MY  MOONWALK

PROJECT SUMMARY

A one week design sprint at General Assembly to create an app. This resulted in a paper prototype.

The persona, information architecture, user flow, and high-fidelity iterations came in a subsequent four-day sprint.

MY ROLE

Competitive Analysis  |  User Research  |  Sketching  |  Storyboards  |  User-Flow  | Paper Prototype

 THE CHALLENGE

According to research conducted at Harvard Medical School walking for 2.5 hours a week (21 minutes a day) can: 

• cut your risk of heart disease by 30% 

•  lower blood cholesterol

• reduce the risk of diabetes and cancer

And yet…many do not participate in walking, and do not consider it true exercise.

THE QUESTION

In a culture dominated by car transport and long hours seated at work and home, how do we get reluctant walkers on their feet?

USER RESEARCH

Four participants were interviewed they ranged in ages from mid-twenties to mid-forties. The goal of the questions was to determine:

• Walking habits, are walks planned or incidental?  

• Do they have walking goals or motivations? 

• Do they interact with a device while walking?

The overwhelming key finding was that the participants were not enthusiastic walkers.

They also  revealed:

•   Low engagement with devices while walking

•   Not interested in lots of data

•   Most were curious as to how far they walk

•   Want something that’s fun or interesting

USER PERSONA

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH

• FitBit

• geodistance.com

• Google Map Pedometer

• iPhone pedometer

• MapMyWalk.com

• Pokemon GO

• Walking to the Moon

• Zombies Run! 

KEY FINDINGS

Plenty of apps available that track distance, steps, routes,  and walk-to-run programs some with daily goals, however…

• No apps found tacking distance walked measured against a real or fantasy landmark.

• No apps found that tracked a long-term goal over months or years

• Some apps incorporate humor (Zombie's Run!) but require higher device usage than users wanted

PROBLEM

"As a  reluctant walker, I want a fun and low-maintenance way to track my walking distance so that I will  feel motivated when I have to get somewhere by foot."

SOLUTION

"For the unmotivated walker who doesn’t engage with devices while walking, My Moonwalk exists as a background application, always available, minimally intrusive.

Unconventional distance measurements, including the user’s walking progress to the Moon, provides an entertaining way to transform the user into realizing that small steps do add up. This serves as a motivator for future engagement, and allows the user to set goals when they feel ready."

STORYBOARD: Moe & Walker (the dog)

SITE MAP

USER FLOW

The flow follows the progression of the user selecting a half marathon walk.

IDEATION

PAPER PROTOTYPE

This is my first series of drawings. I initially had the moon walk information on both the landing page and the dashboard. The participants suggestion removing this from the dashboard. 

PAPER PROTOTYPE ITERATIONS

Some of the key takeaways from the user testing are highlighted. I removed the option to set a time-table for completing a walk, leaving it open-ended.

I also simplified the organization of walks. Previously if a user selected a new walk, all of their walking activity pooled into all of their active walks selected. This was changed to working on one walk at a time with the ability to switch between various walks.

HIGH-FIDELITY DESIGN STRATEGY

The high-fidelity designs were initiated after the one-week sprint, in a subsequent four day sprint.

The inspiration was  drawn from early video games, in particular the video game Moon Patrol by Williams/Atari.

Bold vintage textile designs by Marimekko, early television motion graphics from the 60's and 70's, and Pop Art also helped determine the rhythm and palette.

NEXT STEPS

• Theme packs centered on geographical or fantasy locations, and the necessary licensing agreements

• Calories burned calculator

• Social Capabilities: Sharing notifications, joint challenges

SUMMARY

One of the great surprises of this project was the users infrequency of walking, particularly so, as several were under forty, and most lived in an urban environment.

My original sense was that I would be creating something for people who were active walkers. Having the users suggest otherwise, has resulted in an unexpected solution.

Eccentric distance measurements for an initial entertainment factor, coupled with the option to choose more conventional distances like a 5K race, gently remind the user that they are walking, and can indeed walk more.