OneFit — a UX case study
The whats and whys
Granted: if you’ve read the first part of this article, you’re already familiar with its whats and whys. If I were you, I’d scroll down to the next topic: “Design Case: solutions”. For those who have just landed here, let’s have a quick recap. Shall we?
Assignment
This UX Design Case is part of an assignment for Codaisseur, the Dutch Academy where I’m currently following a Digital Design boot camp. The assignment is divided into two parts: a Case Study and a Design Case, for which I was given the incredibly generous timeline of a full week per Case.
The Case Study focused on identifying and analyzing the most urgent pain points OneFit is currently facing and on forming a problem statement. Before we go any further, let’s find out what OneFit is. But first I must mention that this assignment was not requested by OneFit.
OneFit
(I know, I know. That’s a who.)
“Follow the newest workouts or train on your own, anywhere and anytime. Unlimited.”
OneFit is a Dutch company that offers a flexible, all-inclusive sports membership for a fixed price per month. This membership gives its customers access to more than 500 gyms, studios and swimming pools in the four largest cities in the Netherlands. For the health clubs, OneFit pays a purchase price per visit from its members, which is individually agreed with each health club.
The whole OneFit system is based on their mobile app, in which users can sign up, book and cancel classes, pause and quit their membership. But it wasn’t always like this. Initially, the company worked with a contactless smart card system. It was only in 2014 that OneFit decided to switch their business model from cash-machine to a subscription-based model. As the test in Amsterdam proved to be a success, OneFit soon rolled out to Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague. The company has been doing so well in the Dutch market that it recently expanded to Germany and Spain.
Case Study results
The following results emerged from the Case Study. The problem statement is centered around specific pain points the company is facing.
Besides not being able to fully enjoy the advantages their membership offer, the problems OneFit customers experience may also be keeping the company from getting new customers. OneFit should solve these problems in order to keep its current customers and increase its conversion rate.
Design Case: solutions
To offer a clear overview, I’ve divided the solutions into three parts, according to each pain point discovered in the Case Study.
Pain Point N. 1: App check-in feature | Solution: Virtual Card
Pain Point N. 2: Customer Service | Solution: Live Chat
Pain Point N. 3: Number of spots available per class| Solution: Bonus system
The hows
It’s about time I show you how those solutions came to life. If you’re curious as to what the process was like, which methods were used and how the testing was done, you’re in the right place.
Work methods
The work methods used during the Case Study differed from those adopted for the Design Case, as shown below.
In the end, a method selection had to be made so that the articles wouldn’t become Lord-of-the-Rings-trilogy-long.
Pain Point N. 1: App check-in feature
The technical problems within the OneFit app’s check-in feature immediately caught my attention when I started reading customer reviews online. The reason is simple: if your service is solely based on a mobile app, the app better work properly or else you won’t have a service to start with. Also, if customers can’t check-in, they can’t use their membership.
That is why I came up with the Virtual Card idea. This card would be available in the customer’s account, both through the mobile app and the desktop website. The Virtual Card could be stored in the customers’ virtual and physic wallets. If for any reason customers couldn’t check-in on arrival at the chosen health club, they could scan their Virtual Card at the reception with a QR-scanner app.
Job Story and Quality Assurance
In order to guarantee that the Virtual Card accommodates at least 80% of the OneFit target customers, I created the following job story, along with its acceptance criteria.
Goal
This design’s goal is to allow at least 95% of the OneFit customers to enjoy their work out when the traditional check-in feature is not available at the moment they arrive at the health club of their choice. Within two months, OneFit customers should have a back-up option to check-in.
Optimization
To improve the app’s findability, I used Google Trends to compare terms that are used throughout the OneFit app (including the Virtual Card screens), such as “work out x fitness” and “card x pass”.
Testing, testing, 1 2 3
After having received positive feedback from my classmates on the Virtual Card idea, I proceeded to create mockups and perform a usability test with a couple of people I found roaming around Codaisseur. The constructive feedback I got included:
“I would like to have more information on how this new feature works, maybe in a pop-up form.”
“I would like to have the option to print the Virtual Card.”
Even though the feedback was exquisite, I soon realized I had to adapt it. A pop-up didn’t fit in the clean OneFit style and a print button would be more useful for a desktop.
After doing a multivariate test with my classmates, I ran an A/B testing in the form of a survey, from which the following results emerged.
Most survey respondents (44 out 73) preferred the lighter background color and a few (4 out 73) refrained from answering this question. Some of them contacted me to ask if this was a trick question. This goes to show the color difference was too subtle for the respondents to notice. Regarding the images to the right, most respondents (42 out 73) found the download icon more appealing than the text “Click on image to save”.
Thirty-eight out 73 respondents liked the bigger icon better than its smaller version. Regarding word choice, most survey respondents (42 out 73) chose the word “download” over “save”.
Pain Point N. 2: Customer Service
The second biggest problem OneFit is currently facing is related to their Customer Service. The customer reviews on their Facebook page show a range of different issues their members have been experiencing: from not getting a reply at all to receiving a rude one.
Judging by those reviews, it seems like the OneFit’s Customer Service department is understaffed and unprepared. What’s the best way to solve this problem, besides the obvious choice?
I thought a Live Chat could be a good option for OneFit, since the company already uses a Customer Service tool called Zendesk on their desktop website. The problem is that OneFit only employs the Zendesk Help Center Tool, even though it could potentially benefit from the Live Chat service option that the San Francisco based company also offers.
“The more digital the experience, the higher the customer satisfaction.” (McKinsey and Company)
Job Story and Quality Assurance
In order to guarantee that the Live Chat accommodates at least 80% of the OneFit target customers, I created the following job story, along with its acceptance criteria.
Goal
The goal of this specific design is to implement the Live Chat service within two months, so that three months from now, at least 80% of the OneFit customers won’t have to wait longer than 15 minutes to contact Customer Service.
Optimization
Just like in the previous Problem, I used Google Trends to improve OneFit’s findability. This time I compared the results for words like “lessons x classes” and “Customer Care x Customer Service”. Both words had to be changed in the mockups.
Testing
Unlike it was the case with Problem 1, I didn’t have enough time to properly test Problems 2 and 3. That is why I only did an A/B testing for Problem 2 and a Multivariate testing for Problem 3, both through the same survey.
Most survey respondents (33 out 42) chose the word “classes” over “lessons”. Google Trends confirms this general preference. Twenty-six out 42 respondents liked the Customer Service icon better on the left side of the screen.
The majority of the respondents (37 out 42) showed a preference for a search bar without a stroke. A surprising result was that all the respondents opted to see the Help Center before the Live Chat when looking for help. This might be because users prefer to search themselves for a solution for their problem before having to chat with someone.
Pain Point N. 3: Number of spots available per class
The most hopeless customer reviews I’ve read on OneFit’s Facebook page were probably those related to the small number of spots available for some of the classes offered on the OneFit app. This problem affects some of their most loyal customers, who don’t quit their membership in spite of their endless efforts to book a spot in their favorite classes.
Those customers love the OneFit concept. They usually feel bad that in practice, it has its flaws. But the reason why they don’t quit their membership might be that OneFit has a monopoly position in the Dutch market (what’s explained in detail here).
It is therefore important for the company to solve this problem before a competitor from abroad comes along. But how can OneFit keep loyal customers satisfied? Of course the company can start by mapping the most wanted classes and making deals with their providers in order to increase the number of spots available in those classes. Another option, however, probably cheaper, would be to create a reward system for those loyal customers.
Job Story and Quality Assurance
Goal
The goal of rewarding loyal customers is to increase their satisfaction with OneFit by at least 50% two months after the feature’s implementation.
Optimization
Multivariate testing
Most respondents preferred the more colorful version of the screen where users can see which classes are being offered. The changes included the wording (“lessons” became “classes” and “sold out” turned into “ join waiting list”), as well as the colors used (booked classes are shown in blue, available classes in green and sold out classes in red). While I was doing this test, I saw OneFit itself was performing an A/B testing for the expression “sold out”. Apparently the company is already trying to find out if a more positive wording has a similar influence in their customer’s satisfaction.
For the pair of screens on the right, I changed the color of the icon (grey to blue) and added a link on which users can click to get more information about the Bonus System. This might have been the most voted option because of the newness of the system.
Retrospective
I bit off more than I could chew
I see myself as a planner, and a good one, too. But I have to admit that I was way over my head this week. Working on three design solutions in seven days resulted in a couple of sleepless nights. I started the article like I wanted to, but then just had to rush through it to finish on time. Lesson learned.
From analogue to digital
As a former policy officer and translator, the shift from text to visual has been a tough one for me, as well as adapting to digital thinking. During the Case Study, I could only come up with analogue business solutions at first. Solve the problematic check-in feature, the understaffed Customer Service, the small number of spots available per class? Easy. Invest more in coders, Customer Service representatives and make better deals with the health clubs that offer the most sought-after classes. Granted: it’s not as easy as I made it sound (not at all). But to come up with not too expensive, creative digital solutions? That took me a while.
Transferable skills
On the other hand, I realized that my previous education and work experience also gave me some strong analytical, problem-solving and organizational skills. So there you go: all those years weren’t lost after all.
Lavoisier applied to UX
“In nature nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed”
In these last two weeks, I’ve learned that Lavoisier’s mass conservation principle can also be applied to UX .When I started out this process, I thought it was imperative to come up with totally innovative designs. Every single time. What I’ve noticed so far is that the idea of creating a real innovative design seems almost like a myth. It’s way more common to make user-centric adjustments to existing products and services.
