Keep calm, stay fit.
Website for AZALIA Fitness
Living optimally with what we’re given
“The goal is not to be better than the other man but your previous self.”- Dalai Lama XIV
AZALIA fitness strives to create a sustainable lifestyle that goes beyond just looking fit but living optimally with what we’re given. Life gets loud and sometimes we don’t develop the best habits. This website aims to inspire women through targeted workout programs and personal training to be the best versions of themselves while enjoying the balance between looking good and feeling great.
Challenge
AZALIA fitness needed a website that worked as a resource for potential personal training clients as well as future customers to purchase targeted training programs.
From Research to Prototype, I dedicated one full week to create a simple and inviting website for my client to showcase her vision with the dual purpose of being an online store and selling her exercise programs.
Role
From Research to Prototype, I dedicated one full week to create a simple and inviting website for my client to showcase her vision with the dual purpose of being an online store and selling her exercise programs.
Part One
Research & ideation
Breaking a sweat
It’s always important to me to truly understand the industry that my client’s work in, and for this project, the basics of health and fitness were already familiar.
I needed to know more about personal trainers specifically and their focuses from a business side, in addition to what exactly my client had to offer.
What better way to do this then meeting with client… and breaking a sweat through KILLER 20 minute circuit class.
My client was not messing around. She knew exactly what she was doing and most importantly, she knew how to target all the muscle groups while mainly using my own body weight.
After downing a 20oz bottle of water in one gulp… We met to explore her goals and vision.
Balance. Balance. Balance.
My client made very clear that her workout programs weren’t just about slimming women down but building them up through understanding the balance between looking fit and actually being fit.
She was new to training professionally but had a very clear vision of her business.
Her workouts were mainly focused on body weight because she truly believed in living optimally with what we’re given.
She also had really big goals. She was interested in generating 4-12 week programs, personal training, merchandise, etc.
Alongside personal training, she was also interested in life coaching and meal guides/recipes. Her goal was for her clients to gain a balanced understanding of living healthy and being happy.
This was an important meeting to have as I only had one week to really create something special. We spoke about her goals and narrowed down her stylistic preferences. She was very open to feedback and understood that her services would likely be adjusted depending on my primary research to come.
Secondary research
It was clear that my client knew what she wanted and now it was time for me to dive into additional reading, particularly around personal trainers and their certifications in addition to trends of the fitness world.
Grey areas
Something that stood out to me in my initial meeting with my client was her goals for life coaching and assisting in meal prep/recipes.
I loved the ambition, but I had to wonder if her certification would both allow or encourage those services.
The National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT) had a great description for what a personal trainer does. It was also had a great description for what they should not do.
Among many things, the two I was curious about were definitely grey.
Although my client wanted to be extremely available to her customers as a support system, mental health can be very touchy.
She also needed to be careful with meal guides, as she wasn’t a qualified nutritionist.
Social media is everything
Once upon a pandemic… Everyone started working out from home. This created a trend for social media influencers to sell workout programs/apps that ended up being relatively repetitive, mostly because body weight workouts were the main option as not anyone could afford equipment (and everything was sold out anyway).
As things began to reopen, people still valued the simplicity of working out at home but it didn’t change the need for variety.
This meant that my client’s goals of mastering body weight workouts, although very valuable, limited her target market.
Interviews and takeaways
I had a few adjustments in mind, particularly in the services I could showcase, but first I needed to talk to some folks and really gauge their preferences and experiences.
I ran five virtual interviews with friends and family that ranged between beginners and highly experienced athletes.
My client provided a website as inspiration that I was able to test as well with my interviewees.
Common trends were that they loved the idea of a personal trainer but it can be expensive. They also love dedicated programs or challenges but struggle to find any that are customized to their skillset or varying in workouts.
Keeping them short is key as well, as not many people have time for even a full hour workout, five days a week.
Most importantly, although they valued the thought behind mental health and nutrition focuses, they believed in keeping it separate from the personal trainer specifically.
When it came to nutrition, recipes were welcomed, as long as they weren’t too specific as everyone eats differently.
Daily affirmations and journal prompts were preferred for clearing headspace rather having a “life coach”
Lastly, in terms of navigating the comparative site, they all agreed that they wanted less words, and clear titles for programs. The site had creative names for programs, but at first glance, most of them didn’t clarify purpose/objective and descriptions were wordy. The pricing, though very transparent, wasn’t clear in terms of what they included.
Digging deeper
“It’s not my body, it’s yours”
My client really values her time, and like many personal trainers, she deals with last minute cancellations and even customer that simply aren’t as committed to the program as she is to them.
This spoke to me, because she really wanted to create generalized programs that customers could purchase but a lot of customers still need that push and motivation in order to live the vision AZALIA had.
This meant finding a middle ground between personal training and pre-made workout programs. Customized programs needed to be an option that are tailored to client’s goals but also allowing a relationship with the trainer to track their performance and challenge them
Kim & Rebecca
After interviewing several individuals, I found that even the most experienced ones need a challenge! If anything, they’re the target market.
So these were my personas. I’m designing for these ladies. They both have similar needs, just different approaches.
Who are Kim & Rebecca?
Kim is “The Newbie” and Rebecca is a “#FitLife Girl”.
It was easy to assume that only beginners need a personal trainer. They don’t really know what to do and really need that direction and motivation.
Clarifying the objectives
I knew the client’s goals. I knew the markets’ goals.
My goals were to create a simple, classic and straight to the point site that is transparent about its services, its prices and its vision.
It was important to encourage contact with the trainer to ideally customize a plan or even train with her, as those are the individuals who will truly benefit from the service.
Site map
With a focus on my ideation sketches and user stories, I built a site map that was easy to navigate and intentional in its hierarchy.
Having come from a sales background, the order of operations was a great frame of mind to have in the process.
The flow needed start with building value in the vision. This was largely focused in on the Home page as well as the About page.
This highlighted my client and built credibility in her as a trainer as well as her focus on “the journey”. This page would include an explanation of those journeys: Targeted Programs and Personalized Programs and their benefits.
These “journeys” were priced and available for purchase on the Programs page.
In one of my interviews, this quote stood out: “Oh ok! I’m convinced, I want it. What did other people say?”
This inspired a dedicated Reviews page. Many sites included reviews/testimonials and before & after photos all around with no intentional placement. I felt it made sense to add a dedicated location to really showcase success stories.
Being that Personalized Programs were just that, personalized, the Contact page would be the best way to connect with the client. They would be able to schedule time or simply request a plan.
Lastly, they would have a Shopping Cart page to checkout any targeted programs they may have added.
Intermission
It’s Day 4, and I made a lot of progress at this point, but before I dove in further, I wanted to run my decisions by my client.
In terms of content, the biggest changes were that I wouldn’t create a dedicated space to meal guides or life coaching. Of course, her services provided will ultimately be up to her, so my suggestion was that she tie them into her personalized programs (which was also an addition) and I would simply list them as an included service on the site.
I spoke to the research and my interviews to justify these changes and my client was excited for the direction that the site was taking.
With her approval, the next step was the to map out the user journeys.
Part Two
Journeys, wireframes, style guide & Hi-Fi design
User journeys & sketches
Engineering a detailed path to each navigation decision was crucial prior to my visual design.
As mentioned above when explaining the site map, each page was intentional in its hierarchy. This meant that although many users could click around randomly, each page needed to drive movement to another.
For example, if a user was on the About page and value was built in the vision, I would like them to check out the Programs for sale next. Insert button.
Another example is if the user was on the Programs page and they were interested in customizing a plan, I would like them to Contact the trainer. Insert button.
Wireframes
Brand, colors & typography
Plug & play
In my initial meeting with the client, I gathered that she was driven to a certain mood. Pink was a color that came to mind, as was the mix of dark and light. The idea was to create a site that was inviting but still had a user leaving with a sense of commitment and motivation to improve their lives.
I wasn’t completely sold on pink, nor on too much color at all. I realized while creating the mood board that pastels were the way to go if anything. As was a large focus on imagery.
The lighter tone of pastels would compliment the motivational and active photography thus providing the energy that the client was drawn to.
Part Three
Looking back
This project was a lot of fun! I learned from my previous case study: Betancourt Media, that time is sensitive and it’s always best to gather enough information upfront. This is both from the client and research.
I narrowed down the possible platforms for my client to build out the site right from the beginning so that helped immensely in the design decisions I made. Given the scope of the project, it was crucial to rule out any possible obstacles right away.
I do feel the overall layout was safer than it could have been, though still classic and modern. At this time, the purpose of the site and content needed a minimalistic approach, however, I would love to revisit down the road. As my client’s business scales, there are a lot of stylistic choices I’d enjoy expanding on. An accompanying app would be worth exploring too depending on the business needs.
Overall, I am happy with the outcome, as was the client. It was exciting to accomplish all that I did in just seven days and I’m glad I was able to exceed the expectations of AZALIA fitness.