Vi by Lifebeam

(2018)

Meet Vi, an AI personal trainer who lives in biosensing earphones. She finds your ideal path to fitness and coaches you in real-time.

Each day, Vi tracks you, gets smarter, and coaches you to achieve real results. Vi will help you meet your weight loss goals, and improve your running, cycling, and training, all while playing your favorite music or allowing you to take a phone call (without touching a single button).

The Work

Our team sought to create a more personalized fitness experience for our users that exceeded all expectations. By adding features that support treadmill capability, accountability, and mindfulness, Vi can help the user reach their maximum potential and meet their goals.

Our mission was to give Vi users a more personalized experience, in addition to making sure Vi was able to take the user to ultimate fitness and wellness levels. 

As the lead designer on the team, I executed the UX/UI for both iOS and Android mobile apps. I oversaw and managed the team that handled the responsive website, as well as creating the look and feel of the brand.

Treadmill Feature

Through user research, we learned that users often felt like their workouts needed to cater to both indoors and outdoors, which is why we introduced the treadmill capability. We also created digital and voice experiences to test how we wanted Vi to interact with the user, both with voice and mobile. Our mission was to help users get the proper coaching on the treadmill so they’d have a more productive and exciting workout.

We also created digital and voice experiences to test how we wanted Vi to interact with the user, both with voice and mobile. Our mission was to help users get the proper coaching on the treadmill so they’d have a more productive and exciting workout.

Our Personas

(1) Steve
- Age 48, California
- Event Manager
- Not very tech savvy
Attracted to getvi.com by an ad on Facebook

(2) Dexter
- Age 28, NYC
- Software Developer
- Seeking the latest tools on the market to enhance his workout regime
- Conducts extensive product comparison before purchasing

Testing

We ran tests that included 6 people who usually run on treadmills. They were shown a prototype of the treadmill flow in the app, and were asked questions on how they’d navigate the app if they had a chance to use it. For example, how would they start their run, or what they’d do to change how long the run is?

After iterating the voice and feature commands from the user testing, we created a beta. When we tested the beta, we recruited 4 people to run on a treadmill with Vi and record their experiences. 

Accountability Training Plan Feature

In our testing, we found that one of the major features was instructing users how and and when to start a workout. If we were able to instruct them to begin their workout, they’d continue to use Vi and increase the likelihood that the user will continue on their workout streak. By making the Vi experience gradual and enjoyable, users are provided with a clear path to success that will keep them motivated.

We offered users an easy-to-read framework so they can understand their progress. With the added features for accountability, it ensured users were able to track their progress and keep up with their fitness goals. The features also increased the AI learning since it was picking up on which days the user was more likely to work out.

Testings

We interviewed a total of 10 runners, ranging from beginners who had trouble motivating themselves to run, to people who've run marathons and ultra-marathons.. We asked them in-depth questions about their previous training plans, motivations, goals, and how it could have been improved. 

When discussing motivation, accountability was the most needed among users, specifically adhering to training plans. Additionally, running with others was a successful motivation strategy for some because they are being held accountable in a social setting.   to users' motivation, and adherence to training plans. Running with other people was a successful motivation strategy for some because they were being held accountable. 

Key Takeaways:

Vi will need to teach beginner runners about the importance of goals and accountability. Goals aren’t just for “competitive” runners, they’re for everyone who’d like to run regularly.

 We learned that by letting the user choose how many times they’d want to run a day, will push training plans to the next level. We learned a pattern using AI that held users accountable. We also wanted to make sure that Vi is portrayed as the "other person" you are running with and that allows users to feel that Vi can help them reach their ultimate goals.

Mindfulness

Vi is also a fitness and wellness platform that helps user become the healthiest version of themselves. Whether they were workout buffs or not, we wanted users to have other features that allows them to be connected to their inner self. 

We sent out a survey focusing on mindfulness and meditation. We found 30% of users meditate and over 7% of users are interested in meditation The survey offered an opportunity to make an impact on a users life using meditation, which we took it further by adding in the mindfulness features

We wanted a one step solution where a user could pick their mood and how long they’d want to meditate in an easy click of a button As the designer, my vision was to create an interface where the user had a relaxed experience through soft colors and the movement of light. I also wanted the user to feel safe within the experience. Keeping the headphone in mind, I created an experience that allowed the user to understand acknowledge their heart rate in real time - during exercise, meditation, and recovery.

Alanna Fein/ the creative chicken