RUNNii
RUNNii is a mobile application that helps people find a running buddy online and motivates people to run strategically.
Scope
Problem framing
Concept development
Validation
User testing
Implementation (iOS & Android)
Client
RUNNii
Duration
2016 - 2017
My Role
UI UX design
Design strategy
User research
Design handoff
Branding design
WHAT'S THE CONTEXT?
RUNNii is an early-stage start-up based in Taipei. The founder aims to create an online running community that encourages people to go for a run in a fun way. The team was small, and we worked in an agile manner by continually updating our concepts from user feedback.
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge was to redesign brand image, and User Experience flow, and improve user
engagement on an existing mobile application. It has:
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Increased the conversion rate and generate business plans.
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Improved user engagement and retention rate.
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Connected like-minded people with one another.
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Created a coaching system between runners.
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Created community bonds in running activities.
WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
People lack the motivation to go running alone.
For many years, running has become a popular exercise, its most difficult stage being starting it. Running with a buddy helps runners achieve their goals effectively
People do not know how to find a running buddy who can fit their running routine.
Finding a buddy to run with who can fit your time schedule or location is not easy to do and people struggle with it.
Experienced runners can not overcome the fear of rejection in coaching people.
Knowledge sharing is a good way to build a tight-knit community and most people are more than happy to share their tips and experience with those who are just beginners.
OUTCOME
After shipping new identity, the number of users has increased by 150% within a year along with marketing campaign.
In rebranding the RUNNii identity, 90% of users appreciated its delightful interaction.
An improved user experience that is liked by 90% of users.
After redesigning the UX flow, users found the mobile application on both iOS and Android systems intuitive to use.
The business landscape has grown.
Running events pages were created, as well as rewards such as discounts and coupons as we connected with local businesses.
DESIGN APPROACH
KEY FINDING
Desirable factors for running
POV(Job to be done) FRAMING
POV 1 – Helen from Kaohsiung did no sports at school and started running three months ago. She needs to motivate herself to run regularly. She asked a RUNNii member to run with her because social bonds are a powerful incentive to keep her running. She now runs on average five kilometres a week.
POV 2 – Roger from Taichung has been running for five years. He needs to connect with liked-minded people with whom he can compete and share his knowledge. He joined the RUNNii community because he likes the sense of achievement when he finishes first in a race. Now he runs two hours every three days.
POV 3 – Christina from Taipei started running a year ago. She needed to get in shape and maintain a healthy lifestyle. She joined a RUNNii community that allows her to share her outcome with runners, and she built up a lot of confidence by receiving compliments from others. Now she runs once a week.
POV 4 – Wesley from New Taipei City has been running for 20 years. He needed to connect with like-minded running lovers with whom he could share his tips and knowledge. He joined the RUNNii community because he is passionate about coaching others and gives him a sense of fulfilment. Now he runs one hour every day.
USER INSIGHTS
User Needs
• To have a long-term strategy and incentive to go running.
• To join a supportive running community sharing knowledge.
• To create social bonds and companionship in running.
• To be able to share running experiences.
User Goals
• To go for a run with like-minded people on a regular basis.
• To connect with experienced people who can share their experience and knowledge with others.
• To explore local events and running challenges.
• To stay active and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
OPPORTUNITY
How might we create a sustainable online running community with engaging strategies that can help connect like-minded people?
THE SOLUTION
DELIGHTFUL
ONBOARDING
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Easy to log in with existing social media accounts.
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The fuelling battery is a mechanism that ensures people love running.
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Connect with like-minded people through RUNNii.
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A goal-oriented service for running.
FIND
YOUR BUDDIES
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There are three ways to get a buddy for running.
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Select buddies based on algorithms.
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Wait for a buddy to confirm the invitation.
UNLOCK
HIDDEN FEATURES
Once you reach over 95% battery, you can interact with your buddy by sending them a text ensuring they too are passionate about running rather than just making friends.
TRACK
RUNNING OUTCOME
ENGAGING
ONLINE RUNNING COMMUNITY
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Browse the pictures from other runners to see where they went for a run.
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Discover interesting topics for running activities.
INFORMATIVE
RUNNING RECORD
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Check running history daily, weekly, and monthly.
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Browse running challenges and rewards based on your location.
EXPLORE EVENTS
WITH PRACTICAL INCENTIVES
•Join an online running session.
• Complete the challenge at your own pace.
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Set up a unique profile and describe your interests.
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Collect badges and see yourself progress.
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Interact with other runners in a fun way by using cheeky stickers.
SETUP UNIQUE PROFILE
WITH YOUR INTERESTS & ACHIEVEMENT
MAP-BASED
RUNNING EXPERIENCE
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Record your running experience by your distance, kcal, pace, time and location.
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Track how much battery you have added for each run.
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Share your running outcome with your social network.
ITERATION
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Improved information hierarchy.
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Made the battery feature more noticeable.
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Rearranged the priority of main functions on the Tab Bar.
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Combined running history together with events in order to try to increase the user’s participation rate whilst monitoring their running performance.
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Motivated users to run by displaying which rewards are available to them.
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Highlighted the most important information in the user’s running record.
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Connected users’ personal profiles with their community and enabled them to connect with friends and other community members.
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Redesigned the Group Events page and made relevant information clear in order to accelerate decision-making to join events.
UX FLOW-MOBILE APP
PROTOTYPE
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
To develop a mobile app based on these four principles that help us make decisions.
Make the interaction fun.
Provide a range of emojis for user interaction based on how much battery fuel runners have.
Matchmake like-minded buddies and create tight.-knit community.
Provide users with three different ways to matchmake with a running buddy.
Create a sense of achievement.
Offer badges to users when they complete tasks and encourage them to keep up the good work.
Reward users who complete challenges.
Create some incentives for group activities and help local business as well.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Mapping out a user scenario to show what a journey looks like:
UX BENCHMARKING
Measure success by using the Google Heart Framework.
Adoption
• Download Rate
• Registration Rate
How many people complete the onboarding process and become regular users? Adoption is measured by the number of new users over a period of time or by the percentage of customers using a new feature.
Retention
• Churn Rate
What percentage of users are returning to the product? Retention is measured by churn rate.
How many people join the group events?
Task success
• Search Exit Rate
• Crash Rate
Can users achieve their goals or tasks such as matchmaking quickly and easily?
Task success is measured by factors such as efficiency (how long it takes users to complete a task), effectiveness (percentage of tasks completed), and error rate.
FINAL THOUGHTS & TAKEAWAYS
Working for a start-up was a really good experience for me. I really enjoyed working in the fast-paced environment and seeing how our service impacted people’s lives. It was very interesting to test what kind of incentives would work for them and how running buddies would interact with each other under the system’s limitations. One of our service features that set it apart from others is that it has a mechanism to prevent people from using this online community as a dating app. This ensures that all the users are passionate about running and also facilitates knowledge sharing.
Although RUNNii has grown a certain number of users during this period, it is still very challenging to scale up a sustainable business model in such a short period of time. It seemed that local business owners and sport brands needed to see profits that we could bring to them immediately.