Applying LEaRNED UX research, prototyping, & testing METHODOLOGIES with Interactive AR
train ar
CAPSTONE PROJECT
Capstone aims to apply academic skills and experiences to real-world scenarios. Our team, sharing the same major in HCI/UXD and minor in Digital Media, decided to collaborated on a project focusing on User Experience Design and Augmented Reality.
User Experience Design & Interactive AR: But where?
Bio & Med?
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Gaming?
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Education?
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Bio & Med? - Gaming? - Education? -
Without an organization or institution to oversee our project, it was up to us to figure out how we could apply our experiences and skills in a real-world situation for the project. We met over a cup of coffee to try and determine what field we wanted to focus our efforts in. We tossed around many ideas, but no one seemed to stand out. Feeling discouraged, we observed a man in gym gear walk by the window, and we both turned and looked at each other. In a moment, we knew that our focus was going to be in the area of athletics.
Proposal
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The phenomenon known as “gym anxiety” or “gymtimidation” plagues many people who want to exercise. It is often caused by being a beginner, not knowing how to use gym equipment, and fear or embarrassment by being judged by others in the open gym space. (Davis 2021)
To tackle the presence of “gymtimidation,” we propose a solution using Augmented Reality. Augmented reality (AR) is an enhanced version of the physical world achieved through digital visual elements, sound, or other sensory stimuli and delivered via technology such as AR-powered glasses. (Hayes 2022)
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Success metric for learning objective #1:
O: Identify the current pain points in the fitness industry.
KR: Collect and compile a report highlighting the data that will enable common themes to be identified.
Success metric for learning objective #2:
O: Explain how AR/AI solutions can be used to address potential pain points in the fitness industry.
KR: Ideate and explain design sketches and descriptions of potential solutions for the identified pain point (s) using AR/AI.
Success metric for learning objective #3:
O: Create a prototype to demonstrate how AR/AI can solve pain points in the fitness industry.
KR: Successful implementation and testing of mid-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes demonstrating how AR/AI technology could be used as solutions.
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We nominated Dr. Timothy Gorichanaz, a professor at Drexel’s College of Computing and Informatics, to oversee our project as a supervisor.
Initial TIMELINE
Our project is divided into two ten-week segments. The proposal included an initial project timeline encapsulating both segments.
The first ten-week segment (“Capstone I”) focused on research, empathizing, and defining (the problem), as well as solution ideation. The second ten-week segment (“Capstone II”) focused on prototyping, testing, and recommendations for a final design.
The project timeline included milestones with completion dates to ensure we progressed promptly throughout the project.
Milestone 1: EmpathizE & Define
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In our efforts to identify problem areas related to "gymtimidation," our team deployed a survey by leveraging frequent social media posts and by hanging flyers in a bodega in the East Falls area of Philadelphia, a non-affiliated fitness center, and at Drexel's College for Computing and Informatics. The survey ran for two weeks, receiving 53 completed responses. This survey was designed to collect quantitative and qualitative data about people's experiences at fitness centers.
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We received 53 completed responses over two weeks. From these responses, we gathered the following quantitative data points relative to gym anxiety:
83% of participants use a fitness center or want to use one, and 73.57% felt that they would have a better experience if they had more knowledge about exercises or equipment.
67.92% of total participants have experienced "intimidation," 9.43% were not sure if they experienced "gymtimidation," and 18.87% have not experienced "gymtimidation."
58.49% of participants have had it affect their decision to work out at a fitness center, and 9.43% of total participants have not.
77.35% of participants have experienced the or were not sure if they shared the following emotions associated with "gymtimidation":
32.73% reported feeling self-conscious.
25.45% reported feeling embarrassed.
25.45% reported feeling anxious.
16.36% reported feeling shame.
3.8% of participants were removed due to not having a fitness routine and not wanting one.
Our quantitative analysis demonstrates that people experience "gymtimidation" in public fitness centers, and those who were unsure indicated that they experienced feelings associated with "gymtimidation."
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Our survey also included areas to capture qualitative data in the form of open-ended questions. These questions were focused on workout settings and "gymtimidation" and allowed the participants to let us know how they felt in their own words. We then arranged their responses on a Miro board by forming what appeared to be the most natural groupings. This helped us identify common themes of emotions, problems, etc., among all participants.
One of the findings that deserves emphasis is that 73.57% of the participants felt that they would have a better experience if they had more knowledge about exercises or equipment—combined with the fact that the feeling of "not knowing what to do" was one of the most predominant negative feelings that our participants in a gym space experienced. When the survey specifically converged onto the concept of "gymtimidation," 19 out of 35 participants felt that "not knowing what to do" was one of the leading causes (for some, this was combined with self-consciousness and discomfort with facility) of their "gymtimidation."
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From our analysis, we determined three primary user segments of interest:
The Independent Exercisers: Those participants who do not want to go to a fitness center and prefer to work independently. These participants may have experienced "gymtimidation" or struggled with insecurities and desired the freedom of working at home without judgment. The number of participants categorized in this segment was low (13.22%).
The Fitness Gurus: Those participants who are happy working out in a fitness center who haven't experienced "gymtimidation" and have high confidence in exercises and using gym equipment. The number of participants categorized in this segment was also low (13.21%).
The Fitness Help-Seekers: Those participants who work out in a fitness center or want to work out in a fitness center have experienced feelings associated with "gymtimidation" that need more help and education regarding fitness exercises or fitness equipment. The majority of participants fell into this category (73.57%).
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After identifying the three primary user segments, we determined that the third user segment (The Fitness Help-Seekers) would most benefit from an Augmented Reality solution to solve their problems with lack of knowledge and insecurities resulting in feelings associated with "gymtimidation." This can be supported by the fact that out of the 40 participants who were asked how their feelings related to "gymtimidation" could be eliminated, 21 participants indicated that these emotions could be eliminated by gaining more knowledge about equipment and exercises or through personal training. We also noticed that 12 participants emphasized personal growth, improving self-confidence, mindfulness, and discipline.
FLYER - SURVEY - MIRO BOARD
Milestone 2A: Ideate
Our team initially ideated individually, focusing on our target user segment, "The Fitness Help-Seekers." After reflection, we narrowed our ideas to four potential solutions, which we visualized using a Miro board and sticky notes. We then met to develop these ideas further, discussing possible app functionalities and sketching prototype designs:
Personalized Trainer (Audio AR): A voice-controlled audio personal trainer providing exercise guidance and motivational support.
AR Demo via Mobile Device: Scan a QR code for AR animations demonstrating exercises with audio and visual cues, including text for the audibly impaired.
Wearable Demos (AR Glasses): Pair AR glasses for hands-free audio and visual exercise guidance, featuring a heads-up display and text for the audibly impaired.
Educational App: Scan QR codes for instructional audio cues and basic animations, offering exercise guidance without full AR functionality.
Ideation Sketches
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Audio and Mobile Device Designs
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Wearable Design Pt 1
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Wearable Design Pt 2
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Educational Only Design
SCOPE FOR Prototype Development
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Our primary focus was developing an app integrating the Personalized Trainer and AR Demo functionalities. We planned to test both versions to gauge user preference, though if time constraints arise, wearables may be deferred. Our priority was in providing training and education to alleviate "gymtimidation." Future updates could’ve incorporated wearables. Advanced features under consideration include pre-generated and customized exercise plans, progress tracking, and gamification elements like scores and leaderboards.
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Given that full application development exceeded the project scope, we planned to prototype the app's function, flow, and visuals using Figma. AR demos would be built with Unity and Vuforia for conceptual testing, featuring AR animations and audible cues. If feasible, we would also develop for wearable devices.
REVISED TIMELINE
Upon completing “Capstone I” and entering “Capstone II,” our team felt that the second part of the timeline should be revised to help the project be successful. The following changes were made:
We restructured the milestones and revised the completion dates of tasks appropriately.
In alignment with the restructure, we wanted to conduct a market research analysis to see the current AR-driven fitness applications landscape. This would include functionality and feature sets.
We wanted to be more specific about the prototype development and testing milestones, including detailed timelines.
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We researched existing applications and their features to provide insight into possible overlap with our proposed prototypes. We also wanted to highlight any features we hadn’t considered in our prototypes and whether their inclusions would benefit our design. Specifically, we investigated aspects such as efficiency in terms of fitness, gamification, motivation, AR, and education. We also researched existing hardware options that are currently on the market. We wanted to highlight those that were explicitly paired with applications and required a significant financial investment. Two were wearable solutions, while the other was a stand-in-place solution.
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Upon reviewing the features within our market research, we identified the following to overlap with our proposed prototypes:
Gamification and Leaderboards.
Progress Tracking and Goal Setting.
Motivation.
Real-time exercise data.
Visual and audible cues on exercise execution or movement.
Heads Up Display (HUD) technologies in the case of AR.
The following identified features were not considered in our original prototype designs, and we feel that including them would be beneficial:
AR audible and visual demonstrations on how to execute an exercise or movement.
Closed Captions (subtitles) for the Deaf.
Tactile feedback - vibrations of when to start exercises, stop exercises, or advance through the workout.
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Our prototypes aimed to educate and motivate users to overcome "gymtimidation." We believed incorporating AR demonstrations personalized to the user's equipment and space would alleviate these feelings. Our AR experience would include real-time visual and audible cues for various exercises, filling a gap in the market. The final design would combine an application with wearable AR glasses, offering a seamless, hands-free experience during workouts, with real-time information and cues projected onto a HUD.
Milestone 3: Market Research
Project PIVOT
Pivoting out of necessity
Two weeks after submitting our revised Capstone timeline, we realized we could not build a physical prototype. This was mainly due to the problems with sourcing high-quality 3D gym and exercise equipment models. The creation of models was outside the scope of physical prototyping, and no free standard models could be found.
Thinking about real-world scenarios, we considered that maybe an organization wouldn’t invest in a physical prototype right away; they might start lower-fidelity to gauge interest in such a product. This led us to pivot our project in a different direction.
We revised the timeline once again and pressed onward.
Pivoted Prototype Design Brief & STORYBOARD
After thoroughly analyzing our team's available resources, time limits, and capabilities, we decided to move forward with a "Wizard of Oz" (WoZ) approach to create our prototype. Our WoZ implementation utilized Video Prototyping to highlight the user experience and to demonstrate how our product could help alleviate feelings of "gymtimidation" through audible and visual cues providing a complete training experience.
This design brief acts as an outline of specific features and experiences highlighted in our Video Prototype. Using this brief, we storyboarded the experience for video production.
Prototype Experience
AR Detection of fitness equipment: The application running on the mobile device will use AR to detect specific equipment as the person approaches. The application indicates what has been detected by outlining the equipment and asking the user to confirm that they wish to know more.
Once the user confirms, the application will visually and audibly present them with options allowing them to select different exercises in scenarios on how to use the equipment. After confirming how they wish to use the equipment, the app instructs the user via audible cues and short videos on proper form and use.
We plan to showcase three specific scenarios of standard equipment within fitness facilities:
Free Weights (dumbbells)
Cardio Machines (an elliptical machine)
Weight Machine (leg extension)
App integration on mobile devices
Display design elements of the application and how it could be used).
Explain the specific design elements integrated with AR.
We felt that this approach targeted specific areas to prototype and test to gauge interest and viability while eliminating ambiguity or areas of design (e.g., gamification, community, wearables) that might be later considered should there be market interest.
Milestone 4: Prototype
PROTOTYPE CREATION
A combination of technologies were used to create the video prototype:
Photos and videos were captured on an iPhone.
Application wireframes and screen designs were created using Figma.
Graphic animations were created in Adobe After Effects.
The audio was recorded using Sennheiser Lavalier microphones.
All materials for the prototype were assembled into Adobe Premier.
Milestone 5: Testing, Data Collection, Analysis & Findings
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We distributed a brief survey with the embedded video prototype to interested participants from our initial survey and shared it on social media to ensure broader participation. After running the study for one week, we received twenty responses. To remain consistent, we used the same qualitative and quantitative analysis methods as in our first survey; we grouped responses using Miro and sticky notes to identify common themes.
The survey included four open-ended qualitative questions and four quantitative questions to help us understand how people felt about using Augmented Reality in fitness centers to increase understanding and knowledge about exercising to reduce "gymtimidation."
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To keep the summary brief, only data highlights will be discussed. The entire summary is available for download below.
Qualitative Data:
Overall, 60% of all participants indicated that our initial prototype was well received.
There was moderate feedback for features to be changed or added.
Roughly 1/3 of participants did not want to utilize a wearable in the AR experience.
Quantitative Data:
70% of participants indicated they experienced “gymtimdiation.”
89.5% of participants indicated that trainAR would help reduce or eliminate anxiety related to lack of knowledge when using gym equipment.
85% of participants said they would use an application like trainAR in a fitness center.
55% of participants stated they would try to use a wearable AR device while using an application like trainAR.
Reflections & Project Materials
Considerations for future prototypes
Based on our feedback, we narrowed down the leading feature suggestions and additions mentioned by the survey participants and created a feature prioritization matrix. Given our resources and capabilities, it is essential to note that this matrix identifies the features that we, as a team, could tackle with future iterations. We categorized each feature suggestion using a "Severity Level." The levels are defined as follows:
Low - Low prioritization; likely due to redundancy with other technology or apps, way outside of the scope of our project (AR in fitness), or because additional information is needed, possibly obtained through interviews where other data can be captured.
Medium - Medium prioritization. At the end of prototyping, it should be considered a "maybe" category.
High - High prioritization. It should be considered in the next iteration of prototyping, as the feature has a strong case for implementation.
Included - a feature suggestion already included in our design.
We felt a few suggestions were challenging to include in future prototypes, such as establishing gym etiquette and tackling body dysmorphia. These issues seemed out of scope for this app and focused explicitly on social problems.
One of the participants suggested using mirrors integrated with AR technology as a possible solution to form correction. We brainstormed this idea and discussed its viability and how we could make this solution less expensive and more feasible. One idea was to have the mobile app and machine working together to help users exercise. This could include embedded cameras or thermal scanners/sensors to follow a person's form and make suggestions and corrections via audio AR.
Some design suggestions are either too difficult or too expensive
Another consideration that could be explored would be to abandon the visual aspect of the AR (scanning feature) and make it a completely audible AR experience based on RFID or geofencing technologies. The idea would be that as someone approached equipment or machines, the audio would automatically start to play to help them learn. This concept would be similar to audio tours in museums.
Perhaps visual AR isn’t need to solve the problem
Our project proves that people experience “gymtimidation” due to a lack of knowledge about exercising, performing movements, or using gym equipment. We demonstrated that AR could solve this, but more iterative research needs to be done to determine which specific area(s) of AR would best help with the problem.