Project Overview
Many Users Were Disengaging Early: 30% Stopped Within the First Month, and Over 60% Dropped off Within Three Months
Outcome
We launched two key features that achieved a combined average adoption rate of over 66% and increased user engagement by 43% within three months of launch.
Responsibilities
UX Strategy • UX Design • UI Design • Visual & Graphic Design • Stakeholder Management
Team
Senior Cloud Engineer, VP of Software Development, Senior IOS Developer, Senior Android Developer, CTO (As Project Manager)
Role
Design Lead
Time frame
4 Weeks for end-to-end design
Project Summary
Here’s a Quick Summary, in Case You’re Short on Time (And Who Isn’t?)
Objectives
Increase Engagement and Reduce Early-Stage Churn
To combat the steep drop in engagement within the first three months, the main focus was on encouraging consistent, day-to-day interaction with the device.
Boost Motivation and Reinforce Habit Formation
Many users struggled to maintain motivation beyond the initial onboarding period. Reinforcing habit formation was key to keeping users engaged over time and reducing long-term drop-off
Key Challenges
Multi-Platform Inconsistencies
Each platform had a different style guide and tech stack, making it difficult to create a unified experience. The mobile app had the most up-to-date system, while XS1 and XP1 were outdated.
Implementation Constraints
We had limited engineering bandwidth and tight deadlines (4 weeks), which forced us to constantly balance ideal UX with what was feasible to build in the short term.
Overview of the Implemented Solutions:
Activity Goals — Building Consistency Through Weekly Targets.
Encouraging users to set and meet weekly activity goals will help establish a rhythm and sense of progress. Streak tracking added a layer of motivation by rewarding consistency, reinforcing positive habits over time and supporting long-term engagement.
Engagement & Retention
Habit Formation
Motivation
Activity Challenges — Gamifying Engagement With Targeted Content.
This solution tackles engagement through gamification and drives focus towards specific content or activities. By setting defined criteria and rewards, challenges encourage users to engage with particular types of workouts or content, giving structure and purpose to their participation.
Targeted Content Engagement
Community Building
Gamification
Company Background
OxeFit is a fitness and wellness tech startup redefining smart home fitness.
OxeFit develops cutting-edge fitness technology for both consumers and professional environments. Their XS1 system brings immersive, data-driven training into the home, while the XP1 and its supporting SaaS platform deliver advanced strength and rehab solutions to clinics, athletic programs, and performance centers
Problem Breakdown
Why Do Users Struggle to Stay Committed? Unpacking the Factors Behind Motivation Loss
I broke down motivation loss factors using behavioral research and frameworks, creating a problem tree to visualize root causes through data-driven studies.
To break down why users lose motivation in fitness, and stay within constraints, I turned to established behavioral frameworks like BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model and Self-Determination Theory. This problem tree visualizes the root causes and their impact, creating a foundation for targeted solutions.
After breaking down the problem into root causes, I analyzed competitors to uncover more insights and analyze their strategies.
After identifying the root causes of motivation loss, I turned to competitive analysis of direct competitors like Peloton and Tonal, as well as indirect competitors like Apple Fitness, as a constraint-friendly method. The goal was to uncover proven strategies, such as gamification and streak tracking, and to analyze their approaches for addressing the challenges effectively within our constraints.
Evaluating Solutions
Which Solutions Can Cover Root Causes, Fit Our Constraints, and Scale to Meet Long-Term Goals?
To make confident tradeoffs, I used a matrix to compare each solution against our short and long-term goals and constraints.
This matrix helped me identify which solutions offered the best balance between addressing user needs, fitting within our resource constraints, and supporting both immediate and future business objectives. It also made it easier to justify what to move forward with—and what to leave behind.
I created low-fidelity concepts to communicate my ideas and align with the team.
After having an idea of which solutions fit the criteria, I created low-fidelity mockups to present to the team, discuss the rationale behind my decisions, and gather their feedback before moving forward.
Finalizing Flows & UI
With Leadership Buy-In on Direction and Little Time Left, I Moved Into Finalizing Flows and UI.
I mapped out the primary user flows first to get development moving on key screens.
Design Rationale
A Breakdown of the Decisions Behind the Final Experience
Activity Goals — Building Consistency Through Weekly Targets.
Goal Setting
Goal setting is integrated into the initial onboarding process for new users, while existing users will encounter it through a modal pop-up.
Goal-Driven Retention
Psychological Commitment
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Achievable by Design: A 3-Day Default to Build Habits
To support habit formation, we encouraged users to set achievable goals and set the goal dial to three days by default. This not only reduced friction, but also offered a target that’s easy to commit to, yet consistent enough to produce tangible results.
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Active Days > Active Time
I prioritized setting an “active days” goal over an “active time” goal to create a stronger sense of achievement. While both can represent similar effort, completing three workouts a week — even if they're just 20 minutes each — feels more substantial than logging one hour of total activity. This framing reinforces consistency and makes progress feel more rewarding.
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Progress Tracking
Progress summary and tracking section on home page emphasizing the importance of completing this target
Goal-Driven Retention
Psychological Commitment
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Home Placement to Reinforce Accountability and Build a Habit Loop.
This placement reinforces the importance of goal completion without relying on push notifications or external nudges. It helps users build a natural habit loop.
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Rings That Reinforce Habits: Motivation, Visualized Simply
I chose a circular progress ring to make weekly goals feel intuitive, visible, and satisfying to complete. The ring format reinforces the idea of closing a loop — a visual cue that taps into users’ natural desire for completion (Zeigarnik Effect). Its familiarity from other wellness tools (like Apple Watch) reduces cognitive load while reinforcing consistency. It's also easy to implement on an a smart watch app which is on our roadmap.
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Weekly > Daily Streak: Sustainable Motivation Over Burnout
I chose to implement a weekly streak system to reward consistency in a way that aligns with users’ actual fitness goals — not unrealistic daily activity. Unlike daily streaks, which can feel punishing or fragile when broken, weekly streaks offer flexibility while still reinforcing long-term commitment. Users maintain their streak only by completing their personalized weekly goal (e.g., 3 active days), making it a meaningful, earned milestone — not just an activity counter.
Activity Challenges — Gamifying Engagement With Targeted Content.
Goal-Aligned Challenges
Challenges were strategically created based on user goals surfaced from onboarding data — such as strength building, weight loss, and general cardio fitness.
Goal-Driven Retention
Psychological Commitment
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Targeting What Users Care About
We used onboarding data to identify the most common user goals — such as strength building, weight loss, and cardio. Challenges were then created around those goals to ensure relevance and increase participation. This allowed us to surface tagged content more intentionally and give users a clear, motivating path toward their desired outcomes.
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Targeted Content That Moves Users — and Metrics
The "Applicable Content" rail connects each challenge directly to the workouts that count toward completion. Beyond usability, the rail plays a strategic role: it directs users toward high-priority content types. By tying challenges to specific classes or formats, we guide engagement toward underutilized or business-critical areas of the platform.
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Tiered Challenges: Motivating Progress at Every Level
Not all users start from the same baseline — so we designed a tiered challenge system (e.g., Bronze, Silver, Gold) to make participation feel accessible, yet aspirational. The lowest tier lowers the barrier to entry, encouraging more users to opt in. Higher tiers offer additional motivation for those seeking a greater challenge, promoting ongoing engagement.
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Seasonal & Promotional Challenges
Challenges were also designed as a flexible engagement tool — allowing us to respond to seasonal trends and product needs. For example, OxePlay Challenge served as a promotional entry point to OxeFit's new product which is basically gamified cardio.
By launching time-bound, themed challenges, I aimed to create a sense of urgency and novelty without overwhelming users. These served both the business (highlighting features or content types) and the user (providing timely, structured goals), making each challenge feel intentional and relevant.
Goal-Driven Retention
Psychological Commitment
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Unique Achievement Badges
We generate unique badges for each challenge to give users a tangible sense of accomplishment. These badges serve as digital trophies — visual proof of their consistency and effort. By making each badge distinct, we introduced a collectible element that encourages continued participation across multiple challenges.
Thanks for reading — I hope this gave you a clear look into my thinking, process, and impact.
I'm always excited to solve meaningful problems through thoughtful design. If you'd like to chat or collaborate, feel free to reach out.
