
Journal functionality and mental health/wellness resources are the primary focus of the app. Journal pages have a simple and minimalistic interface that makes journaling accessible from multiple screens.
Based on the wellness check function results, the resource page algorithm sorts through all of the articles to create curated results, guiding each user to the most helpful resources for them.
Overall, this project challenged me to constantly juggle between details and big-picture goals. I have often found that I get sucked into the smaller app aesthetic and functional details and realize that the problems I was stuck on either didn't matter that much or didn't contribute to the broader needs of the app. Intentionally stepping back and looking at the bigger picture allowed me to move the app forward and be attentive to design cohesiveness.