PROJECT OVERVIEW
The goal of this project was to design a streamlined, efficient, and delightful 2-way communication system for fitness studios and their members. The key focus was on enabling seamless conversations, reducing the reliance on third-party tools, and improving overall user engagement and experience.
Target users
Studio staff, studio members, and management teams who require efficient communication channels to manage client interactions and operational workflows.
Team
1 Product Designer, 1 Product Owner, 5 Backend Devs, 2 Front End Dev
Project Duration
6 months
Role
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Analyze prior research to establish the initial product strategy.
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Develop the overall information architecture and user flow for the new 2 way communication service.
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Create prototypes and validate early design ideas through testing.
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Partner with our front-end developer to build a flexible and reusable component system.
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Collaborate with our product owner to facilitate the first MVP release.
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Test, refine, and track the performance and design of our product post-launch.
01
RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
Research
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10+ customer calls
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7 job stories
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1 survey
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30+ customer prospects​
Customer Interviews and Feedback
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Yousuf Nabi Owner@Elements Martial Arts : Emphasized the need for automated WhatsApp engagements to drive through-push notifications.
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Allan Cardoso Manager@ F45 Training Westbay : Highlighted the difficulty in tracking potential sales due to decentralized communication tools.
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Gabriel Rothmeyer Manager@9Round Costa Rica : Mentioned his customers and potential leads prefers the manual 2-way conversations rather than automated bot messages.
Key Insights
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Studios need quicker and easier ways to reply to leads and members.
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Continuous engagement through multiple communication channels is crucial.
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Visibility into previous interactions enhances staff's ability to provide personalized support.
02
IDEATION & CONCEPT
Ideation Sessions
Conducted brainstorming sessions and workshops to generate solutions that address the identified problems. The focus was on creating a system that could integrate seamlessly into the current Glofox platform, leveraging existing APIs like Twilio for communication.
Selected Solutions
An integrated communication system within the Glofox platform that includes:
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2-way SMS and email communication.
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WhatsApp integration for direct member engagement.
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An inbox for tracking and managing all member interactions.
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Displaying contextual member information alongside a conversation.
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Staff-facing alerts when message from clients come in.
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Broadcast/Group messaging clients.
PROBLEM DEFINITION
How can we enable studios and members to have an easy, streamlined, and delightful experience for having 2-way conversations with each other?
Key Problems Identified
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Inefficient communication methods leading to delayed responses.
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Lack of continuous engagement with members.
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Limited visibility into member conversation history.
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Delays in responding to leads and members result in lost sales opportunities and increased churn.
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Reliance on multiple third-party tools for communication, leading to inefficiency and increased costs.
Stakeholders
Customer Success Criteria
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Glofox customers
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Amplify squad
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Improved member engagement and satisfaction.
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Streamlined communication processes for gym studios.
03
DESIGN PROCESS
User Journey Mapping
A detailed journey map was created to visualize the current state of communication workflows within studios. It revealed pain points like delayed response times, lack of visibility into past conversations, and the burden of manual logging.
Information Architecture
The Information Architecture (IA) for a multi-channel 2-way communication tool was designed to improve how gym studios engage with their clients. The IA was structured to ensure ease of use, scalability, and consistency across the platform, with the goal of enabling studio staff to efficiently manage their communications across various channels, including in-app chat, SMS, email, and push notifications.
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A user flow was created to simplify the interaction process for gym staff, allowing easy navigation from the dashboard to the conversation hub, where ongoing conversations could be reviewed and managed.
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The IA was organized into functional pieces, detailing key features such as Message Types, People (Clients, Leads, Trainers), and the Message Composer, which enables seamless communication.
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Filtering and sorting mechanisms were integrated.
Prototyping&Testing
Developed prototypes for the communication dashboard and tested with a select group of studios:
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Connect Tab: Centralized place for all client communications.
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Message Logging: Automatically stores and displays conversation history.
Prototype Feedback
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Studio testing participant : "Can't wait to have this available. I wish it were available for WhatsApp! This would be an even better function "
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Studio testing participant : "Will this be available in NZ as we have tight and strict SMS rules.... but this is looking awesome! Even just the emails straight out of Glofox would be FAB!"
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Studio testing participant : "I would love to see the ability to start a SMS conversation with a client from within their client profile. Their profile shows so much data and it would be great to start there to gather information about their recent visits, membership status, etc. then click a button within their profile to start a conversation."
Learnings from Testing
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Studios want to easily access to client profile to see more information while chatting
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Draft messages was requested
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Whatsapp implementation request was high
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Being able to categorize clients by all, members, leads etc. was requested.
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The visibility on notifications was desired
04
SOLUTION
Features Implemented
Development Slices
1. Slice 1: Initial Integration
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Integrated basic SMS and email functionalities.
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Metrics: Reduced response time by 77%, leading to a significant drop in lost sales and churn.
2. Slice 2: Enhanced Features
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Added WhatsApp integration and automated replies.
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Metrics: Increased engagement rates, with an average response time improvement and higher satisfaction scores.
3. Slice 3: Usability Enhancements
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Improved UI/UX based on user feedback, refined the communication history log.
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Metrics: Further reduced churn rates and improved operational efficiency.
Visual Design
The interface was designed to be clean, with a focus on usability. Key actions were easily accessible, and the design followed Glofox's existing visual language to ensure a seamless integration.
Design Solution
Centralized conversations hub was created to easily access the different type of 2 way communications.
05
IMPACT & FUTURE STEPS
Business Impact
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Sales: 61% reduction in lost sales due to faster response times and better engagement.
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Churn: 56% reduction in churn rates, attributed to improved communication and member satisfaction.
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Operational Efficiency: Significant reduction in the time staff spent managing communications, allowing them to focus on other critical tasks.
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User feedback rated the ease of use of the new system at 4.53/5 on average.
Future Enhancements
Based on the initial success, further enhancements are planned, including deeper integration with CRM tools and advanced analytics to track communication effectiveness.
