Research I POV I UX / UI Design

Case Study

User-Centered Design of a Health App: From Idea to Implementation Handoff

RunYourHealth

A holistic health app providing guidance on nutrition and
fitness while helping you stay on top of daily and medical appointments for a healthier lifestyle.

Product

Responsive Application

Role

Entire product design from research to conception, visualization and testing

Project Time

6 months

Tools

Figma, FigJam, drawio, Canva, Optimal Sort, Zoom

I started with resarch after the Double Diamond Strategy to remove bias from the stratification process and keep my focus wide. To understand the problem, I asked questions to uncover user frustrations and needs,  and define the problem statement.

Problems that users are facing

  • Users lack knowledge about healthy nutrition and how to make long-term dietary changes.
  • Users struggle to find recipes that match their preferences and needs.
  • Users find it challenging to incorporate more physical activity into their daily lives.
  • Users have difficulty keeping track of medical appointments.

Problem Statement

Busy professionals need a solution to improve their diet, incorporate more physical activity into their daily routine, and manage (medical) appointments because they seek a more holistic lifestyle and easier health management through a comprehensive, educational, and motivational app.

Solution Approach

An app combining nutrition, fitness, and time management. Users enter their data to receive personalized workouts, meal suggestions, and time slots for exercise, guiding them toward a holistic lifestyle.

Target audience

This app targets people between the ages of 25 and 40. Younger individuals may not prioritize health as much, while older adults might require different programs tailored to their exercise and nutrition needs.

Research

Competitor analysis

I conducted a competitor analysis to assess the strengths, weaknesses, and market opportunities of similar apps.I analyzed various nutrition and sports apps, including Samsung Health, MyFitnessPal, Gymondo, and 8fit, as well as online magazines and blogs.

The compared apps share several core features:

  • Workout videos for guided training
  • Point-based nutrition systems as an alternative to calorie counting
  • Self-assessed nutrition & fitness plans designed for fat loss
  • Motivation tools, including videos, fitness tracking, and push notifications for upcoming workouts

Research Goals

Understand how users currently manage their health concerns.Identify the daily challenges they face that make it difficult to achieve their health goals.Determine which aspects and features are crucial for creating a helpful app and identify user pain points with existing apps.

User Interviews

To gain a deeper understanding of the target users' challenges and needs, I carried out user interviews. By analyzing the qualitative data, I defined two user personas within the main target groups, allowing me to better address their needs and prioritize design goals effectively.

Sorting Results

Affinity Map

Main Interview Insights

Competitor analysis

  • Family-friendly nutrition
    Meal plans should cater to both adults' needs and children's preferences.
  • Rising interest in alternative nutrition
    Vegetarian and vegan nutrition is becoming increasingly important.
  • Need for flexibility
    Time management plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy habits.
  • Motivation
    Regular reminders are essential to keep users engaged and on track.
  • Value of education
    Scientifically backed information is highly valued as users aim to set a healthy example for their children.

User Personas

To gain a deeper understanding of the target users' challenges and needs, I carried out user interviews. By analyzing the qualitative data, I defined two user personas within the main target groups, allowing me to better address their needs and prioritize design goals effectively.

User Flow

To ensure that the design is user-centered and successful from the user's perspective, I create user flows. This allows me to visualize and confirm that all user needs are met within the task.

Low-Fidelity Prototypes

Low-fidelity wireframes were tested in usability studies, allowing for quick and cost-effective adjustments before moving to the more expensive digital implementation.

In the initial rough sketches, I focused on functional and intuitive navigation. Through iterations, I refined them to enhance functionality.

A key insight was the importance of providing valuable content with sufficient spacing for better readability and usability.

Mid-Fidelity Prototypes

To convey form and functionality, I created mid-fidelity prototypes, focusing on grid structure, spacing, and refining content to ensure clarity in presentation.

As this was my first project with Figma, I also designed custom navigation icons to further develop my skills in the tool.

High-Fidelity Prototypes

For the high-fidelity prototypes, I applied my self-created design system and further refined my Figma skills through multiple iterations.
I prioritized clarity, functionality, and accessibility by clearly distinguishing content sections, using appropriately sized sans-serif fonts, and ensuring high-contrast colors. When adding content, I focused on meaningful visuals that help users grasp the context without relying on explanatory text.

Design Systems

I create design systems to ensure a cohesive user experience and effectiveness while building the prototypes.

Improvements by Feedback

By feedback from user testing, A-B tests, peers and tutor feedback, I iterated my design continually. One key takeaway from the testing process was the importance of adopting the user's perspective to better anticipate how they might interpret the given tasks. Some issues could have been avoided by phrasing tasks more clearly to align with user expectations.

From Redundancy to valuable Content

While I focused on a clear structure, accessibility, and clear meaning, I overlooked the lack of added value in the tiles for the main categories. As a result of testing, 60 % of participants mentioned that they were missing valuable content.


I redesigned the home screen to include key content that was previously hidden in subcategories. This update features a progress chart, today's fitness challenge, upcoming appointments, a grocery list, and additional recommendations.

Focus on clear descriptions, images, and icons

During user testing, 100% of participants struggled with the meaning of the workout tiles due to a lack of clarity. Participants also misinterpreted the cherry icon as something unrelated to nutrition, especially when they didn’t read the accompanying description. What seemed self-explanatory to me wasn’t always clear to others.

Improvements

  • Rewriting descriptions and adding informative photos and icons
  • Replacing the progress chart on the dashboard
  • Displaying today's fitness program plan in the fitness overview

Give Valuable features more importance

In a feedback loop, I shared my design with UX design students. 60% struggled to understand the purpose of the ingredient chips and criticized the hidden features, such as the grocery list.
‍

  • Redesign of the "Did You Know?" knowledge tag
  • Replacement and addition of descriptions to ingredient tags
  • Addition of a helpful "Grocery List" button to the daily suggestion

Solutions to meet the need of users

Time management that fits

Pain Points

Users need support with organization and time management to integrate healthier lifestyles and schedule time for exercise into their daily routines.

Solutions

  • Manage your day and schedule Me-Time while keeping track of your (medical) appointments.
  • Get reminders for upcoming appointments.
  • Add new appointments easily.
  • Get fitness session suggestions that fit your free time.

Holistic Nutrition: Recipes, Programs & Insights

Pain Points

A key challenge in improving family nutrition is finding recipes and meal plans that balance adults' dietary needs with children's taste preferences.

60% of participants complained about the lack of sufficient vegan and vegetarian recipes, as most options were just side dishes. They also noted the absence of filtering options for these dietary preferences.

Solutions

  • Personalized Recipes tailored to users' preferences and dietary needs
  • Nutritional Education for a better understanding of healthy eating
  • Grocery List for easy meal planning

Fitness: Motivational Programs & Inspiration for Exercise

Pain Points

Users struggle to stay motivated to exercise.
Users lack knowledge about which type of training would best suit their personal needs.

Solutions

  • Personalized Recipes tailored to users' preferences and dietary needs
  • Nutritional Education for a better understanding of healthy eating
  • Grocery List for easy meal planning

Key Learnings

ASKING QUESTIONS

I learned how crucial it is to ask the right questions in a way that opens doors. The quality of the answers determines how well the core problems are identified from the start, shaping the creation of user stories. If the answers lack depth, it becomes difficult to form a complete picture, —putting the project at risk of failing to deliver real value to the users.

Incorporating Early Feedback Loops

In this project, I initially collected feedback from users by testing a high-fidelity prototype. After further iterations, I received input from my peers (UX designers), which provided new insights into the prioritization of features—some of which were previously buried in subcategories. Since this feedback came at a very late stage, implementing the necessary changes required significant effort and time.To save time and resources in the future, I would incorporate peer feedback earlier in the process, before moving on to user testing.

Designing Tasks for Usability Tests

During my usability tests, I realized that users started with a different level of knowledge than I had assumed. I had lost sight of putting myself in their shoes! As a result, the tests revealed issues and challenges that could have been avoided with better preparation.From this experience, I learned that it is essential to first understand where users need to be guided before formulating tasks for the test.

Looking for a smart, user-centered design solution?
Let’s turn your ideas into intuitive, engaging experiences.
Get in touch—I'd be happy to collaborate!

Contact me: 

marieluise_werner@gmx.de