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Re-designing the existing Strava application to enhance social connectedness.

Autumn 2020

Team: Marko Björkbacka

My role was to make an interactive prototype (with XD) and participate in the design process. 

What is Strava?

In Strava users can track, collect and share their sports activities. There are several challenges users can participate and local communities where they can chat with each other. Our goal was to develop the social aspects and user experience of Strava.

Brief: How to enhance social connectedness in individual sports like jogging?

Experience-Driven Design

What aspects are important in doing sports?

We surveyed to find out what are important factors in doing sports. We got quantitative results, but also a good amount of open answers to get insights on why these things are important.

The most important things were feeling of competence (90%), achievements (90%) and calming down (70%). Social connections did not raise as the main reason to do sports, but open answers indicated that there is a place for social aspects as well.

Ideation & Design Implications

New design implications to meet the aimed experiences:

Feeling of competence:

The application asks or tests the user’s performance level when they start using the application for the first time. Based on that it recommends suitable groups and challenges.

Connectedness:

Information that other people are doing the same thing as you are.

Achievement:

Challenges offered by the application are targeted to be suitable for the user’s personal performance level.

Two main functions developed into the existing application:

Emmi Putkonen

1: Defining your own fitness level.

Allows the application to offer personal and relevant content.

Emmi Putkonen

2: Challenges suitable for different fitness levels

The app recommends suitable challenges. Chopping big challenge to smaller tasks increases the feeling of competence.

Challenge pages allow users to chat others with same fitness level.

Testing


Emmi Putkonen

Testing the prototype consisted of following steps:

  1. Introducing scenario and test situation.
  2. Using the app (proto) in a real context.
  3. AttrakDiff questionnaire
  4. Interview

Results

The AttrakDiff questionnaire and the interview results indicated that the product is supporting the UX goals defined.

Overall results showed that hedonic and pragmatic qualities are in balance, which was something we aimed for.

From the four product quality categories, the lowest average points were in HQ-S (hedonic quality, stimulation). The product was experienced as “ordinary” and “conventional”, which was not a surprise. When building on an existing application, not a big novelty value may not be expected.

On the other hand, HQ-I got high average points, which indicates that the product is experienced as “connective” and “stylish”.

None of the categories got negative average values, even if it is possible.

Emmi Putkonen
PQ = pragmatic quality / HQ-I = hedonic quality, identity / HQ-S = hedonic quality, stimulation / ATT = attractiveness
Emmi Putkonen

Video

Ideation: Marko Björkbacka
Implementation: Emmi Putkonen

Video presenting the UX goals and interactive prototype.
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